Latest Issue of CELT Notes
July 16, 2025

Note from the Instructional Technologist

The date for the Moodle upgrade to version 4.5 has been set!
KATIE will be unavailable overnight from 9:00 PM on Tuesday, July 22nd until 9:00 AM on Wednesday, July 23rd while the upgrade is completed.

You may notice some minor visual enhancements, but all features will remain the same and your content will not be affected.

Thank you for your understanding as we work to keep KATIE up to date!

Erin Zidlicky

Note from the Asst. Director

Happy Wednesday, all!

We’re about halfway through the summer, and things are ramping up for the fall semester. New faculty are starting to reach out via email and make their first visits to campus. In CELT, we are deep into our summer programming, with many helpful opportunities still on the horizon before we switch gears to fall.

One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is teaching Gen Z students. There is a lot of buzz about this topic in the higher ed world 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 will host one faculty learning community (FLC) for the 2025-2026 academic year focused on the topic “teaching Gen Z students 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 me via email.

Read on for upcoming summer programming opportunities and registration information.

Warmly,

Christy

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

CELT Summer 2025 Programming

Multi-Day Programming

Sign up for Summer Programming here.

AI Boot Camp, facilitated by Christy Vrtis and Erin Zidlicky

Throughout the summer, CELT will offer 2-day AI “Boot Camps” wherein participants will receive up-to-date pedagogical training on how to utilize and incorporate AI into their courses and work. Additionally, participants will develop compassionate AI use policies that make sense for their courses and align with their course SLOs. Required reading/viewing of supplementary materials and additional course materials will be available on a dedicated KATIE site.

AI Boot Camps will be offered as follows:

• Monday, July 21 and Wednesday, July 23 (CELT Conference Room, Valders 242): 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. each day

• Tuesday, Aug. 19 and Wednesday, Aug. 20   (CELT Conference Room, Valders 242): 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. each day

July Workshops

Sign up for Summer Programming here.

Accessibility Services Updates, Scenarios, and Using Panorama within KATIE, facilitated by Ann Smith and Erin Zidlicky

Tuesday, July 29  (CELT Conference Room, Valders 242): 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.

Thursday, July 31 (Zoom): 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

August Workshops

Sign up for Summer Programming here.

Getting to Know Students Before Day 1, facilitated by Christy Vrtis.

Wednesday, Aug. 6 (Hybrid: In-person, CELT Conference Room, Valders 242 and via Zoom): 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.

KATIE Basics for New Faculty, facilitated by Erin Zidlicky.

Thursday, Aug. 7 (Zoom): 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Writing assignments across the disciplines: Assigning, supporting, and assessing, facilitated by Mike Garcia.

Tuesday, Aug. 12 (CELT Conference Room, Valders 242): 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 14 (Zoom): 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Kindness Pedagogy and Compassionate Course Policies, facilitated by Christy Vrtis.

Tuesday, Aug. 19 (Zoom): 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.

KATIE Rubrics, facilitated by Erin Zidlicky.

Thursday, Aug. 21 (Hybrid): 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

iClicker Cloud training for polling in class, facilitated by Erin Zidlicky.

Wednesday, Aug. 27 (Hybrid): 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

Syllabus workshop for New Faculty, facilitated by CELT

Monday, Sept. 1 (CELT Conference Room, Valders 242): 4:00-5:00 p.m.