Latest Issue of CELT Notes
September 3, 2025

Note from Christy, Asst. Director of CELT

Happy First Day of Classes!

I hope that you enjoy meeting your new groups of learners today and tomorrow, and that you feel the excitement of the new academic year in all you do this week!

Exciting news from CELT

We now have four boxes of fidgets that you can check out and use in your classrooms. I started making fidgets available for my students last year during exams during fall semester and then daily during spring. Across the board, students noted that they appreciated having the variety of fidgets available and used them frequently. One of the most common uses was to keep their hands occupied so that they were not tempted to get on their phones! If you are interested in checking a fidget kit out, email me: vrtich01@luther.edu!

There is so much to read below, that I will end my message here. I hope you can take a moment to reflect on the new semester when you can – the work we do is important and our students are awesome – and so are we!

Warmly,
Christy
1:1 Consultations | vrtich01@luther.edu | Valders 240 | 563-387-1587 | Mobile: 804-201-1688

Note from our Instructional Technologist, Erin Zidlicky

Welcome Back!
The first day of classes is here—don’t forget to make your KATIE course visible to students. By default, courses are hidden. To make your course visible:

• Go to your course
• Click Settings
• Under Course visibility, change Hide to Show

Erin’s hours: CELT office hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 8:00 – 4:00. Library office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

As you explore the new look of KATIE, or if you’d like to try out a new activity or resource, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. There are so many tools and options to enhance your course, and I’d love to help you make the most of them!

From the Office of Accessibility Services

Welcome Back

Welcome to the 2025–2026 academic year! Thank you for your ongoing partnership in creating accessible learning environments for our students.

Accommodation Letters & Student Outreach

• 50 first-year students indicated on the pre-advising questionnaire that they had received accommodations in the past.
• 41 students (82%) completed the interactive process and received accommodation letters.
• Letters are arriving earlier in your inbox, and students are being encouraged to meet with you proactively to discuss them.
• We also reviewed, renewed, or established accommodations for 280 additional students across academics, housing, dining, and physical access.

Faculty Testing Request Form

• This year, a link to the Faculty Testing Request Form is included in all accommodation letters.
• Why it matters:
  • Provides our office with the information needed to arrange testing spaces.
  • Documents student use of testing accommodations (important for graduate exams such as the GRE).
• Even if you schedule or proctor exams directly in your department, we ask that you complete the form for documentation purposes.

Quick Reference

Instructions for accessing and submitting the Faculty Testing Request Form are included below.

Thank You

We appreciate your commitment to supporting students with accessibility needs. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office with questions or concerns.

How to submit an Accessibility: Testing Accommodations Request Faculty Testing Form

What: If you have a student who is registered with Accessibility Services and has provided you with an updated accommodation letter that requires separate, distraction free space for testing, follow the instructions below:

1. Log into Luther 360 https://luther.pharos360.com/ (log in with SSO)
2. The link can also be found on the Accessibility Services Site
3. From the Launchpad, select “Send Alert”
4. Type the name of the student, click search, then “Send Alert” (see below)
5. Enter your information.
6. Be sure you are on the correct form from the dropdown menu titled:
   1. 2) Accessibility: Testing Accommodations Request-Faculty Testing”
7. Complete the form.
8. Accessibility Services will continue to send you a Google Calendar invite with the location of the testing space for the student.  This provides you with an opportunity to know exactly where the student is testing.

CELT Fall 2025 Programming

2025-2026 Faculty Learning Community (FLC) “Teaching Gen Z learners at Luther”

Application Open – closes Friday, Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.

There is a lot of buzz about Gen Z in higher ed and beyond right now. The Chronicle has published several articles on facets of the conversation. Many faculty are raising many “how do I” questions related to challenges they’re facing in the classroom that they haven’t encountered before, like motivating students to do daily work, keeping students engaged, and helping students do course reading, to name just a few.

Based on these challenges and faculty interest, CELT Asst. Director Christy Vrtis will lead one faculty learning community (FLC) for the 2025-2026 academic year focused on the topic “teaching Gen Z learners at Luther.” The FLC will consist of monthly meetings throughout the school year. Each participating faculty or teaching staff member will select a specific research topic to focus on throughout the year. The FLC will culminate in deliverables (resources and teaching ideas/lesson plans) that will be shared on the CELT KATIE page.

If you are interested in participating in this exciting and timely FLC, please fill out the application by Friday, September 5, 2025. If you have any questions, please reach out to Christy via email vrtich01@luther.edu.

Fall Book Group

We will run one book group this fall with the book A Pedagogy of Kindness by Catherine J. Denial. CELT will purchase books for all book group participants. If you are interested in participating in one or both of these workshops, and/or facilitating, please register here.

Upcoming CELT Workshops

Register for upcoming workshops here.

KATIE Questions Pop-in (E. Zidlicky)

Have KATIE questions? Erin will be in the CELT Office ready to help you with all things KATIE!

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., CELT Office, Valders 240.

TiLT Your Teaching: Simple Shifts, Big Impact (C. Vrtis)

In this workshop, we will use simple strategies to make our teaching more effective by focusing on developing and communicating our “why” to students by increasing transparency in course documents. Participants should bring assignments or assessments to work on in the session. The primary focus will be on defining the purpose, tasks, and criteria of success for an assignment that each participant plans to assign this academic year.

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., CELT Conference Room, Valders 242.

GenAI: Human-Centered Assignments in an AI World (C. Vrtis, E. Zidlicky)

In this workshop, participants will learn best practices to center human skills and values in assignments to make them more resilient in an AI world. They will also work together to brainstorm ways to incorporate human-centered values like communication into their assignments. Participants are encouraged to bring a sample assignment that they would like to begin revising in the session.

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., CELT Conference Room, Valders 242

Communicating the “Why” (C. Vrtis, E. Zidlicky)

Register for upcoming workshops here.

This workshop is all about understanding and developing our “why” so that we can communicate it effectively to our students to increase engagement. Our individual “whys” include: why we teach, why we study a certain topic or discipline, and why we assign certain activities, assignments and assessments. Communicating the “why” is a hands-on workshop in which participants will brainstorm and write for the majority of the hour.

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., CELT Conference Room, Valders 242

Informal Programming

This fall, we will continue our informal opportunities to gather with colleagues for conversation, wellness, and writing. This programming is informed by kindness pedagogy and helps us to focus on being kind to ourselves in order to teach well. Informal programming will begin the third week of classes.

Mindful Mondays

Activities will change weekly and may include reflective writing, drawing, coloring, meditation, walking meditation, drinking tea and chatting, and more. The activity for our first session on Monday, Sept. 15 will be reflective writing, so please bring something to write in/on.

12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m., meet in CELT Office, Valders 240

Wellness/Walking Wednesdays

On Wednesdays we walk! If the weather stinks, we will substitute another wellness-related activity.

11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., meet in CELT Office, Valders 240

Friday Flow

Friday Flow is an opportunity to gather in the CELT Office and write. What you write is up to you, and the possibilities are boundless. Think of Friday Flow as your accountability partner or the friend that says “hey, you CAN take 30 minutes to reflect on the week – or write a poem – or work on your novel!” There will be snacks and drinks and, at points throughout the semester, time to share your work.

(Drop-in anytime, 1-4 p.m.; CELT Office, Valders 240)