Educators' Collaborative
Join a community of educators who share your commitment to teaching excellence and educational innovation. The Educators’ Collaborative offers space to learn from peers, share ideas and grow as an educator.
Connect with health science educators
The Educators’ Collaborative brings together faculty, staff and educators from across OHSU and partner institutions. Members share ideas, explore new teaching strategies and collaborate on curriculum design, mentorship and scholarship. This member-driven community supports professional growth and fosters connections that strengthen education across OHSU.
What you’ll get as a member
- Monthly newsletter. Get news, events, and highlights from across the OHSU education community.
- Networking opportunities. Find collaborators, mentors and groups aligned with your interests. View the current member database to see who’s involved and whether their interests and skills match yours.
- Collaborative groups. Join or start a topic-based group focused on teaching, research, health equity and more.
- Training and events. Attend monthly Education Grand Rounds, online workshops and the yearly Symposium on Educational Excellence.
- Leadership opportunities. Host workshops, present your work or take on a leadership role within the Educators’ Collaborative advisory group.
Who can join: Anyone at OHSU can join, including students, trainees, staff and faculty across all missions, schools, departments and programs. Educators outside of OHSU are also welcome.
Collaborative groups (pods and seeds)
Connect with educators who share your interests through our topic-based collaborative groups.
How it works
- Pods are groups with overarching areas of professional and academic interest shared by many members.
- Seeds are smaller, focused groups within pods for collaborating and learning new skills.
When you join, choose a seed that matches your interests. Each seed focuses on a specific topic and connects to a broader pod theme.
Current groups
Teaching, learning and assessment pod
AI in education seed
Explore best practices for using generative AI in health education. This seed is perfect for educators curious about integrating AI tools into teaching.
Email Jeffrey Jones at jonesjef@ohsu.edu or John Ansorge at ansorgej@ohsu.edu to join.
Writing instruction seed
For instructors, tutors and support staff who work with student writing. This seed provides a space to share strategies and collaborate on improving student writing outcomes.
Training and instructional design pod
Culturally aware mentorship seed
Focus on intentionality and cultural humility in mentoring relationships while connecting with peers committed to equitable practices.
Education scholarship and research pod
Writing seed
Connect with accountability partners and peer reviewers to strengthen your education scholarship writing and stay motivated in your research.
Complete the interest form to join the writing seed.
Qualitative research book club seed
Our latest book is "Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide" by Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke. We hold monthly online meetings on the first Wednesday of each month, from 3 to 4 p.m., February through September.
Email Laura Zeigen at zeigenl@ohsu.edu or Sylvia Nelsen at nelsens@ohsu.edu to join.
Health equity pod
Explore health equity best practices.
If you’d like to start a new seed in one of these pods, complete the interest form.
Events
Education Grand Rounds
Join monthly Education Grand Rounds on the second Wednesday of each month from noon to 1 p.m. to explore topics in teaching and learning. Sessions are virtual and open to all members.
Recent topics:
- Digital accessibility and universal design
- AI in health professions education
- Addressing bias in course evaluations
- Building community through small groups
- Educational scholarship and funding opportunities
Upcoming Education Grand Rounds
Wednesday, January 14 | Twenty(ish) questions: things to ask yourself to build an effective educational research question.
Successful research projects and programs of research are dependent on the formulation of research questions that are well matched to the methods of study, existing body of literature and theory. This presentation will review questions to consider when designing an effective research question for educational scholarship in health professionals education. Presented by Michael Cosimini, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics.
Past Education Grand Rounds
Have an idea for a future Education Grand Rounds? Submit your idea or request to present.
Symposium on Educational Excellence
The Symposium on Educational Excellence is our annual spring event where you can submit proposals, share your work and connect with other educators. The symposium provides professional development, highlights educator scholarship and promotes networking across the OHSU education community.
Leadership opportunities
The Educators' Collaborative offers many leadership roles and ways to contribute to the education community. All members can pursue leadership opportunities, including students and trainees.
Ways to get involved
- Present at Education Grand Rounds or suggest speakers and topics
- Host workshops and professional development sessions
- Join the Symposium on Educational Excellence planning committee
- Start or facilitate collaborative groups (seeds) around your areas of interest
- Run for elected positions on the Educators’ Collaborative advisory group
Advisory group leadership positions
The Educators’ Collaborative advisory group provides strategic oversight and coordinates Educators’ Collaborative activities. Members elect most positions for two-year terms, with elections held each June for terms beginning September 1.
Members interested in leadership roles can self-nominate or others can nominate them.
Executive leadership:
- Chair-elect: Assists the chair and focuses on future Educators’ Collaborative directions (one-year term, must have prior advisory group experience)
- Chair: Oversees activities, runs monthly meetings, serves as liaison with other organizations and submits budget requests (one-year term)
- Past-chair: Organizes Education Grand Rounds, provides mentorship and serves as chair when needed (one-year term)
Executive leadership follows a three-year cycle, progressing from chair-elect to chair to past-chair.
Operational roles:
- Secretary: Takes meeting notes and keeps communication channels updated (two-year term)
- Membership Coordinator: Recruits new members, tracks recruitment patterns, manages membership database and chairs the nominations committee (two-year term)
- Communications Coordinator: Produces the monthly newsletter, maintains the website and creates promotional materials (no term limit)
Program coordination:
- Pod Coordinator: Supports collaborative groups (pods and seeds), manages Teams channels and produces annual impact reports (two-year term)
- SEE chair: Directs the annual Symposium on Educational Excellence and leads the planning committee (one-year term)
- SEE chair-elect: Assists with symposium planning and focuses on future event development (one-year term)
Representative roles:
- Members at large: Represent underrepresented schools, departments or divisions and assist other leadership roles (two-year term)
- Learners at large: Provides student, resident, fellow or postdoc perspective (two-year term, must be current trainee)
- Member ex-officio: Past advisory group member whose institutional memory and expertise support the group's effectiveness (no term limit)
Current leadership
- Chair: Robin Stiller
- Chair-elect: open
- Past-chair: Jessica Walter
- Secretary: Heather Hawk
- Membership coordinator: Jeffrey Jones
- Pod coordinator: open
- Communications coordinator: Devon Ritter
- SEE chair: Pam Meyers
- SEE chair-elect: open
- Members at large: Cristian Mendoza Ruvalcaba and Kristin Whitman; one position open
- Learners at large: Ravneet Waraich; one position open
- Member ex-officio: open
Faculty jobs
Explore open faculty and educator positions at OHSU.
Contact us
Email us at educollab@ohsu.edu with any questions.
Educational Improvement and Innovation at OHSU
Discover what we offer:
Symposium on Educational Excellence
Join OHSU's annual spring symposium to share your educational scholarship, learn from colleagues and connect with educators across disciplines.
Watch Education Grand Rounds
Explore monthly sessions on teaching and learning topics, featuring expert presentations and innovative practices in health and science education.