ACS Workshop: Telling Your Own Story of Success | Associated Colleges of the South

June 17, 2026 – 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Virtual Workshop)

Most Centers for Teaching and Learning track attendance—but we know that simply “showing up” does not directly equate with meaningful engagement or learning. If we encourage faculty to assess based on learning objectives and active participation, shouldn’t our centers do the same?

This interactive session explores how CTLs can move beyond headcounts toward an intentional, mission-aligned assessment framework. Drawing on the concept of an assessment repository to support academic programs, we’ll consider how these tools can also help centers clarify their purpose, measure what truly matters, and tell a compelling story of impact. Participants will leave with practical strategies for developing an assessment compass that reflects their center’s values and demonstrates its institutional contribution.

Click here to learn about the facilitators for this workshop.

Who Facilitates Telling Your Own Story of Success?

Diane E. Boyd is the Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Mary Seawell Metz ’58 Executive Director of the Faculty Development Center at Furman University in Greenville, SC. She leads equitable course design, organizational learning, and holistic professional development for faculty and academic staff across the academic life cycle. Boyd has been an active collaborator at the consortia level, facilitating multi-campus initiatives through the Associated Colleges of the South, including a Diversity and Inclusion Grant-funded curriculum for building anti-racist teaching and learning environments and the Mid-Career Advancement Pathways Program (MAPP), designed to help colleagues cultivate purposeful, joy-centered pathways for professional growth. Her recent publications address threshold concepts and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, reducing mid-career burnout through values-infused, coaching-informed programming, and developing signature coaching capacities to support organizational thriving.

Stephanie D. Freis is the Associate Director of the Faculty Development Center at Furman University in Greenville, SC. In this role she supports faculty and staff across the career lifecycle, advancing evidence-based teaching and scholarship, while fostering professional well-being and community. Freis earned her MA and PhD from The Ohio State University in Social Psychology and previously worked as a tenured, Associate Professor of Psychology at Presbyterian College. She continues to research two primary themes: 1) narcissism and entitlement in non-clinical populations, and 2) teaching and learning in the college context. Freis has led initiatives in curricular assessment, dialogic facilitation, and professional development, including creating a first-year faculty mentorship program and writing accountability groups. She now partners with colleagues across campuses to offer workshops and consultations as well as advise on ethical AI use. She is currently designing an AI-powered bot to guide faculty through the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) process. Driven by her advocacy for first-generation students and career professionals, Freis works to empower instructors and transform the academic experience for students and educators alike.

JT Torres directs the Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning at Washington & Lee University. He earned a PhD in Educational Psychology from Washington State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Georgia College & State University. He researches the relationship between literacy, identity, and learning. His co-authored book, How to Use Writing for Teaching and Learning, is informed by his research into the ways students write themselves into a disciplinary identity. Torres approaches literacy as an inclusive process, relying on culturally sustaining practices that frame reading and writing as acts of agency and social engagement, a point frequently made in his co-edited book, How to Incorporate Equity and Justice in Your Teaching. He also explored, in Situated Narratives and Sacred Dance, the ways oral literacy practices sustained the social memory of Arará communities in Cuba. He has two forthcoming books: one focused on assessment, Nonviolent Response: Strategies for Responding to Writing, and the other focused on interdependent instruction, Teaching, Learning, and Caring in Higher Education: How to Cultivate an Interdependent Classrooms.

We look forward to your participation in these community-driven conversations and learning opportunities. Contact swilliams@acsouth.edu with questions.

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