The John M. Burns Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The 24th annual John M. Burns Conference will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025, with Dr. Ann Austin from Michigan State University. This conference is co-sponsored each year by the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center and the Teaching Academy. Named in honor of Dr. John M. Burns, who helped found the Teaching Academy, this conference is held each fall and features two sessions from an invited teacher-scholar and a poster session from recipients of the Annual Lawrence Schovanec Teaching Development Scholarship Award.

Morning Keynote | 10 a.m. - Noon

New Approaches to Teaching Evaluation: Evaluation Strategies that Enhance Teaching Quality

Teaching evaluation can be a pathway to more effective teaching and learning, better student learning outcomes, fairer recognition of faculty work, deeper conversations among colleagues about professional values and commitments, and stronger institutional cultures that foster teaching and learning excellence. However, typical approaches to teaching evaluation often fall far short of achieving these outcomes. Acknowledging critiques of usual strategies for teaching evaluation, this workshop will focus on important principles to guide more effective approaches to teaching evaluation.

Lunch & Poster Sessions | Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Recipients of the Lawrence Schovanec Teaching Development Scholarships will present posters sharing information from the conferences they attended. There will also be presentations from departments sharing examples of work they've done to improve teaching and teaching evaluation on the department level.

Afternoon Workshop | 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Improving Teaching as a Systemic Change Process: Strategies for Institutional Leaders (designed for deans, chairs, directors, and area coordinators)

Advancing transformative change toward an important institutional goal—such as improving teaching and learning through new approaches to teaching evaluation—requires a strategic and systemic approach. This workshop is designed especially to guide institutional leaders—including deans, department chairs, and leaders of units focused on teaching excellence and student success—to consider their roles in encouraging and supporting significant institutional change. We will discuss important levers and processes for fostering change in higher education, and why taking a systemic perspective is essential.

Learn more!

Follett Bookstore and TTU Libraries OER Adoption Initiative

The University Libraries and Follett Bookstore are partnering on an Open Educational Resources (OER) Adoption Initiative. Full-time and part-time faculty can:

• Receive a $750 stipend for using an OER - easy money!
• Submit short and simple application; stipends awarded on rolling basis.
• Easily utilize existing OER; no need to create your own.

The Follett Bookstore and TTU Libraries Open Educational Resources (OER) Adoption Initiative is funded by the TTU Follett Bookstore and supported by TTU Libraries. This initiative is intended to help increase OER adoption efforts in core curriculum classes at Texas Tech University. Generally, awards will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis and priority will be given to faculty who have never received funding from the Follett and TTU Libraries Open Educational Resources Adoption Initiative in the past. Funds received will serve as a one-time payment stipend to recognize the time and effort needed to select and adopt existing OER in a course.

Funding is limited to $750 per faculty member, per academic year. Awards will be taxed as a lump sum payment. Funds will only be granted to instructors of record who are interested in adopting pre-existing OER or other freely accessible material in their classrooms and they are not currently using OER or other freely accessible resources (such as open access or library-licensed materials). If faculty wish to create OER, they are encouraged to email the Online/OER Librarian (libraries.oer@ttu.edu) to discuss other funding opportunities.

Apply Now!

Learn more or email libraries.oer@ttu.edu.

American Association of University Professors (AAUP)  started in 1915, was instrumental in establishing main principles of shared governance in academia, still in place today. 

Texas Tech University Chapter was established in December of 2021 to serve ALL of its faculty involved in teaching and research- tenure-track, non-tenure track, full-time and part-time, as well as graduate TAs.  

As academic freedom is increasingly under attack on campuses throughout our country,  we work hard on behalf of our faculty to protect their freedom to speak up and to choose what to teach. 

Join your colleagues at Texas Tech University in speaking out and defending what's important to YOU.