Presention by Beth Pugliano, President of the University of Colorado Association of Lecturers and Instructors  (UCDALI)

I am absolutely delighted to present the Provost’s Award for Best Practices Related to Instructional, Research and Clinical Faculty to ThinqStudio.

A cross-campus committee of IRC and tenure-track faculty representing four schools/colleges, UCDALI, Faculty Assembly and the previous year’s recipient selects the winner of this award. After reviewing the nominees’ materials, the committee was convinced that ThinqStudio was not so much engaged in a single best practice, but that ThinqStudio is the best practice. 

The committee was impressed with ThinqStudio’s ethos of integration, and the clear ways consideration of IRC faculty as valued members of the community is embedded in everything ThinqStudio does. We also commend ThinqStudio’s awareness of and commitment to the critical role IRC faculty play in driving pedagogical innovation on campus, and applaud its efforts to create community and inclusivity by preemptively addressing factors known to contribute to the marginalization of IRC faculty. As one CTT faculty member wrote in support of ThinqStudio’s nomination, “ThinqStudio matters. … ThinqStudio is CU Denver’s ticket to becoming a leader and innovator within higher education through championing faculty and nurturing ideas that challenge the status quos of ‘what is’ to open up endless possibilities and ‘what ifs.’”

Accepting this award for ThinqStudio are Director Dennis Debay, Associate Director Lisa Forbes, and founding member Pam Laird.