Contact Us
Edinburg Campus
EEDUC 1.525
Email: cte@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 665-3763
Brownsville Campus
BMAIN 1.212B
Email: cte@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 882-7334
UTRGV Academy of Distinguished Teachers Series
These Teaching Conversations are a part of a series in partnership with the UTRGV Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Beyond the Classroom: Effective Mentorship Strategies for Student Growth and Success
This workshop series is designed for faculty and staff members who want to strengthen their role as mentors and positively impact students’ personal, academic, and professional growth beyond the classroom space. Participants will explore evidence-based strategies to foster student self-efficacy, guide goal setting, and serve as a bridge to networking and career opportunities. Each session provides practical tools and actionable insights to help mentors cultivate relationships that empower students to achieve success, develop self-awareness, and build the discipline needed to reach their personal, academic, and professional goals.
Spring 2026
Mentorship by Design: Scaling Purpose, Practice, and Pathways Beyond the Classroom
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March 03, 2026 - 12:00pm-1:30pm Dagoberto Eli Ramirez, Lecturer III |
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Jessica Sanchez Associate Director for Research & Innovation, Center for On-Line Learning & Teaching Technology (COLTT) |
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Robert Longoria Program Manager, Engaged Scholarship & Learning (ES&L) |
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This 90-minute panel-style workshop, facilitated by a first-year experience faculty member and two colleagues from campus support units, brings together three complementary mentoring approaches to help faculty intentionally design mentorship that extends beyond individual conversations. Participants will first explore evidence-based mentoring strategies grounded in academic coaching, culturally responsive practices, and first-year success research to support student self-efficacy, goal clarity, and reflective decision-making. The session then examines how mentorship can be embedded directly into learning environments – particularly through Brightspace – by using growth-mindset language, reflective scaffolds, and career-connected touchpoints that scale mentoring behaviors even when time is limited. Finally, participants will engage with experiential learning models that position faculty as mentors of emerging scholars, highlighting pathways for guided research, engaged scholarship, and career readiness. Together, these three segments offer practical tools and adaptable frameworks for designing mentorship that is purposeful, inclusive, and sustainable across courses, programs, and student experiences.
The Academic Bucket List: Reimagining Mentorship through the Lens of Happiness- Edinburg
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March 26, 2026 - 2:00pm-3:00pm Marcela Hebbard Senior Lecturer |
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This teaching conversation will invite faculty and staff to reimagine mentoring students by integrating the cultural concept of a “bucket list” with the "macronutrients of happiness"—Enjoyment, Satisfaction, and Purpose (Brooks, 2023). Participants will explore how to guide students in creating a personalized "Academic and Professional Bucket List," a roadmap designed around the three macronutrients to foster intentional goal setting. By helping students identify milestones that extend beyond degree requirements, this holistic approach aims to build student self-efficacy while also enriching the professional experience of the mentor.
Research Mentorship: Fostering Research, Academic, Personal and Professional Growth
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April 14, 2026 - 12:30pm-1:30pm Sue Anne Chew Associate Professor |
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This workshop will focus on sharing strategies to help faculty mentor students who are conducting research with them to help the students/mentees to grow not only in their research competencies but also achieve personal, academic and professional growth. We will also discuss about how an individual development plan (IDP) can be utilized as a personal roadmap for outlining students goals and planning out specific actions to achieve them.
Writing as Process: Mentoring (Thesis) Writers Through Individual Development Plan Learning Journals
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April 30, 2026 - 12:30pm-1:30pm Alyssa G. Cavazos Professor, Writing and Language Studies |
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The Academic Bucket List: Reimagining Mentorship through the Lens of Happiness- Brownsville
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May 01, 2026 - 11:00am-12:00pm Marcela Hebbard Senior Lecturer |
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This teaching conversation will invite faculty and staff to reimagine mentoring students by integrating the cultural concept of a “bucket list” with the "macronutrients of happiness"—Enjoyment, Satisfaction, and Purpose (Brooks, 2023). Participants will explore how to guide students in creating a personalized "Academic and Professional Bucket List," a roadmap designed around the three macronutrients to foster intentional goal setting. By helping students identify milestones that extend beyond degree requirements, this holistic approach aims to build student self-efficacy while also enriching the professional experience of the mentor.
Spring 2025
Exploring Intentional and Purposeful Requests for a Peer Observation of Teaching
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February 03, 2024 - 11:00am-12:00pm Alyssa G. Cavazos, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence |
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Art Brownlow, Professor, Music |
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In this workshop, we will explore strategies for how we can seek intentional feedback on our teaching and learning practices. We will also reflect on how we can identify an area of need and growth in our own teaching and how to draft meaningful questions for peer observers that will yield improvement of student learning and continuous teaching growth.
Conducting Growth-Oriented Peer Observations of Teaching Through Reciprocal Learning
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March 03, 2024 - 11:00am-12:00pm Alyssa G. Cavazos, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence |
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Teresa Feria Arroyo, Professor and director of the School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences (SIBCS), College of Sciences |
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Sue Anne Chew, Associate Professor, Health and Biomedical Sciences |
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Dagoberto Ramirez, Associate Professor, Health and Biomedical Sciences |
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In this workshop, we will explore evidence-based practices on how to conduct growth-oriented peer observations of teaching through reciprocal learning. We will explore peer observation of teaching frameworks and approaches aligned to faculty members' needs and intentional feedback requests while centering action-oriented feedback that leads to implementation and collection of evidence on the impact teaching revisions have on student learning and instructors' continuous improvement of teaching.
Reflecting on Peer Observation of Teaching Feedback: Exploring Implementation and Impact
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April 15, 2024 - 11:00am-12:00pm Alyssa G. Cavazos, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence |
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Constantine Tarawneh, Professor, Mechanical Engineering |
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Shaghayegh Setayesh, Senior Lecturer, Mathematical & Statistical Sciences |
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In this workshop, we will explore how to reflect on and implement feedback we receive from peer observations of teaching by engaging in proactive and action-oriented practices. We will also identify strategies for seeking additional feedback and resources for meaningful implementation and continuous teaching growth. Additionally, we will explore data collection approaches that allow us to reflect on the impact our teaching revisions have on student learning and growth.