Faculty Resources

From the Director of Faculty Development:

Allegheny Awesome: This week’s edition of Allegheny Awesome is about a campus-wide activity that many of you may be participating in – the simulation of an outbreak of Marburg virus disease for Becky Dawson’s Epidemiology course (BIO/GHS 321). As Becky described in her email seeking participants, “One of the key tenets of an outbreak investigation is tracking down cases and their contacts. I would like my students to have a real-life/boots-on-the-ground experience of finding individuals who may be ill or exposed to the disease.”  Becky sent index cards with patient information to various folks on campus, and students must track down the patients to collect their information. Just like in real life, students won’t be able to get in touch with every person of interest. I’ve included my card below in case you’re curious. This is a great example of how Allegheny faculty think creatively about their pedagogy. (H/T to Caryl Wagget for bringing this to the Digest!)

If you have a cool pedagogical thing that you’re doing and would like to share, please email me! If you’ve seen a colleague doing something awesome in the classroom or while advising that people should know about, please let me know! If you’ve discovered the key to staying productive in your scholarship while juggling all of the things, send me an email! From there, I will follow up with folks and work with them to write a paragraph or two for a future Faculty Development Digest. 

Faculty Development office hours: The Pelletier 308 suite is under construction as we get the HVAC fixed.  Lisa Whitenack will still be holding office hours in Pelletier and will be hanging out on the main floor during her usual office hours (Mondays from 1:30-5 pm and Thursdays from 8-9 am & 11 am-12 pm. No appointment is necessary!). If you need to come chat with her about something confidential, we can easily find a space to do that.

RSE reminder: Please don’t forget that Reports of Student Experience (RSEs, our “student evaluations”) are scheduled for the week of Dec. 2. If you are new to Allegheny’s RSEs or would like some resources on about them and how to interpret the results, we have a website for that!

From the Office of Inclusive Excellence

Microagressions training: On Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024, Boundless Awareness will host a free, 90 minute, virtual workshop on Microaggressions from 12pm-1:30pm.  Boundless Awareness helps individuals and organizations build inclusive spaces through interactive educational experiences. This session is open to all College employees. If you are interested in learning more about Microaggressions, please register here at this link.

Sustained Dialogue faculty moderators needed! The Office of Inclusive Excellence is partnering with the Sustained Dialogue Institute to offer Moderator Training to any interested member of the campus community. This free workshop series, consisting of 3 sessions in December, will offer individuals the opportunity to lead fun, engaging and moderate conversations that prompt change and understanding through listening deeply to each other. More information about the Sustained Dialogue Institute can be found here.

December Fridays: Accelerated Virtual Sustained Dialogue Skill Series

Dec. 6th, 1-5pm Eastern/ 10a-2p Pacific

Dec. 13th, 1-5pm Eastern/ 10a-2p Pacific

Dec. 20th, 1-5pm Eastern/ 10a-2p Pacific

If interested, please contact Anne Butcher at abutcher@allegheny.edu by December 3rd to be registered.

Updates from the Library

Spring syllabus planning: As you develop your syllabi for spring courses, the library encourages faculty to build in a librarian visit to your classroom. One of several librarians will engage with your students to build skills in information literacy, research strategies, using citations, and more. It’s never too early to request a classroom visit. See the library’s Research Instruction Classes page for more details.

Readings, Slides, and Guides

AI: If you missed the virtual workshop with Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant on “Empowering Learning with Integrity in the Age of AI”, you can find the recording and slides here. The GLCA also passes along several recent articles of interest: one from the Chronicle called “Cheating has become normal: faculty members are overwhelmed and the solutions aren’t clear“, and one from The Atlantic called “ChatGPT doesn’t have to ruin college” that also talks about having an honor code. Note that the Atlantic one requires a subscription, but there is an option to start a free trial for access to the article.

Closing out classes: We’re just a few weeks from the end of the semester! This article by Kristi Rudenga, “7 ideas to perk up your last day of class“, talks about how to thoughtfully end your course with a “flourish instead of a fizzle”.  This article by Beth McMurtie from 2022 makes a case for ending the semester with review. Finally, Brock Toggerson and the U Mass Amherst Center of Teaching & Learning share their tips for wrapping up the semester strong (6 min. video plus an article).

Community partnerships: Preparing Students to Engage in Equitable Community Partnerships (Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Ed, November 14, 2024) is a  40-minute podcast dealing with how to avoid issues that arise from community partners if students aren’t well prepared for partnerships.

Student autonomy: A new paper in Science Advances discusses a study on how class policies supporting student autonomy increase class attendance and subject mastery. If you don’t want to read the entire paper, Megan Sumeracki offers a summary in the Learning Scientists blog.

Upcoming Opportunities

2025 Provost’s Summit:Fostering Inclusive Excellence in an Evolving Educational Landscape, Feb. 6 & 7.  Ball State University’s Division of Online and Strategic Learning, Office of Inclusive Excellence, and Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs are pleased to announce the 2025 Provost’s Summit: Fostering Inclusive Excellence in an Evolving Educational Landscape taking place virtually on February 6 and 7, 2025. This virtual summit will showcase meaningful and inclusive work of faculty, staff, and students at Ball State University, across the Midwest region, and beyond. We invite you to share your teaching practices, especially those related to meaningful and inclusive learning experiences for students. The program committee is accepting proposals for individual and panel sessions that center on Assessment Practices, Inclusive Pedagogy Practices, Innovative Teaching Practices, and Trends in Higher Education. Description of proposal categories and session formats as well as a link to submit proposals can be found on the summit webpage. Deadline for proposal submission is December 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm (EST).

3rd International Conference on Education: Shaping Equitable Education: Inclusion, Innovation, & Impact, Feb. 21-22. The Department of Education at Forman Christian College University is pleased to host the 3rd International Conference on Education: Shaping Equitable Education: Inclusion, Innovation, & Impact. The aim of this conference is to explore new theories, frameworks, models, methods, technologies, and strategies to address crucial issues in inclusive and equitable education. This event will bring together a diverse group of experts, practitioners, researchers, leaders, and policy planners from around the world to share their research findings, innovative practices, and creative ideas to overcome the challenges of inclusive and equitable quality education for all. The conference welcomes research papers on the following key streams: Innovation in Teaching and Learning; Professional Competences for Future Workforce; Leadership, Policy Planning and Strategic Improvement; and Ethical Considerations in Equitable Education. The deadline for Abstract Submission: 20th December, 2024; Early Bird Participant & Presenter Registration Deadline: 1st January, 2025. Details on sub-themes, registration, submission guidelines, and the conference program can be found on the conference webpage.

Another World is Possible: A Global Racial and Social Justice Summit: Call for Presenters: Please join the Great Lakes Colleges Association and Global Liberal Arts Alliance on February 13-16, 2025, for an in-person Global Racial and Social Justice summit at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The conference is being sponsored by the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom at Antioch College. Further information can be found here.

From the Director of Faculty Development:

Allegheny Awesome: Since nobody sent me an item for this month’s digest, I’ve decided to highlight something that Brad Hersh introduced me to when we started co-teaching our introductory biology courses last year. On exam days before we pass out the exam, Brad has students write what they’re worried about on a piece of paper, crumple it in a ball, and then throw it at him. Not only do the students find this amusing, but research shows that writing about this kind of fear can boost exam performance because this frees up brainpower to focus on the exam instead of the anxiety (Ramirez & Beilock, 2011). As an added bonus, we can collect all of those papers and see how our students are feeling going into the exam.

If you have a cool pedagogical thing that you’re doing and would like to share, please email me! If you’ve seen a colleague doing something awesome in the classroom or while advising that people should know about, please let me know! If you’ve discovered the key to staying productive in your scholarship while juggling all of the things, send me an email! From there, I will follow up with folks and work with them to write a paragraph or two for a future Faculty Development Digest. 

Faculty Development office hours: Do you need help with your travel reimbursement? Do you want to talk about an idea or issue related to faculty development? Or perhaps you just never knew there were offices behind the Collaboratory and want to say hi? Lisa Whitenack will be holding office hours in Pelletier 308B on Mondays from 1:30-5 pm and Thursdays from 8-9 am & 11 am-12 pm. No appointment is necessary! Note that there will be no office hours the week of Nov. 11 because Lisa will be at a conference for professional development folks.

Academic Advising

As we jump into approving schedules for our academic advisees, remember that there are several resources available to help you with advising students, whether you are advising undeclared students or students who have already declared. One of your first stops should be the Advising Handbook as you work with students. It is updated each year and is a wonderful resource!

We are also trying something new this year! As you may have noticed, sometimes the course descriptions in the Catalogue may not speak to our students in a way that sparks their interest.  For example, some courses have to be described in a particular way because the specific topic may vary with the semester or instructor. Therefore, we are working on providing some student-forward course descriptions as the academic year proceeds. English has graciously agreed to be our first department and has written “student-friendly” course descriptions for their Spring 2026 100-level courses. Please share these with your advisees!

The advising team has also put together this Google Doc that has an ongoing list of department- & program-specific updates and course availability.

Updates from the Library

Data Bytes: Doug Anderson, Research and Instruction Librarian, will offer an introduction to the Canvas Commons on Friday, November 8 at 12:15 in the Pelletier Collaboratory. The Canvas Commons provides a way for instructors to share the content of their courses. Come learn both how to share content with your colleagues and how to search for content shared by others. Feel free to bring your own lunch. Coffee, cookies, and fresh fruit are provided and will be available at 12 pm, and the presentation starts at 12:15 pm.

Last week’s Data Bytes centered around some interesting updates and opportunities regarding open-access publishing. Here are links to the slide deck & summary of current and future open access opportunities. Please contact Brian Kern or Tressa Snyder with questions or just to chat!

RefWorks: The library encourages students and faculty to use the RefWorks Citation Manager to track research resources and add citations to their work. A brief PDF introduction to RefWorks titled “Welcome to RefWorks at Allegheny College” is available for your use or for sharing with students. Research Librarians are also available to visit classrooms to provide in-depth instruction in using RefWorks; please request a library session from the Library Services for Faculty page.

EZ Borrow: A new “My Account” feature has been added to the EZBorrow search platform: https://ezborrow.reshare.indexdata.com. This feature allows you to view current and past requests, and authenticate before initiating a search, as well as the option to save searches, save items, and create lists of saved items. You can find the directions for how to use this feature here.

For Tenured Faculty

While department evaluations for pre-tenure and tenure appointments have already been sent in, it is worth continuing to think about the process and interrogating our own unconscious biases.  Underrepresented Minority Faculty in the USA Face a Double Standard in Promotion and Tenure Decisions (Masters-Wage, et al. 2024) describes a study where data from five US universities on 1,571 faculty members’ P&T decisions demonstrate a double standard which is amplified for faculty with intersectional backgrounds.

Readings, Slides, and Guides

Study Away: 10 Lessons From Leading a Study-Abroad Trip by Aimee Weinstein in the Chronicle of Higher Education, gives an account of a faculty member exploring the ups and downs of traveling overseas with students for a course.

Speaking of study away, study abroad offers students important life and career skill development opportunities, but not every learner is able to take advantage of these programs. Domestic learning experiences give students similar exposure with fewer complications. You can read more in Expanding Study Away Opportunities by Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed.

Group work & collaboration: Using Collaborative Learning to Elevate Students’ Educational Experiences (George Ojie-Ahamiojie, Faculty Focus) and Setting Groups Up for Success (Tony’s Teaching Tips, October 16, 2024) make the case for successful student collaboration and offer advice on how to make that work.

Upcoming Opportunities

Associated Colleges of the Midwest:  Addressing the Hidden Curriculum on Campus: Supporting First-Generation and Low-Income Students as They Navigate College: Friday, November 8, 1:00-2:00 Eastern:  Rachel Gable will introduce current research on supporting first-generation and low-income students in a range of college contexts. She will offer concrete data, personal vignettes from students, and specific advice for faculty and staff as they engage with first-generation and low-income students on their campuses. The emphasis of the workshop is on supporting all students to thrive, with a focus on those who have less familiarity with the college-going process. This event will be held on First-Generation College Student Celebration Day (November 8). Rachel Gable is a higher education researcher and practitioner who is passionate about helping students find their best fit educational pathway, one that maximizes their academic strengths, intellectual curiosity, and personal fulfillment. Over the past two decades, she has taught and worked with students from middle school through college and from an array of institutional types, including highly selective private universities, small liberal arts colleges, and large less-selective public institutions. Her first book, The Hidden Curriculum: First Generation Students at Legacy Institutions, details the academic, social, and personal experiences of first-generation college students attending two of our nation’s most selective universities to uncover the unwritten rules for success in college. Gable works with faculty and university stakeholders at William & Mary on academic program development and modification to meet the needs of all students. REGISTER HERE FOR THIS WORKSHOP

 “Empowering Learning with Integrity in the Age of AI ”with Tricia Bertram Gallant, Integrity & Ethics Consultant & Speaker on Friday, November 15, 2024 from 12:30-1:30 pm (EDT). At this GLCA event, we will focus on understanding the threats and opportunities and then identifying the options that faculty have for minimizing the threat and amplifying the opportunities.  In thinking about one thing we can do next week, next term and next year, participants will leave the session empowered to craft their GenAI and AI policy while creating a culture of integrity within their classes. Tricia Bertram Gallant, Ph.D. is the Director of Academic Integrity Office and Triton Testing Center at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), Board Emeritus of the International Center for Academic Integrity, and former lecturer for both UCSD and the University of San Diego. Tricia has authored, co-authored, or edited numerous articles, blogs, guides, book chapters/sections, and books on academic integrity, artificial intelligence, and ethical decision-making. Most recently, Tricia authored Crafting Your GenAI & AI Policy: A Guide for Instructors, which has been shared widely within and beyond UCSD as a helpful tool for faculty struggling with the impact of artificial intelligence on teaching, learning and assessment. Tricia has a forthcoming book (University of Oklahoma Press, 2024), co-authored with David Rettinger, entitled “The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI. Tricia regularly consults with and trains faculty, staff and students around the world, on academic integrity, artificial intelligence, and ethical decision-making. Sign up here for this online event (a Zoom link will be sent the day before). The session will be recorded.

3rd International Conference on Education: Shaping Equitable Education: Inclusion, Innovation, & Impact:, Feb. 21-22. The Department of Education at Forman Christian College University is pleased to host the 3rd International Conference on Education: Shaping Equitable Education: Inclusion, Innovation, & Impact. The aim of this conference is to explore new theories, frameworks, models, methods, technologies, and strategies to address crucial issues in inclusive and equitable education. This event will bring together a diverse group of experts, practitioners, researchers, leaders, and policy planners from around the world to share their research findings, innovative practices, and creative ideas to overcome the challenges of inclusive and equitable quality education for all. The conference welcomes research papers on the following key streams: Innovation in Teaching and Learning; Professional Competences for Future Workforce; Leadership, Policy Planning and Strategic Improvement; and Ethical Considerations in Equitable Education. The deadline for Abstract Submission: 20th December, 2024; Early Bird Participant & Presenter Registration Deadline: 1st January, 2025. Details on sub-themes, registration, submission guidelines, and the conference program can be found on the conference webpage.

Another World is Possible: A Global Racial and Social Justice Summit: Call for Presenters: Please join the Great Lakes Colleges Association and Global Liberal Arts Alliance on February 13-16, 2025, for an in-person Global Racial and Social Justice summit at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The conference is being sponsored by the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom at Antioch College. Further information can be found here.

From the Director of Faculty Development:

Faculty Development office hours: Do you need help with your travel reimbursement? Do you want to talk about an idea or issue related to faculty development? Or perhaps you just never knew there were offices behind the Collaboratory and want to say hi? Lisa Whitenack will be holding office hours in Pelletier 308B on Mondays from 1:30-5 pm and Thursdays from 8-9 am & 11 am-12 pm. No appointment is necessary!

Help us design the Center: The Center for Faculty Research and Teaching Excellence is envisioned as the campus hub for faculty and staff development, supporting transformational teaching and research and enhancing the use of educational technology. Faculty and staff, we invite you to complete this survey to let us know what you would like to see in the Center and how you might want to contribute to the Center. Thank you for your input!

Updates from the Library

New database: The library would like to announce the availability of Mergent Market Atlas, a new online resource database. Market Atlas will continue to offer the modules and reports formerly found in Mergent Online, but with a cleaner interface that is easier to navigate. You can still authenticate into Market Atlas with your Allegheny login. The Help pages found in Market Atlas are a great resource for learning all the new features. More information and tutorials will be forthcoming as Mergent makes them available.

New book in the Faculty Development Collection: This month, Tressa Snyder, Dean of the Library, is showcasing Collabor(h)ate: How to build incredible collaborative relationships at work (even if you’d rather work alone), by Deb Meshak, PhD.  Although collaboration is celebrated in organizations of all shapes and sizes, it’s not always obvious how to cultivate a culture of collaboration. This is especially true when the existing culture is at odds with the goals and aspirations of the institution. Meshak discusses creative ways to form collaborative relationships and partnerships focusing on communication and goals.  This book is located on the main floor of the library in the Faculty Development collection, call number: 650.1 M37c

Academic Advising

There are a number of resources available to help you with advising students, whether you are advising undeclared students or students who have already declared. One of your first stops should be the Advising Handbook as you work with students. It is updated each year and is a wonderful resource!

Getting Ready for the 2024 Presidential Election

Based on the last two presidential elections, faculty should start thinking about how they want to handle both the weeks leading up to the election and the weeks following the election. Some faculty engage with world events and politics in their courses and may feel ready to handle whatever happens. Other faculty may teach courses that do not typically address these topics; however, students may bring their feelings and experiences involving the election or other world events into your classroom.

While we are working on some things to help you navigate the next few months, there are a few resources you can check out now:

• The GLCA Consortium for Teaching and Learning has put together a large collection of resources for navigating difficult discussions. These include general guides to more specific topics.
• Some students may experience trauma from the events related to the presidential election. Trauma can seriously impact a student’s ability to learn and their well-being. We also know that trauma can be caused by many other experiences, including the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism, and the general political climate.  We can engage in trauma-informed pedagogy
  • Here is a guide from Barnard College that walks through trauma and principles of trauma-informed pedagogy, and provides some resources (long-ish read)
  • Here are two super-short reads:  a list of specific behaviors that help create trauma-informed classrooms and an instructor checklist for trauma-informed classrooms

For Tenured Faculty

• If you’re thinking about applying for promotion to full Professor or nominating someone for full Professor soon, “Advice on Moving from Associate Professor to Full Professor” will be of interest.
• If you are evaluating a colleague in your department/program or are on a tenure committee, please take the time to review the relevant policies and procedures.

Readings, Slides, and Guides

Teaching with AI: The https://lascollab.parami.edu.mm/guides/ has a series of guides on aspects of teaching under a liberal arts model, including guides for scaffolding academic writing, working/dealing with AI, and ecomedia literacy.

More teaching with AI: Here are the slides from the GLCA Consortium for Teaching and Learning (CTL)’s August 28 presentation on AI, No Robot Left Behind: AI and Our Fall Classes, hosted by Lew Ludwig and featuring Alexis Hart, Byron Rich, and Caitlyn Deeter (Rollins College). Lew offers a useful compendium of other AI guides and resources here.

Student resilience: Building a Learning Sanctuary: Fostering Resilience in Our Students, Part 1 (Mays Imad, The Teaching Professor, August 26, 2024): Imad sees a “learning sanctuary” as an intentional response to the global challenges that affect student well-being, hoping to transform anxiety and uncertainty into empowerment and wisdom.

Student mental health: Slides and resources from the CTL’s August 14 workshop on Strategies to Support Student Mental Health in the Classroom led by Jan Miyake and Angie Roles (both at Oberlin) can be found here.

Upcoming Opportunities

Another World is Possible: A Global Racial and Social Justice Summit: Call for Presenters: Please join the Great Lakes Colleges Association and Global Liberal Arts Alliance on February 13-16, 2025, for an in-person Global Racial and Social Justice summit at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The conference is being sponsored by the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom at Antioch College. Further information can be found here.