This year’s cohort marks the third and final group to finish this rigorous, year-long program.


Twenty-nine faculty members completed the course this year.
 
Learning never stops at Hostos Community College, including for our dedicated faculty. On Tuesday, December 16, the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) held a special pinning ceremony celebrating 29 faculty members’ completion of the Association of College and University Educators’ (ACUE) Effective Online Teaching Practices certification course. This year’s cohort is the third and final group to complete the year-long program, which equips faculty to deliver engaging, student-centered learning experiences across online, hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous courses.
 
Michelle Lee St. Marthe, Associate Director to the Chief of Staff, brought greetings on behalf of President Daisy Cocco De Filippis during which she recognized faculty members’ hard work and dedication throughout the rigorous program and thanked Dr. Andrea Fabrizio, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Louis Bury, English Professor and ACUE PD Faculty Facilitator; Marianne Dombroski, ACUE Partnerships Director; and Christine Capello, ACUE Partner Success Director for facilitating this invaluable partnership.
 
During her remarks, Provost Fabrizio emphasized that the cohort's active engagement in the elective certification course demonstrated their commitment to Hostos’ students and their desire to expand their knowledge of new and innovative online teaching practices. “Because that’s what our students need and deserve, and that’s what you bring to them every day — because you’re phenomenal faculty who are always doing what is in the best interest of our students,” she expressed.
 

Dombroski lauded this year’s cohort for their dedication and reflected on their outcomes.

Dombroski also commended participants, and she shared insights into the year’s outcomes. On average, participants learned 50 new teaching practices and expanded their knowledge of about 95 practices. They also implemented 18 new practices during the year and planned to adopt 43 additional effective teaching practices. Additionally, she noted that faculty confidence in online teaching rose from approximately 93% at the start to 100% by the end of the course. “Really amazing work,” she said. “It’s mine and my colleague Christine’s pleasure to be here today to congratulate you. Good teaching matters. You all know that already. Thank you so much and congratulations.”
 

L-R: Dombroski, Professor Bury, Provost Fabrizio.

Looking back at the experience, Professor Bury, who was both a participant and the faculty facilitator for the program at Hostos, reflected on how, in addition to providing participants with strategies to improve student performance and retention across modalities, it also gave them the invaluable experience of being students once again. “If you could just remind yourself, every so often, what it’s like to be in your students’ shoes and what they need or what will help them succeed, it makes a real, real big difference,” he expressed.
 
Professors Antonios Varelas, Behavioral and Social Sciences Unit; Diana Macri, Chair of Allied Health Sciences; and Kristen Tran, Behavioral and Social Sciences Unit, echoed Bury’s reflections. Professor Varelas said the experience deepened his empathy for students and reminded him of how challenging it can be for them to juggle coursework with life’s responsibilities. “We as faculty have a responsibility to recognize these challenges and also do everything we can to make sure our students are getting the most out of their experience with us in our classes,” he asserted. “I think that is a lot of what ACUE is about; it’s about developing those skills so that when they do enroll in our classes, they’re getting as much out of it as possible.”
 

Faculty participants, including Professor Macri (pictured above) reflected on their experiences.

During her reflection, Professor Macri shared that although she’d already had several years of experience teaching online, the modules helped her think about creating more intentional syllabi that account for measurable outcomes and align with assessments, and they taught her strategies for fostering community in virtual classrooms that encourage participation. “The ACUE course reminded me that lifelong learning is the heart of teaching,” she shared. “Every module challenged me to think differently, to innovate, to improve; growth is never comfortable. This experience made me stronger, more confident, more effective as an educator.”
 
Professor Tran concurred, adding: “For me, what ACUE offers is a pedagogy that ensures both educators and learners succeed. Not only in an online learning format but also across modalities.” She went on to express her gratitude for the program’s “humanistic approach to learning,” which is especially important at a College like Hostos, where our students come from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
 
The ceremony concluded with the conferment of pins and certificates of completion. This year’s cohort boasted the highest completion rate of all of Hostos’ cohorts. Congratulations to Professors Daniel Amarante, Nieves Angulo, William Baker, Titus Byaruhanga, Alida Camacho, Daniel Casey, Christine Choi, Jacqueline DiSanto, Dejolie Fokam, Shah Huq, Cagney JeanBaptiste, Oluwakemi Kadiri, KM Khan, Edward King, JungHang Lee, Kate Lyons, Diana Macri, Nicola McDonald, Krystyna Michael, Catherine Monchik, Elizabeth Porter, Yoel Rodriguez, Eugenia Elvia Salgado-Jimenez, Dionicio Taveras, Julie Trachman, Kristen Tran, Antonios Varelas, Eliana Vasquez, and Elyse Zucker.
 
This professional development initiative was made possible thanks to the support of the Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) Grant.