Teaching & Learning Excellence

To fulfill the educational mission of Austin Community College, we, the faculty, champion the following shared values:

Faculty Values at ACC

We support a Culture of Collaboration, Community Building, and Service with our students, colleagues, and the greater community

We Advocate Access and Inclusion

We Promote Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Empowerment

We Advance Scholarship, Learning, and the Assessment of our Work

We Support Student Success through Exemplary Teaching & Lifelong Learning

 

As we embody these values, we cultivate an environment of mutual trust, esteem, and respect.

Teaching

Exemplary teaching is core to student success. We strive to implement evidence-based practices that promote active and engaged lifelong learning.

Inclusion

Access and inclusion are imperative to serve the full range of our diverse communities. We infuse culturally responsive practices in our work to honor every individual’s potential.

Scholarship

Regularly reflecting on our academic and pedagogical/andragogical approaches is essential as we assess our work as a faculty of educators and counselors. We engage in continual improvement in our fields of expertise and teaching in general.

Collaboration

Learning from each other and respecting varied viewpoints is vital to accomplishing shared goals and is a hallmark of a healthy college. We seek civil collegiality within our college and community.

Empowerment

Creating and guiding the learning experience is the responsibility of the faculty. We value academic freedom as fundamental for us to be empowering agents of education.

Service

Faculty engagement encourages student engagement and success. We actively support our students, departments, college, and community by sharing our time and expertise.

Faculty holding up print copies of Faculty Values.

Faculty Values in Action

ACC Faculty Values play a significant role in the professional development and programming of faculty development and more at ACC. The following are examples of intentional efforts made to ensure we are not only practicing our values, but also creating a culture that supports the ACC Faculty Values.
Framed posters were gifted to ACC Instructional Leadership to spread awareness of this initiative and hung on every campus in faculty spaces.

Includes an introduction of the ACC Faculty Values and alignment of the values to the content being shared, while exploring and sharing concrete examples of how we can support them. Learn More.

Provides faculty the opportunity to exemplify the faculty values through their roles and activities at the College. Learn More.

Empowers all ACC students to participate in course evaluations and provides timely feedback to faculty on their teaching. Learn More.

Anchored in the ACC Faculty Values and developed by faculty for faculty, the Teaching and Learning Academy (TLA) contributes to student success by supporting faculty through evidence-based teaching strategies, reflective practice, and teaching innovation. Learn More.

Provides faculty from different disciplines the opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other’s teaching and course design.

Service-Learning Training

Encourages faculty to reflect on alignment between their values and service-learning as a pedagogical tool in their teaching.

Email [email protected] to add your program to the “Faculty Values in Action” list!

History

The Faculty Senate and Adjunct Faculty Association collaborated during the Fall 2017 semester bringing faculty together to discuss and define ACC Faculty Core Values. The goal of this effort was to shape future faculty programming and realign ACC processes such as professional development, instructor/course evaluations, new faculty orientation, and shared governance so that they reflect and support Faculty Values and roles in the College.

In these dialogues, faculty explored questions such as:

  • What are the most important elements in your role as a faculty member at ACC?
  • What do you invest your time and effort in?
  • What goals are important as you teach?
  • How do you serve your students, the college, and our community?

101 faculty participated in crafting these values through over 40 hours and 16 dialogue events. Following that, a committee of faculty volunteers gathered feedback and further refined the values statement and logo. Learn more about the best practices we followed in our Criteria on Assessing Core Values.

Questions?

Have Feedback?

Fill out the Faculty Values Comments Form

The first version of the Faculty Values has been completed. Understanding that this is a working document we are collecting ongoing feedback and/or comments from our faculty to ensure we provide every opportunity to ensure we are including the majority of the faculty voice in our values.

Teaching at ACC

Visit the Employment at ACC page to learn detailed information about the hiring process for faculty.