Peer Consulting Program

The Center's Peer Consulting Program was created by faculty for faculty and we ran two groups: the first in 2005, and a second in 2009.

The goal of the program was to support quality teaching on campus by creating more opportunities for constructive and formative dialogues about teaching through one-on-one consultations with trained peer consultants from across the university. Faculty gave us positive feedback on working with a Peer Consultant:

  • "The peer consultant invested a tremendous amount of time in providing her comments, suggestions for improvement, and feedback to me."
  • "My peer consultant was very detailed in his evaluation of the class observation session. He offered very useful information to help with pacing and soliciting student feedback. He also provided leads to other good sources of information."

For the consultants, too, the program provided a new opportunity to hone skills in consulting, coaching, and listening, as well as deepening their understanding of what works in higher education settings and why.

“The Peer Consulting Program far exceeded expectations. The work I am doing was confirmed and supported."

The 2005–06 program was run by Therese Huston (Faculty Development) and Carol Weaver (College of Education) and our consultants from 2005 to 2008 were:

  • Jeffrey Anderson | College of Education
  • David Arnesen | Marketing, Albers School of Business and Economics
  • Sven Arvidson | Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Lee Holmer | Public Service, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Peggy Hudson | Biology, College of Science and Engineering
  • George Kunz | Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Vicky Minderhout | Chemistry, College of Science and Engineering
  • Dean Peterson | Economics, Albers School of Business and Economics
  • Jeremy Stringer | College of Education
  • Toni Vezeau | College of Nursing

The 2009-10 program was run by David Green (Faculty Development) and Sven Arvidson (Faculty Development; College of Arts and Sciences) and our consultants from 2009 to 2013 were:

  • John Carter | Mathematics, College of Science and Engineering
  • Michelle DuBois | Biology, College of Science and Engineering
  • Theresa Earenfight | History, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Nirmala (Nimmy) Gnanapragasam | Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Science and Engineering
  • Lyn Gualtieri | Environmental Science, College of Science and Engineering
  • John McLean | Management, Albers School of Business and Economics
  • Heath Spencer | History, College of Arts and Sciences

Peer consultants offered to make themselves available for consultations and classroom observations to any SU faculty member interested in gaining a new perspective on his or her teaching. As with all Faculty Development activities, all feedback was formative, voluntary, and confidential.

We hope to be able to launch a new cadre of Peer Consultants in the future.