Colleges are facing an overwhelming challenge in developing part-time faculty as an institutional advantage rather than a last minute alternative. Concerns regarding the growing use of part time faculty have been widely studied and analyzed. However, virtually all existing research supports the assertion that part time faculty are as equipped to assist students in reaching their academic outcomes when hired, retained, and supported as a viable workforce demographic (Gappa & Leslie, 1993; Levinson, 2005; Wagoner, Metcalfe, & Olaore, 2005). This presentation will address the need for a more relevant and timely exploration of strategies that support part-time faculty and their role in student success and retention.

Critical thinking is a concept that is widely used and has high visibility in the accreditation and mission statements of educational institutions across the world. However, many educators and institutions have difficulty clarifying the concept and knowing how to infuse it within curriculum and instruction. This three part workshop focuses on explicating those concepts and principles that inform a foundational, cross-disciplinary conception of critical thinking as well as how these fundamentals translate into concrete teaching and learning strategies that, when done well, help our students improve the quality of their thinking.

Early intervention is critical to campus retention efforts. Early alert systems offer institutions systematic approaches to identifying and intervening with students exhibiting at-risk behaviors before the behaviors reach the acute stage. Many of these systems rely on a common format for student referral to a central receiving point. Systems at larger institutions use web-based technology to allow for a scalable approach to at-risk intervention. This presentation describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a web-based, fully integrated early alert referral system at a large, public university in the Southwest.