The Institute for Teaching Excellence and Student Success

The Institute for Teaching Excellence and Student Success is a DU Forward–funded initiative designed to strengthen teaching practices that elevate student belonging, persistence, and overall success. This webpage provides an overview of the institute’s purpose, the research and student experience data that ground its approach, the key concepts explored during the two‑day program, and the learning outcomes faculty can expect. You’ll also find information on how the institute builds on DU’s foundation of faculty–student engagement, along with details on how to get involved through nominations.
 

This webpage covers:
About the Institute 
Objectives 
Get Involved

About the Institute

The Institute for Teaching Excellence and Student Success, is a DU Forward funded initiative, co-led by Faculty Success and Student Success. This opportunity involves a two-day institute, designed to elevate teaching excellence, strengthen student belonging, promote persistence, and advance Academic Affairs Goal #1 priorities.   

DU students consistently rate our faculty more highly than our peers in their relationships with faculty, and the quality of those relationships.  

    • In the 2024 NSSE, DU seniors ranked their experiences with faculty and effective teaching practices significantly higher than our peer institutions. 
    • 2025 DU Student Experience Survey: Almost all (91%) survey respondents have had at least one professor at DU who makes them excited about learning. Students gave high ratings for the availability of faculty members outside of scheduled class time (85% rated as excellent or good). The most common mentors reported were professors (65%).  Most students agreed/strongly agreed that 87% of faculty treat them with respect, with 71% believing that professors at DU care about them as a person. 

“A substantial body of research, conducted over more than 50 years, makes clear that faculty-student interaction is a key factor in promoting student success, particularly among those students who most need support, such as first-generation college students and students of color.”

— (Kezar and Maxey, 2014, p. 30)

Objectives

This institute builds on our already-strong foundation of faculty–student engagement to expand faculty toolkits in supporting today’s students. 

INSTITUTE LEARNING OUTCOMES:

  1. Increase faculty understanding of the connection between classroom practices and student success, retention, and sense of belonging; 
  2. Equip faculty with the knowledge, skills, and tools to effectively support students which contributes student persistence and retention;  
  3. Enhance the 4D Student Experience through advancing holistic education and student thriving. 

KEY CONCEPTS:

COMMUNITY
Student and faculty relationships are a key strength of DU. This institute considers classroom-level strategies for fostering the peer-to-peer community among students.  

TRANSPARENCY
Teaching transparently involves letting students into the “why” of the work they do in the classroom. This institute will introduce faculty to the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) model and the importance of engaging students in the purposes, tasks, and criteria of class work.  

SCAFFOLDING
Students entering college now need different supports or scaffolds for success due to societal, educational, and demographic shifts. Faculty are positioned to make small changes to classroom practice that align with the needs of current students and research about how students learn.  

How To Get Involved

We are soliciting nominations, if you’d like to self-nominate or nominate a colleague, email Leslie Cramblet Alvarez at leslie.alvarez@du.edu