The Faculty Development Digest highlights events and resources that may be of interest to faculty and other educators on campus. The Digest will be posted on the Faculty Resources site periodically throughout the year. If you have an item that you would like to suggest for inclusion in a future issue, please send the details to Director of Faculty Development Lisa Whitenack at lwhitena@allegheny.edu. To access previous issues, use the links in the Recent Posts box or on this page.
From the Director of Faculty Development:
We have come to the end of another semester! This will probably be the last Faculty Development Digest until August; I know that everyone has an assortment of summer plans, and reading emails is perhaps not the priority. I will still be available for your faculty development needs over the summer months, but I will be travelling several times and may not be able to immediately answer questions via email. Some travel is for fun (family vacation to New Mexico in June!), but most trips are for scholarship or college stuff (research in Florida, conference, COACHE institute) – lucky for me, these are still mostly fun! Whatever your summer plans are, I hope that they are restorative!
Important deadline for getting reimbursed: Please remember to turn in all Faculty Travel or ASC Grant reimbursement requests to Lisa Whitenack (Box 10 or right in my mailbox in Steffee B101) by Friday, June 6, so that they can be processed before the end of the fiscal year. In particular, please submit any remaining requests before heading out of town for summer travel. Original, itemized receipts should be accompanied by a completed Travel/Entertainment Report form with an ink signature. Additional information is available on the Faculty Funding page. If you turn in your faculty travel paperwork and receipts too late, they may have to get charged to the next fiscal year’s faculty travel. This means that you will have fewer funds available in the cycle that starts on July 1 because you will have already pulled from them. If your travel is between June 6 and 30, and you haven’t already talked to Lisa about this, please do so ASAP.
ASC funding reports: If you received an ASC grant for the current fiscal year (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025), please remember to complete the Funding Report submission form by June 30. This form and further details are available on the ASC Grant Applications page. Please contact ASC Chair Terry Bensel (tbsensel@allegheny.edu) or Lisa Whitenack (lwhitena@allegheny.edu) with any questions. Please note that if you do not turn in this report, you are not eligible for ASC funds in future award cycles until we’ve received your report.
Sabbatical/Pre-Tenure Leave Reports: If you had a sabbatical or pre-tenure leave during the 2024/25 academic year, please remember to submit your leave report using the form on this page. For fall one-semester leaves, reports were due by March 31. For spring one-semester leaves and two-semester (fall/spring) leaves, reports are due by October 31. Questions can be directed to Lisa (lwhitena@allegheny.edu)
ICYMI: Spring 2025 Educator Resource Institute (ERI): The Spring 2025 ERI took place on Tuesday, May 13. If you missed it or need to go back and look at materials, they are linked in the schedule here.
Updates from the Library
Summer research students & the library: Research librarians are offering summer research support to both students and faculty. We want to partner with you! Sessions can be tailored to individuals or groups. Email researchinstruction@allegheny.edu for more information. *New to our research repertoire includes support of digital humanities, archives and special collections research and research projects. Contact us today!
Librarians are here to help faculty, too!: Faculty can set up individual meetings with librarians over the summer to get help with moving from Zoom to Meet, Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc), Canvas, faculty research, and integrating librarian sessions into classes. Please go to the Library Resources for Faculty page to schedule an appointment.
Open access publishing opportunities: You can find information about open access publishing opportunities that Allegheny has with various publishers and journals here. You can also find the slide deck associated with the presentation that Tressa Snyder and Brian Kern gave here. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Brian (bkern@allegheny.edu) with questions!
From the Office of Inclusive Excellence
Sustained Dialogue: The Office of Student and Community Development is seeking anyone from the campus community interested in participating in moderator training as part of the Sustained Dialogue initiative on campus. Participants will learn to moderate conversations with others that prompt change and understanding through listening deeply to each other. Dialogue sessions occur over the space of several sessions throughout the semester.A Virtual Moderator Training Series will be offered through the Sustained Dialogue Institute beginning June 9th and concluding on July 7th. Sessions begin at 1pm and will last 4 hours. More information about the Sustained Dialogue Institute can be found here
Summer Moderator Training. If interested, please contact Anne Butcher at abutcher@allegheny.edu by June 2nd to be registered for the free training.
Readings, Slides, and Guides – stock up for summer!
Using AI in the classroom: Attitudes among faculty range from embracing GenAI fully to prohibiting it completely, and everything in between. While we will be providing plenty of faculty development opportunities around AI in the next academic year, you may be interested in this article by Lisa Delgado Brown in Faculty Focus. In the article, she outlines several potential strategies for incorporating AI into your classroom, including how to teach students about ethical considerations. (Note that if you can’t access the article, you can sign up for a free subscription to see it)
More AI in the classroom: The Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University, just down I-79 from us, has established the GAITER Initiative. No, they’re not going to steal Chompers as their mascot. GAITER stands for “Generative AI Teaching As Research.” Included in this initiative are GAITER Fellows, faculty who are doing pedagogical research projects on AI in the classroom. You can read all about their projects and data-driven conclusions here. Projects include studies such as “Does student use of generative AI while completing formal writing assignments impact students’ writing performance?” and “To what extent does student use of generative AI impact the rate of change in students’ abilities to critically read and analyze academic papers?”
Solve a teaching problem: I just today learned that Eberly Center also has a “Solve a Teaching Problem” website – click on a problem that you’re having, and it’ll walk you through potential reasons for the problem and strategies to solve the problem. Folks from the Eberly Center say that some of these are a little out of date, and one of their big summer projects is updating this website. However, it’s still pretty useful!
Creating inclusive learning environments for international students: This short guide, written by Dr. Thilagha Jagaiah (who was an international student herself), contains five strategies for creating a more welcoming classroom for international students.
How to mentor anyone in academia: No matter your career stage, part of being a faculty member is mentoring. Yes, we are all (hopefully) mentoring students, but we are also mentoring other faculty too. This interview, published in Inside Higher Ed, talks through some of the main points in Maria Lamonaca Wisdom’s book, How to Mentor Anyone in Academia. This book will be coming to the faculty development collection in Pelletier in the coming months, and faculty institutional mentors for the next academic year will be receiving a copy as well.
Why aren’t students reading? You can either watch this three-minute video or read the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. And yes, there is some irony in watching a video instead of reading the article about not reading.
Co-creating classroom rules: It may seem too early to be thinking about the fall semester, but it’s not! Summer can be a great time for having some breathing room to truly think about potential changes to future courses. One change folks may be considering making is co-creating ground rules or classroom norms with their students. This article in Faculty Focus walks through some ways to do that and why it may be a great idea for your classroom.
Upcoming Opportunities
Duquesne University National Research Scholars Program: The Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law at Duquesne University invites scholars and researchers in the United States to apply for the Grefenstette National Research Scholars program for Academic Year 2025-2026. The National Research Scholars program is a small community of scholars from all backgrounds and traditions who come together monthly and discuss their research on the intersections of technology, society, and faith, broadly construed. Areas of study include but are not limited to critical AI/critical technology studies, responsible AI studies, ethics, religious studies, sociology of religion, intersectional approaches to technology and society, and theology. Applications are due May 30. You can read more about the program here.
Free online professional development course on research methodology: The Center for Learning and Teaching at Forman Christian College University, Lahore, is excited to offer a FREE online professional development course on Research Methodology 2025 – based on the Researcher Development Framework (RDF). Here is the information (emojis came with the message, not from Lisa):
June 11 – July 8, 2025 | 23 webinars on different days and times
Online via Zoom | Registration link (Zoom link will be shared once you register)
Course Schedule | Schedule carries expert(s) & session(s) info
Who can benefit: | Scholars, postgraduate students, refresh/strengthen research skills
Course benefits | Online Access to Recordings, Slides, Resources
Digital Participation Certificates ** for participants who attend full sessions
Fullbright-IMC Krems: The application period for the prestigious Fulbright-IMC Krems Visiting Professor Award is now open. This award offers a unique opportunity for scholars to engage in a combination of teaching and research at IMC Krems, a renowned internationally oriented University of Applied Sciences in Austria. The program aims to foster international collaboration and academic exchange and strengthening ties between the United States and Austria. We highly encourage eligible candidates to apply and take advantage of this exceptional opportunity. IMC Krems is known for its practice-oriented education, international focus, and close collaboration with industry partners. Located in the picturesque town of Krems, the university offers a vibrant academic environment with state-of-the-art facilities and a strong emphasis on student satisfaction and employability. With a diverse range of degree programs in business, health, and science & technology, IMC Krems is committed to developing the talents of its students and preparing them for successful careers. For more details about the Fulbright-IMC Krems Visiting Professor Award and the application process, please visit Fulbright Austria.