Over the summer, DoIT’s instructional technology team delivered four cohorts of PIVOT+ training to 275 UMBC faculty. Leveraging peer mentors and daily webinars focused on effective pedagogy for online teaching, the PIVOT+ program offered new opportunities for faculty to reflect on teaching and connect with each other as they prepared courses for fall.

Now available to the campus community and beyond, PIVOT Solo contains lessons on five key topics including course organization, active learning, community building, assessment, and supporting students. Choose one or all lessons, or just some content within a single lesson. PIVOT Solo is designed to be a flexible, self-directed experience, allowing faculty to determine what knowledge they want to refresh or enhance. 

PIVOT Solo follows the PIVOT Live webinar series, which generated enormous interest. More than 1,000 registrations were recorded for the first five PIVOT Live sessions. More than 250 PIVOT Live participants were unique during the week, nearly half of which were teaching online during the summer. To date, over380 unique faculty have either attended the synchronous sessions or viewed the recorded PIVOT LIVE webinar series. 

It is important to note that completion of any or all of PIVOT Solo will not result in eligibility for the professional development stipend that accompanies participation in PIVOT Live and PIVOT+.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

• Academic Continuity | Keep On Teaching | Student Technology Resources
• Check our extensive FAQ collection 
• What’s new in Ultra? | Known Issues 
• Open a ticket via RT
• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
• Request a consult with instructional technology staff

Now that we’re at the end of our challenge, we will go over some suggestions for practice. But first, I want to take a moment to tie the loop and talk about Emotionally Intelligent Leadership (EIL). This leadership development model combines two bodies of literature: emotional intelligence and leadership. At the most basic levels: Emotional intelligence is about recognizing and regulating emotions in ourselves and others. Leadership is about influencing others to engage in a purpose or cause.

EIL consists of focusing on self, others, and context— using these facets helped create the Online Leadership Challenge topics; self-development, feedback, identity, values, followership, partnerships and teams, and creating change. The following suggestions for practice will touch on all the topics we went over together throughout the challenge: 

1. Get to know YOU: Be known as someone who seeks out, and is open to, feedback. Exist in a continuous state of reflection.

2. Seek out challenge and support:Associate with people who challenge and support you. Seek out environments that will help you grow and that help you become your best self.

3. Nurture your relationships: Once you create a connection, you must continue to nurture the relationship so that it strengthens. The best way to do this is by listening and being present.

4. Communication is key: Consider the ways you communicate within a group or team. Do you voice your ideas? Do you build on or add to others? Do you take time to listen? Are you comfortable with silence?

5. Know that we all have a part in the leadership process:Active group members are committed to the organization and its purpose. Not only do they do what is expected of them, but are proactive and willing to fill gaps. 

6. You have the capacity to be an agent of change: It requires embracing creative problem solving, risk taking and courage. Facilitating change requires all that you do, think, feel and believe.

Day 8 Challenge Questions:

• Reflecting back on the challenge, what are three things you learned about yourself or your ability to work with others to make change at UMBC?

Reminder: The deadline to submit all answers is 11:59pm Friday, August 14th! The winner of the challenge will be announced on Monday, August 17th!

Interested in continuing your leadership learning process with Campus Life and being added to our mailing-list to receive leadership development updates and opportunities? Contact Coordinator for Leadership, Beatriz Gutierrez-Malagon at bgutierrez@umbc.edu

To access the Challenge Guidelines click on the "Download Image" button below. To provide your answers using mobile, follow and share your comments on the Challenge Day 8 posted on the Campus Life Instagram (@umbccampuslife). Visit the Online Leadership Challenge page to access all the Challenge Day posts and for more information.