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:
Faculty Travel & ASC funding process changes: In case you missed the announcement, as of January 1, financial things will be shifting fully to Oracle. This includes purchases and reimbursements for travel and ASC awards. While this means no more paper receipts or travel expense reports (woooohooo!), it does mean following a brand new process. Once I have finished my Oracle training this week, I will be writing a step-by-step process document to help guide you through it. Note that the pre-approval process will not be changing, only the reimbursement part.
COACHE working groups for Spring 2026: We are looking for 17 faculty to join a COACHE working group for the Spring 2026 semester and continue to work with colleagues on developing and discussing potential action steps from the faculty responses to the COACHE survey. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Wednesday, December 10. We anticipate 5 meetings across the semester, including the kickoff meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 4:30-5:30 pm. Participants will receive a stipend for their work.
ICYMI: Are you interested in integrating Community-Engaged Learning into a new or revised course in an upcoming semester? The Community Impact Hub (CIH) is pleased to announce a call for applicants to participate in the Spring 2026 Community-Engaged Learning Faculty Development Cohort. Participating faculty will receive a $500.00 stipend. HERE is the application and additional information. If you have any questions, please contact Lauren Paulson (PI, CIH): lpaulson@allegheny.edu or Colin Hurley (Director, CIH) churley@allegheny.edu.
Winter break rest & recharge: Please don’t forget to take a little bit of time over winter break to do whatever you need to do to recharge. The University of Colorado offers these five tips for making that happen.
Allegheny Awesome: Chris Normile, Assistant Professor of Psychology, shares a mock-trial activity he implements in his Legal Psychology course. He writes:
“During the semester, my students participate in a mock trial that allows them to apply many of the concepts we’ve covered. Earlier in the semester, they learn the basic structure of a trial, including opening statements, direct and cross-examination, re-cross, closing arguments, and the role of the jury. For the mock trial, students choose roles (defendant, attorneys, witnesses, jurors, expert witness), and I serve as the judge (dressed in a gown and everything). We use a fictional homicide case, and students prepare by studying their roles and developing questions for testimony. The Friday before trial, the lawyers meet with witnesses from both sides to ask them questions to help prepare for the case.
On Day 1, we hear opening statements and the prosecution’s witnesses. Day 2 is devoted to the defense’s case and closing remarks. On Day 3, the jury deliberates and reaches a verdict. Before they announce the verdict to the class, I meet with the jurors to debrief their process. I ask them how they evaluated evidence, what they focused on, and how course concepts shaped their interpretations. It’s always interesting to see how psychological principles show up naturally in their reasoning. Sometimes their background knowledge influences the weight they assign to certain types of evidence, which leads to good discussions about bias and real-world jury decision-making (which we emphasize later in the semester). This activity gives me a clearer sense of how students are thinking, and it helps them connect course material to legal procedures in a concrete and memorable way. In the past, students have told me it’s one of their favorite activities in the class, and this year was no different.”
Thank you for sharing this, Chris! If you are interested in learning how to do something like this in your course, please reach out to him.
Updates from the Library
Library Resource Showcase: Hathi Trust Digital Library Collection. The HathiTrust Digital Library provides access to a collection of millions of books and journals digitized from libraries around the world. Materials are dated from 1500 to the present, and cover subjects typical of any large North American research library. Items in the public domain — more than a third of the collection — are fully available for everyone, and items held in copyright are full-text searchable. Allegheny users receive enhanced service by logging into Hathi Trust. Please contact a Librarian at researchinstruction@allegheny.edu for further assistance or information using Hathi Trust or any other resource.
Call for Spring 2026 Course Reserves: Please see the steps below for submitting books, videos, or audio materials to Course Reserves for the Spring 2026 semester: Fill out the Course Reserves Google Form and indicate if the item is already part of our library collection or if you will be stopping by with a personal copy. -OR- Stop by Pelletier and speak with Kirsten Hauser about placing Pelletier items or personal copy items on course reserves. If you have any questions, please feel free to email libraryservices@allegheny.edu
Resource on getting off on the right foot this spring: Jumpstart the spring semester with practical ideas to engage students and energize your classroom. CREATE’s Kick Start Spring guide offers ready‑to‑use activities that make participation easy and meaningful from day one.
From the Center for Career and Professional Development
CCPD newsletter: Faculty and staff have recently received an update from the Center for Career and Professional Development about opportunities available to students. All of these have been vetted by the CCPD, and in this most recent edition, ALL of the opportunities are connected to Allegheny alums who are eager to help our current students! Our hope is that you will recognize opportunities that might be good for students you know, and encourage them directly to apply. Often, the best motivator for students is when a trusted advisor or mentor tells them they’d be good at something and encourages them to give it a try!
Readings, Slides, and Guides
Joy in the classroom: This article by Beckie Supiano is about restoring joy in the classroom and includes a discussion about working together with her students for rebuilding what was broken. There’s also an option to listen to this story instead of reading it.
Classroom activity comparing Wikipedia, GenAI, and traditional encyclopedias: Professor Katherine Holt from the College of Wooster wrote about an activity they do with their history students to build information literacy skills. This sounds like an easily adaptable activity for folks looking to teach about AI literacy and information literacy in their own disciplines.
Upcoming Opportunities
International Education Conference: The International Conference on Re(imagining) and Re(forming) Education: Navigation the New Educational Frontier, hosted by the Department of Education at Forman Christian College (Pakistan), will be Feb. 13-14. The abstract submission deadline is December 25.
Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) Grant Dialogues: CUR and the National Grants Management Association (NGMA) are joining forces to bring you a reimagined Grant Dialogues—a two-day virtual professional development event, February 10-11, designed to help you confidently navigate today’s complex funding landscape. Early-bird registration ends on Friday, December 12.
American University in Bulgaria & Fulbright Science of Disinformation Symposium Call for Proposals: AUBG’s Center for Information, Democracy, and Citizenship is hosting an online symposium on February 6 and is currently accepting proposals until December 19. More information here.
Two faculty development opportunities from the Office of the Provost: As a reminder, the Office of the Provost sent an email on December 1 detailing two different opportunities: the CIC Faculty Leadership Academy and the NCFDD Faculty Success Program. If you lost the email, you can find a PDF of it here.
Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) AI Ready Program: You should have received an email from the AI Task Force outlining this program. This year-long series introduces foundational concepts of AI through topical discussions, practical examples, and guided virtual learning tailored to different campus roles. Whether you’re in academics, administration, or student support, there’s something for everyone, and we have unlimited spaces available as a perk of our membership in the cohort. If you are interested in participating, please contact Katrina Yeung (kyeung@allegheny.edu).