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 the Director of Faculty Development. To access previous issues, use the links in the Recent Posts box or on this page.
Spring Educator Resource Institute
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Spring 2024 Educator Resource Institute on Tuesday, May 14. Session materials are now linked to the schedule.
Whether or not you attended the ERI, we invite you to complete the ERI survey. As part of this initial survey, ERI participants will have the opportunity to opt into a follow-up survey that will be distributed later this year to collect information about the kinds of changes participants made as a result of the ERI.
Summer Events
New Faculty Orientation
Incoming full-time faculty are asked to reserve Wednesday, August 14, and Friday, August 16, for New Faculty Orientation. You will receive more information from the Director of Faculty Development in early August. Please also take look at the New Faculty Information page.
If you’re not familiar with Canvas or would like a refresher, you are encouraged to sign up for one or both of the August 15 Canvas workshops (see below). Also, check out the Canvas Tips page for information on getting started.
Summer Canvas Workshops
Instructure trainers will offer two Canvas workshops to the Allegheny community on August 15, 2024:
- The first workshop will take place via Zoom from 10:00am to 11:30am and will focus on Content Creation. This workshop is aimed at new Canvas users and anyone who would like a refresher on the basics; sign up here.
- The second workshop will take place via Zoom from 1:00pm to 2:30pm and will focus on Outcomes and the Learning Mastery Gradebook. Sign up here.
Fall Educator Resource Institute
This day-long professional development event will take place on Monday, August 19. Additional details will be shared in August.
Reimbursement Requests
Please remember to turn in all Faculty Travel or ASC Grant reimbursement requests to Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir by Friday, June 7, so that they can be processed before the end of the fiscal year. Original, itemized receipts should be accompanied by a completed Travel/Entertainment Report form with an ink signature; electronic submissions are generally not accepted. Additional information is available on the Faculty Funding page. Paperwork can be dropped off in Rachel Weir’s mailbox in Arter 103 between 8am and 4pm; the door on the Quigley side of the building should be unlocked at these times.
Report Reminders
ASC Funding Reports – June 30 If you received an Academic Support Committee grant for the current fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), 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 Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
Activities Reports – June 30 As a reminder, the Annual Activities Report was significantly streamlined last year and should now be submitted via this form. Instead of asking for information that is available through other sources and reports, you are asked to identify, reflect upon, and highlight significant innovation and changes in your work. Your CV will be the primary location for listing activities and accomplishments; the Google Form will be the place where you can briefly reflect or provide context as appropriate. It will be most helpful if you can identify on your CV (via bold or highlighted text, for example), what elements are newly added in this reporting period (June 2023-May 2024).
Leave Reports – October 31 If you had a sabbatical or pre-tenure leave during the 2023/24 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.
Canvas Tips
End of Semester Tasks
Check out the Summer 2023 Faculty Development Digest for information on managing student access to completed courses and downloading your gradebook from Canvas.
Share Your Canvas Tips & Tricks
The Allegheny Canvas team would like to know how you’re using Canvas in your courses! How are you leveraging Discussions? Do you have any creative approaches to Canvas assignments or tips for making an especially engaging Home page? Have you found any uniquely useful LTIs or any navigation options that you consider an absolute must? Share your ideas with the team via this form for possible inclusion into upcoming workshops, faculty training, and/or announcements.
Canvas Updates
We’ll be rolling out a few changes to Canvas this summer so they’ll be ready to go for the fall semester.
- Instructure has redesigned the Discussions tool; check out this video from Instructure for more details. For more information, see the Instructor Guide on the Discussion Redesign in the Canvas Community.
- Instructure has also made some similar changes to the Announcements feature; check out the Announcements Redesign Instructor Guide in the Canvas Community for more info and tips.
- Starting in June, the old Google Apps Canvas plug-in will no longer be available and all instructors will use the Google Assignments LTI 1.3 tool. If you bring forward previous assignments into your Fall 2024 courses, this step-by-step guide will help with recreating Google Apps assignments to configure them for the new Google Assignments LTI 1.3.
Professional Development
The Grading Conference
Interested in learning about alternative grading methods in higher education? Register here for the 2024 Grading Conference – Higher Ed Focus, which will take place online from June 13 to June 15. The registration fee of $50 can be reimbursed from your Faculty Travel allowance. The keynote speakers will be Dr. Susan Blum, Dr. Laila McCloud, and Jeff Schinske. See the schedule for additional details.
Community-Engaged Learning
Materials from Dr. Barbara Jacoby’s recent workshop “Conducting and Supporting the Scholarship of Service-Learning” are available in this folder.
Summer Reading and Listening
Blog Posts
Here is an eclectic list of recent blog posts for your summer reading pleasure!
- After a Tough Year for Classroom Innovation, It’s Time for a Reset
- Busting Myths About Deadline Extensions
- Can You Teach Students to Read Effectively?
- It’s Time to Start Teaching Your Students How to Be a Student
- Teach Students How to Translate Their Learning for Employers
- The Goose in the Bottle (see also The Imperfectionist blog)
- The Liberal Arts Have a Messaging Problem
Podcasts
A very long list of podcasts by and for higher education professionals is available here. Here are a few that you might want to start with:
Events
Upcoming Events
- August 14 and 16 – New Faculty Orientation
- August 15 – Canvas Workshops (see details above)
- August 19 – Fall Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- May 14 – Spring Educator Resource Institute
- May 13 – Keynote Address: Thriving or Surviving? A Vision for the Second Year of College, Dr. Laurie Schreiner
- May 10 – Course Reflection Coffee Break
- Dec 20 – Course Reflection Coffee Break: Resource Page
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
2024 Spring Educator Resource Institute
May 2nd 2024
Faculty Development Digest, April 2024
April 16th 2024
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu. To access previous issues, use the links in the Recent Posts box or on this page.
Center Survey
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!
Spring Educator Resource Institute
The schedule for the Spring Educator Resource Institute (ERI), which will take place on Tuesday, May 14, is now being finalized and will be posted soon.
Advising Second Year Students. Thanks to the Maytum Center for Student Success and the William Beazell Memorial Fund, the ERI will kick off early this year. Dr. Laurie Schreiner, a national expert on the second-year experience, will give the keynote address Thriving or Surviving? A Vision for the Second Year of College in the Tillotson Room at 4:15pm on Monday, May 13, with a reception to follow. Her presentation should be of interest to all faculty, staff, and administrators who mentor and advise students. Her workshop We Have Some Data… Now What?! will focus on Allegheny’s results from the recently-conducted Sophomore Experiences Survey and will take place at 9:00am on Tuesday, May 14 as part of the ERI. Please direct questions about Dr. Schreiner’s visit to Second Year Class Dean Amy Stearns.
Save the Date. The Fall Educator Resource Institute will take place on Monday, August 19.
Course Reflection Coffee Break
When you have a moment to look back on your classes this year, you might want to consider the ideas in Rachel Toor’s blog post Love Them More; Care Less. In short, we as educators work hard to make our classes as effective as possible and if things don’t go well, we often take that to heart. Toor’s advice is to do “the best you can, while also not contorting yourself to try to fix things you can’t manage.”
This advice will be the theme of our spring Course Reflection Coffee Break. On Friday, May 10, we invite you to take a break from grading and spend time with colleagues looking back on your teaching successes and challenges this semester. There will be an open tab for participants at French Creek Coffee & Tea between 1:30pm to 3:00pm and we will gather in the meeting room at the end of the upstairs hallway at French Creek. Bring a copy of each of your syllabi so that you can record notes about each course for next time – your future self will thank you!
New Faculty Orientation
New Faculty Orientation for any incoming, full-time faculty will take place on Wednesday, August 14, and Friday, August 16. There will also be a Canvas workshop for new users on Thursday, August 15. Please be aware of these dates as you schedule departmental retreats or other meetings in the lead-up to the fall semester. Additional information for new faculty can be found on this page.
In the Library
Looking for a resource to guide your teaching? Each month we will highlight relevant materials from our collection in Pelletier.
Study Away Workshop.
Do you work with students in an advisory capacity at Allegheny? Have you wondered how you might help them if they asked you about study away? Then you’d benefit from attending an engaging training workshop about supporting diverse students who express an interest in studying away while at Allegheny. Join Allegheny’s Global Education Office as we welcome veteran Higher Education Leader, Dr. Shakeer Abdullah, to lead our faculty and staff community in a training seminar on Using Multicultural Competence to Support Diverse Students in Study Away Programs on Monday, May 13, 12:00pm-4:00pm (lunch included). Please RSVP using this form. Support for this event was provided by the Great Lakes Colleges Association through its Global Crossroads Initiative, made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
Professional Development Opportunities
WTF: Way(s) to Fail. Materials from this GLCA Consortium for Teaching and Learning workshop on embracing the pedagogy of failure in your classroom are now available. This interactive workshop was led by our colleagues Lydia Eckstein, Amelia Finaret and Lisa Whitenack on Wednesday, March 20. You can view the workshop recording here. Additional resources can be accessed via this Google doc.
Scholarship of Service-Learning Workshop. The SoTL SIG of the POD Network will host the free webinar Conducting and Supporting the Scholarship of Service-Learning, facilitated by higher education consultant Dr. Barbara Jacoby, on Wednesday, April 17, from 3:00pm to 4:00pm. See more information on this page. Interested participants can join the webinar via this link.
Teaching Conferences
TLTCon 2023. The 7th Annual Teaching, Learning, and Technology Conference (TLTCon 2024), hosted by the College of Charleston, will take place online on May 7-8, 2024. This year’s keynote speaker is Josh Weiss, Director of Digital Learning Solutions at Stanford University. The conference is free but spaces are limited, so register today!
The Grading Conference. Interested in learning about alternative grading methods in higher education? Register here for the 2024 Grading Conference – Higher Ed Focus, which will take place online from June 13 to June 15. The registration fee of $50 can be reimbursed from your Faculty Travel allowance. The keynote speakers will be Dr. Susan Blum, Dr. Laila McCloud, and Jeff Schinske.
Events
Upcoming Events
- May 10, 1:30pm-3:00pm – Course Reflection Coffee Break (French Creek Coffee & Tea Meeting Room)
- May 13, 4:15pm – Keynote Address: Thriving or Surviving? A Vision for the Second Year of College, Dr. Laurie Schreiner
- May 14 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (schedule coming soon!)
- August 14 and 16 – New Faculty Orientation
- August 15 – Canvas Workshops (more details soon)
- August 19 – Fall Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Dec 20 – Course Reflection Coffee Break: Resource Page
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, March 2024
March 14th 2024
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Community Event
Educators in the Workplace. This year’s Educators in the Workplace event will be held on April 11 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at Peters’ Heat Treating (11010 McHenry St, Meadville) and will include a tour, appetizers and adult beverages, and a discussion session. The purpose of Educators in the Workplace is to improve communication and collaboration between local businesses and educational institutions, including Allegheny. Past attendees have also found this event helpful in terms of communicating with Allegheny students about job opportunities in our local manufacturing industry. Register using this form.
Professional Development Opportunities
WTF: Way(s) to Fail. Are your students paralyzed by being wrong? Do they not take risks in the classroom for fear of getting a bad grade? The science of learning tells us that we learn best from our mistakes. How can we develop a culture of supportive failure for our students to enhance their learning? Sign up here for the GLCA Consortium for Teaching and Learning’s free virtual workshop, WTF: Way(s) to Fail, on embracing the pedagogy of failure in your classroom. This interactive workshop will be led by our colleagues Lydia Eckstein, Amelia Finaret and Lisa Whitenack on Wednesday, March 20, at 4:00pm. The goal of the workshop is to offer specific strategies for incorporating failure into teaching, course activities, and mentoring. To prepare for this engaging workshop, check out WTF: Way(s) To Fail! A Primer, based on the article Teaching the Inevitable: Embracing a Pedagogy of Failure.
Study Away Workshop. Study Away brings students into contact with new cultural frameworks that can challenge and shape their identities, and we as educators can help make this a productive growth experience for them. Join Allegheny’s Global Education Office as we welcome veteran Higher Education Leader, Dr. Shakeer Abdullah, to lead our faculty and staff community in a training seminar on Using Multicultural Competence to Support Diverse Students in Study Away Programs on Monday, May 13, 12:00pm-4:00pm. Dr. Abdullah will coach us on the knowledge, skills, and awareness we need to support our students and their identity development before, during, and after they study away. Read Dr. Abdullah’s full bio and watch a brief video introduction of the workshop for additional information.
Please RSVP by April 1. Space is available for 35 Allegheny educators to participate in the workshop on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch will be provided at the start of the event, and light refreshments mid-afternoon. Support for this event was provided by the Great Lakes Colleges Association through its Global Crossroads Initiative, made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
Teaching Tools
Promoting Academic Integrity. As described in this post in the International Center for Academic Integrity’s Integrity Matters blog, four ways to promote academic integrity in our classes are:
1. Communicate your expectations and policies clearly (and repeatedly)
2. Foster a supportive learning environment in which students feel comfortable discussing challenges and seeking help
3. Use transparency in learning and teaching practices
4. Employ scaffolded, low stakes (or no stakes) assessments.
See the full blog post, linked above, for more details and additional references.
Financial Aid and Advising
As you meet with your advisees to discuss next year’s course schedules, please keep the following financial aid information in mind:
Federal student aid (direct loans, Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, or Veterans Administration benefits) cannot be used towards classes that do not count toward the graduation major, graduation minor, or distribution requirements, per federal regulations. This means the following in practice:
- Each semester, a student needs to be enrolled in 12 credits that count towards their program of study (graduation major, graduation minor or distribution requirement) as defined by financial aid regulations to receive full-time aid.
- Students who wish to explore the curriculum outside of their graduation major, graduation minor, and distribution, should enroll in a semester when they are already taking a minimum of 12 credits needed for their program of study.
- For some students, it will likely be to their financial benefit to be part-time in their final semester. Part-time students are eligible to continue to live on campus, fully participate in campus life, and can often be eligible to participate in varsity athletics. They also will receive a prorated amount of their institutional aid.
- When approaching the 128 credits, we need to be careful to ensure that each semester they have 12 credits that count towards their graduation major, graduation minor, or distribution.
Assessment Resources
Canvas Templates for Program Assessment. If you’re using Canvas rubrics for program assessment, take a look at these instructions, which describe how chairs (or assessment coordinators) can set up a single template Canvas assignment for a program. In short, one person creates a Canvas assignment that contains all of the rubric rows needed by a program in a given semester and shares it via Canvas Commons. Other faculty can then copy the assignment into their courses and delete the rows they don’t need, as described in these instructions, which can be copied and then tailored for a specific department by adjusting the highlighted parts. Contact Rachel Weir if you have any questions about this approach.
Friday SLO Talks. The California Outcomes Assessment Coordinators’ Hub (COACHes) will be hosting Friday SLO (Student Learning Outcomes) talks this spring. The first talk, Building Upon Foundations of Assessment: Why Assessment Matters Today, took place on March 1; you can view the recording here. The upcoming talks are:
– March 15: How Learning Works (Susan Ambrose)
– March 22: Project-Based Learning (Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa Api)
– April 12: Infusing Creative Thinking into Higher Education (Cyndi Burnett).
Register for an upcoming talk via this link using the dropdown menu in the form to select a particular talk. Previous talks can be seen on this YouTube playlist.
Teaching Conferences
PKAL Meeting. The 2024 Capital PKAL Regional Network Meeting will take place virtually on March 15 from 8:30am to 4:00pm with the theme Empower Students & Preserve Critical Thinking in the World of AI. PKAL (Project Kaleidoscope) is an AAC&U initiative focused on STEM higher education. More information is available on this page and interested faculty can register for $75 via this page. Please note that this registration fee can be reimbursed from Faculty Travel allowances.
What Works in 2024. The Center for Innovative Pedagogy at Kenyon College is currently accepting presentation proposals for the What Works in 2024 Conference, which will take place virtually during the week of May 29-31, 2024. The application deadline is March 15 and presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by March 29.
The Grading Conference. Interested in learning about alternative grading methods in higher education? Register here for the 2024 Grading Conference – Higher Ed Focus, which will take place online from June 13 to June 15. The registration fee of $50 can be reimbursed from your Faculty Travel allowance. The keynote speakers will be Susan Blum, Laila McCloud, and Jeff Schinske. If you’d like to submit an abstract for a presentation, workshop, or roundtable discussion, submissions are being accepted via this form until March 31 (the deadline was extended from March 15).
In the Library
Looking for a resource to guide your teaching? Each month we will highlight relevant materials from our collection in Pelletier.
1. We have removed the option to submit print permission forms due to low use. Please direct students to the online permission form.
2. The submission process to DSpace has changed with the latest version of the software. A new slide deck is available on our website with step-by-step instructions for submitting projects.
If you encounter any issues, please contact Brian Kern at bkern@allegheny.edu.
GLCA Resource
LAS Advisors. The Liberal Arts and Sciences Collaborative is pleased to offer GLCA faculty the opportunity to receive free, one-hour virtual consultations with our team of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Advisors. Their advisors are available to serve as a guiding resource, offering their expertise to those keen on enhancing their LAS education delivery through administration, curriculum, and/or pedagogy. To be connected with an advisor, take a look at the LAS Advisors webpage to identify an advisor who aligns with your interests and needs and then click the Request a Consultation button to access the request form.
Spring Educator Resource Institute
Save the Dates. Thanks to the Maytum Center for Student Success and the William Beazell Memorial Fund, the Spring Educator Resource Institute (ERI) will kick off early this year with a presentation and reception on Monday, May 13, in advance of our traditional day of workshops and presentations on Tuesday, May 14.
Dr. Laurie Schreiner, a national expert on the second-year experience, will be giving a talk at 4:15pm on Monday, May 13th, with a reception to follow. Her presentation should be of interest to all faculty, staff, and administrators who mentor and advise students, with particular relevance to current Exploratory Advisors, who will be continuing to advise 2023-2024 students through much of their pivotal second year. A related workshop will take place on May 14 as part of the ERI. Please direct questions to Second Year Class Dean Amy Stearns.
Events
Upcoming Events
- May 13, 4:15pm – Presentation by Dr. Laurie Schreiner, national expert on the second-year experience
- May 14 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Dec 20 – Course Reflection Coffee Break: Resource Page
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, February 2024
February 15th 2024
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Spring Educator Resource Institute
Save the Dates. Thanks to the Maytum Center for Student Success and the William Beazell Memorial Fund, the Spring Educator Resource Institute (ERI) will kick off early this year with a presentation and reception on Monday, May 13, in advance of our traditional day of workshops and presentations on Tuesday, May 14.
Dr. Laurie Schreiner, a national expert on the second-year experience, will be giving a talk at 4:15pm on Monday, May 13th, with a reception to follow. Her presentation should be of interest to all faculty, staff, and administrators who mentor and advise students, with particular relevance to Exploratory Advisors, who will be continuing to advise 2023-2024 students through much of their pivotal second year. A related workshop will take place on May 14 as part of the ERI. Please direct questions to Second Year Class Dean Amy Stearns.
Funding Opportunities
Demmler Awards. The Demmler endowment provides funding for faculty members who wish to pursue projects to develop innovation in teaching and in the curriculum. Consistent with data provided to us by the Art & Science Group and the strategies outlined in The Allegheny College Pathway, this year preference will be given to projects that focus on 1) building career discernment into academic programs; 2) building hands-on learning into the academic program; 3) developing accelerated academic programs (3+1 or 4+1 combined bachelors/masters degrees); and/or 4) developing proposals for federal grants or grants from major foundations.
You can read the full description of this year’s call here, and applications should be submitted using this form by March 1, 2024. Proposals will be reviewed by the Provost and Senior Associate Provost with the goal of notifying applicants of the decision on funding by April 1, 2024.
College Schools Collaborative. Do you have a terrific idea for a new collaborative project between Crawford Central School District and Allegheny College faculty, staff, or students? If so, the College-Schools Collaborative (CSC) can help you by providing funding to support your collaborative project. Guidelines and the application form can be found via this link. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Whitenack.
In the Library
Looking for a resource to guide your teaching? Each month we will highlight relevant materials from our collection in Pelletier.
As an example, a search for “peer review” yields multiple articles including The Benefits of Student Peer Review, Three Methods to Enhance Peer Review in Your Classroom, and Student Peer Review and Learning. Check out The Teaching Professor the next time you need advice or strategies to support your teaching!
Teaching Tools
Midterm Course Reflection. Have you made time in your course schedule for a Midterm Course Reflection? Week 7 (Feb. 26 – Mar. 1), right before we head into Spring Break, could be a great time to pause and gather feedback from your students about what is and isn’t going well for them in your course so far. You can find multiple resources on the Midterm Course Reflections page, including how to set up the survey, how to review the responses, and how to follow up with your class. This information is also available via the Teaching Resources page in the Faculty Resources site.
Reports of Student Experience (RSEs). The spring RSE survey will be open during the week of April 22, so please make sure that you set aside time for students to complete the survey during class that week.
Post-Semester Course Reflection. At the end of the semester, make time for a post-semester course reflection. Watch for details about our May Course Reflection Coffee Break if you’re interested in reflecting with colleagues!
Professional Development Opportunities
Study Away Workshop. Study Away brings students into contact with new cultural frameworks that can challenge and shape their identities, and we as educators can help make this a productive growth experience for them. Join Allegheny’s Global Education Office as we welcome veteran Higher Education Leader, Dr. Shakeer Abdullah, to lead our faculty and staff community in a training seminar on Using Multicultural Competence to Support Diverse Students in Study Away Programs. Dr. Abdullah will coach us on the knowledge, skills, and awareness we need to support our students and their identity development before, during, and after they study away. Read Dr. Abdullah’s full bio and watch a brief video introduction of the workshop for additional information.
Please RSVP by April 1. Space is available for 35 Allegheny educators to participate in the workshop on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch will be provided at the start of the event, and light refreshments mid-afternoon. Support for this event was provided by the Great Lakes Colleges Association through its Global Crossroads Initiative, made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
Inclusive STEM Teaching Online Course. The Inclusive STEM Teaching Project, an NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program, is hosting a free six-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from March 4 – April 26, 2024, via edX. Participants in the course will learn how to:
– Advance awareness, self-efficacy, and ability to cultivate inclusive classroom environments
– Support their development as reflective, inclusive practitioners
– Engage in reflection and discussion around topics of equity and inclusion across a variety of institutional contexts
– Implement inclusive teaching methods in their classes that will remove common barriers and enhance learning in STEM for all students.
Click here for more information and to register for the course.
Questions can also be directed to Lisa Whitenack, who completed a previous offering of the course.
Perusall Community Book Event. As part of the Perusall Engage series, faculty are invited to participate in a 4-week asynchronous, author-facilitated, communal reading experience focused on Michelle D. Miller’s book Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology. This community event will run from February 26 until March 22. During this time, participants will be able to engage with the author, with each other, and with the book content, all within the Perusall platform and at their own pace. There is a $15 fee to access the book for two months, but you can participate in the four-week book event for the first week without charge. A discount coupon will be provided for attendees who wish to purchase a print copy of the book after the event. Click here to join the event.
ASC Reminders
ASC Funding Deadline. The spring semester deadline for ASC grant applications is February 15. All full-time continuing faculty are eligible to apply for funding of up to $3500 per year to support projects in 2023/24 or 2024/25 that are related to teaching or research. Requests for sabbatical or pre-tenure leave funding should also be submitted as ASC grant applications. The application form and additional details can be found on this page. Please contact ASC Chair Tim Bianco or Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
Supplemental Research Funding. Outside of the two funding cycles each year, faculty can apply for up to $500 in ASC funding using the same application process, as described on this page.
ASC Funding Reports. If you use Academic Support Committee funding in the current fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), 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 Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
Fall Leave Reports. If you were on leave during the fall semester, please remember to submit your leave report using the form on this page by March 31. For spring one-semester leaves and two-semester (fall/spring) leaves, reports are due by October 31. Please contact Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
Teaching Conferences
PKAL Meeting. The 2024 Capital PKAL Regional Network Meeting will take place virtually on March 15 from 8:30am to 4:00pm with the theme Empower Students & Preserve Critical Thinking in the World of AI. PKAL (Project Kaleidoscope) is an AAC&U initiative focused on STEM higher education. More information is available on this page and interested faculty can register for $75 via this page. Please note that this registration fee can be reimbursed from Faculty Travel allowances.
What Works in 2024. The Center for Innovative Pedagogy at Kenyon College is currently accepting presentation proposals for the What Works in 2024 Conference, which will take place virtually during the week of May 29-31, 2024. The application deadline is March 15 and presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by March 29.
GLCA Webinars and Resources
“Do Faculty of Color Really Matter for the Liberal Arts?” Webinar. Professors Irene López (Psychology) and Simon Garcia (Chemistry), both of Kenyon College, presented this significant and timely webinar on behalf of the GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning on December 5, 2023. You can access various resources associated with the presentation, including the recording and slides, via this document.
“Working with Students When Things Get Difficult” Webinar Cyndi Kernahan, Professor of Psychological Sciences and Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, presented this webinar on January 18, 2024, also on behalf of the GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning. The webinar recording can be found here and other resources from her workshop are available in this folder.
Results of Survey on Generative AI. The findings of the GLCA survey that was administered in November 2023 can be found in this report from Paul A. Djupe (Director, Data for Political Research at Denison University) and Lew Ludwig (Director, Denison Center for Learning and Teaching).
Events
Upcoming Events
- May 13, 4pm – Presentation by Dr. Laurie Schreiner, national expert on the second-year experience
- May 14 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Dec 20 – Course Reflection Coffee Break: Resource Page
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, January 2024
January 11th 2024
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Spring Book Group
There’s still time to sign up for the spring book group! Meetings begin on Wednesday, January 24.
Belonging Book Group. How can we foster a sense of belonging for our students and for ourselves? The spring 2024 faculty/staff book group, facilitated by Rachel Weir, will focus on Geoffrey Cohen’s book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connections and Bridging Divides, which describes how “small actions to boost belonging have the potential to restore a sense of community in times of isolation and division” and that a sense of belonging “even boosts individual and communal health.” Meetings will take place on Wednesdays (January 24, February 7, February 21, March 13, March 27, April 10, and April 24) from 12:30pm to 1:20pm, with lunch provided, and all participants will receive a copy of the book. Please contact Rachel Weir with any questions. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
Setting Up Your Courses
Syllabus Checklist. The Syllabus Checklist page contains a list of required and recommended syllabus content, summarizing the information found in Section 9.1 of the Faculty Handbook.
DR Assessment. If you are teaching a course that has an ME or CL tag, please make sure you are able to identify at least one assignment for which one rubric row can be applied (Process or Conventions for ME; Civic Systems or Civic Actions for CL). Additional details can be found in the ME rubric and the CL rubric. Information about the assessment process will be emailed to instructors.
Reports of Student Experience (RSEs) The spring RSE survey will be open during the week of April 22, so please make sure that you set aside time for students to complete the survey during class that week. You may also want to make time to administer a midterm course reflection, followed by a post-semester course reflection.
Canvas Courses The RSE and other assessments are administered via Canvas, so all courses must have published Canvas sites, preferably by the Add/Drop deadline so that reminders don’t need to be sent out to instructors. This doesn’t mean that entire courses need to be managed through Canvas. You can find instructions on how to create a minimal Canvas course in this document.
Check out the Preparing for a New Semester page for additional reminders and tips for the new semester.
Teaching Tools
First Day Advice. Check out James Lang’s post How to Teach a Good First Day of Class for advice on how to set the tone for the semester by incorporating curiosity, community, learning, and expectations into your first class meeting.
Engaging Teaching. In her advice guide How to Make Your Teaching More Engaging, Sarah Rose Cavanaugh (author of The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion) shares four principles for increasing engagement in your classes:
– Cognitive Resources Are Limited. Emotion Trumps.
– Your Persona and Performance Matter, Like It or Not
– We Are Intensely Social Creatures, Motivated by Community
– Stories Are Our ‘Most Natural Form of Thought.’
Mental Health Days. Thinking about incorporating mental health days into your class schedule? In the post Student Wellness Tip: Create Mental Health Day Reflections, read about how one professor structures these breaks by requiring students to submit a short, written reflection describing how they spent the scheduled class meeting time, with the only rules being that they can’t sleep or study. The professor also commits to using this break to focus on his own wellness.
Ending With Review. In her post The Case for Ending the Semester With Review, Beth McMurtrie describes how Robert Talbert structures his classes so that the last two weeks do not involve any new content, allowing time to review material so that students can further bolster understanding. A similar strategy is to use these two weeks to delve more deeply into the material, but to only assess students on the earlier material. This provides the opportunity for students to view the assessed content from different points of view, enhancing their understanding without the pressure of additional testing.
Reading Your RSEs
Finding RSE Reports. Each course’s responses are contained in an Evaluation Report. To find your Evaluation Reports, go to the Anthology platform, click on the Reports icon at the top and then select Evaluation Reports. You should then see a list of your courses. Select the reports that you would like to see by checking boxes in the Include column and clicking the View button that appears above the list. You can also use the filters at the top of a page to find a specific course. Department chairs can access the reports for faculty in their department in the same way. The Anthology platform can be accessed directly via the RSEs link in your Canvas courses or via the Google waffle. If you run into any issues, please email rsesupport@allegheny.edu to contact the on-campus Anthology managers.
Analyzing RSE Responses. RSE results should be viewed through the lens of reflection and growth, as opposed to comparison with other faculty. For the qualitative responses, which appear at the end of the Evaluation Report, look for themes and identify possible action items. Pay attention to the positive comments, not just the negative ones! For the quantitative results, look for trends over time, celebrate the positives, and identify areas for improvement.
It’s normal to have an emotional reaction to reading feedback from your students, so give yourself time to work through any feelings that come up for you. For more advice on how to approach reading your evaluations, take a look at Constanza Bartholomae’s post Put Your Teaching Evaluations in a Jar. For example, she suggests “leaning into your values” and creating a “jar of affirmations.”
The Reports of Student Experience page contains additional information and advice, including the slides from the October 2022 presentation RSEs and You: What Does It All Mean?
Canvas Information
Course Mergers. Faculty who are teaching more than one section of a course may wish to request that the sections be merged into a single Canvas course. To request a merger, please use the Request a Canvas Course Merger button on the Library Resources for Faculty page, and submit the form provided. Requests will be processed by Library Services after approval by the Registrar, so please allow time for processing. Course mergers cannot be completed after students have submitted assignments or participated in discussions in the course.
New Quizzes Training Course. A 90-minute on-demand training course on New Quizzes is now available through the Canvas Training Portal. To access the portal, click the Help link in Canvas, located at the bottom of the navigation menu on the left-hand side. As noted in the portal, “New Quizzes is an enhanced quizzing tool available inside of Canvas. The tool offers a variety of interactive question types to promote engagement in your assessments. This course explores New Quizzes including the creation process, moderation and grading options, item bank management, as well as how to import and migrate existing quiz content.”
Canvas Support. The Canvas Tips page contains information about Canvas resources and support, course set-up reminders, troubleshooting suggestions, and a link to materials from previous Canvas workshops. Two quick reminders:
– If you’ve copied content from a previous course, watch out for issues with invalid links or unpublished images (the dreaded padlock!). You can identify these quickly using the Course Link Validator. See this article for more information.
– If you can’t find one of your courses in Canvas, click on the Courses icon and then select All Courses. Click the star next to any course to add it to your Courses menu and your Dashboard. See more information here.
ASC Reminders
ASC Funding Deadline. The spring semester deadline for ASC grant applications is February 15. All full-time continuing faculty are eligible to apply for funding of up to $3500 per year to support projects in 2023/24 or 2024/25 that are related to teaching or research. Requests for sabbatical or pre-tenure leave funding should also be submitted as ASC grant applications. The application form and additional details can be found on this page. Please contact ASC Chair Tim Bianco or Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
ASC Funding Reports. If you use Academic Support Committee funding in the current fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), 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 Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
Fall Leave Reports. If you were on leave during the fall semester, please remember to submit your leave report using the form on this page by March 31. For spring one-semester leaves and two-semester (fall/spring) leaves, reports are due by October 31.
Teaching Conference
The Center for Innovative Pedagogy at Kenyon College is currently accepting presentation proposals for the What Works in 2024 Conference, which will take place virtually during the week of May 29-31, 2024. The application deadline is March 15 and presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by March 29.
Events
Upcoming Events
- May 14, 2024 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Dec 20 – Course Reflection Coffee Break: Resource Page
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, November 2023
November 30th 2023
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Mindfulness Minute
As you are reading this newsletter, briefly take a break to look around where you are. Can you find one beautiful thing? Focus your attention upon it, breathing deeply and allowing your body to settle as you just enjoy its presence. Anytime, you can return your attention to this object as a way of orienting yourself to beauty and pleasure. (And, if you can’t find anything at this moment, allow this to be a gentle nudge to place objects of beauty — plants, art, small stones, photographs — in places where you work, to allow you access to this orienting practice at any time.)
Teaching Feedback and Reflection
RSE Week. The Reports of Student Experience (RSEs) will be open to students next week (December 4-8). To encourage students to complete the RSE, please set aside time in class and share with your class how their feedback is useful to you as you reflect on and revise your courses.
RSE Access. Students will receive an email when the survey opens on Monday and they can access the survey from that email or from the RSEs link that should be in every Canvas course. If you’ve previously hidden the RSEs link, please make it visible by: 1) selecting Settings in the left-hand menu in Canvas; 2) in the Navigation tab, dragging RSEs from the bottom list into the top list; and 3) clicking Save at the bottom of the page.
Syllabus Annotation Activity. Looking for additional ways to collect feedback from your students? Bring copies of your syllabus to class on the the last day and ask your students to annotate them. Emily Farris, Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas Christian University suggests the following prompts for students: What did they like/dislike? What was impactful? What would they change? If they could add a week, what would they include or want more of? This activity can also be done electronically using the commenting function in Google docs or a platform such as Perusall. See this enthusiastic post from Matt Reed for his view on the benefits of this activity.
Bonus Tech Tip. For the above activity, you can create a copy of your Google doc for each student as follows:
– Share your document with “Anyone with the link” or “Public.”
– Copy the URL for your document and use it to create a link to your students. For example, you might provide the link within a Canvas assignment or on a Canvas page.
– Update the link, replacing the word “edit” in the URL and anything after it with the word “copy.”
When anyone clicks on the link, they will now be prompted to create a copy of the document that will automatically be saved in their Google drive.
Upcoming Events
Do Faculty of Color Really Matter for the Liberal Arts? The GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning will be hosting this virtual presentation by Professor Irene López (Psychology, Kenyon College) and Associate Professor Simon Garcia (Chemistry, Kenyon College) on Tuesday, December 5, at 12pm. López and Garcia will present on their findings of barriers and issues faced by faculty of color in academia and, in particular, the importance of faculty of color for students, the curriculum, and the institution. They have also launched a website, the Faculty of Color Network, specifically designed to support faculty members of color and will showcase this initiative during the presentation. Register here to attend this event; registered attendees will receive a link to attend via email the day before the event. The first part of the session will be recorded.
Spring Book Group
How can we foster a sense of belonging for our students and for ourselves? The spring 2024 faculty/staff book group, facilitated by Rachel Weir, will focus on Geoffrey Cohen’s book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connections and Bridging Divides, which describes how “small actions to boost belonging have the potential to restore a sense of community in times of isolation and division” and that a sense of belonging “even boosts individual and communal health.” Meetings will take place on Wednesdays (January 24, February 7, February 21, March 13, March 27, April 10, and April 24) from 12:30pm to 1:20pm, with lunch provided, and all participants will receive a copy of the book. Please contact Rachel Weir with any questions. Interested educators can sign up by completing this form. The form also provides space for you to register your interest if you can’t meet at this time; if there’s enough interest, another group may be formed. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
In the Library
Each month we will highlight a resource in Pelletier.
In addition to the ebook linked above, a paper copy of the book is available in the Faculty Development section in Pelletier, which is located on the main floor near the Allegheny Authors section (look for the bright green walls).
URSCA Updates
Summer Research and Scholarship. Information about 2024 summer research opportunities is now available on the Summer Research Program website. Interested students can apply for up to 8 weeks of funding to participate in research, scholarship, and creative activities on campus and in the Meadville community during Summer 2024. To apply, students should submit a completed proposal (available here as a Word document) and submit it via the link on the website by Friday, March 29, 2024; the link will be live early in the spring semester.
Faculty Stipends. Faculty who mentor students participating in the Student-Faculty Research Program through the Office of URSCA will receive a stipend of $100/week (for up to 8-weeks of support) for their mentorship. The $100/week stipend is not paid per student (i.e., faculty mentoring 2 students will only be eligible for $100/week) and this stipend is available only to faculty whose students participate in this specific program.
Contact Matt Venesky (mvenesky@allegheny.edu), Director of URSCA, if you have any questions.
Global Education Updates
Global Learning Seminars in 2025. Faculty are invited to propose a Global Learning Seminar for 2025. GL Seminars are led by two Allegheny faculty and take students to a domestic or international off campus destination. GL Seminars are offered as standalone 2-3 week summer courses or as part of a Spring 2025 course with travel embedded into Spring Break. Proposals are due by January 17, 2025. Are you interested in leading a GL Seminar but don’t know where to start? RSVP at this link to attend a presentation about the 2025 proposal process on Dec. 4 at noon. For further information, review the 2025 Global Learning (GL) Seminars: Proposal & Program Policies.
Major Specific Study Away Advising Sheets for Students, Faculty, and Staff. Last summer, Allegheny faculty members collaborated with the Global Education Office (with support from the GLCA Global Crossroads Innovation Grant) to create major-specific advice for students considering studying away for a semester. These are now housed on a new My Major & Study Away landing page on the Global Education website. Do you have questions about which semester it’s best for any given major to study away? Or have you wondered which of our sponsored program options are best suited for a particular student looking to take upper-level major coursework while away? What about the mandatory courses students in a given major need to complete before they’re approved by their department to study away? These advising guides answer all these questions and then some. We hope they will be a valuable resource for the Allegheny community when supporting our students in their study away adventures.
Teaching Conference
Ohio PKAL Conference. The eighth annual Ohio Project Kaleidoscope (OH-PKAL) conference, Navigating Current Challenges & Opportunities in STEM Higher Education, will be held at Otterbein University on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The keynote speaker is Dr. Lynne Parker, Associate Vice Chancellor of The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and expert in Artificial Intelligence. OH-PKAL is a network of STEM faculty and graduate students promoting and enhancing evidence-based, learner-centered STEM undergraduate education. Check out the call for proposals to learn more about the conference’s themes and to submit a proposal for a poster, presentation, or workshop; the deadline for submissions is Tuesday, December 19. If you’re interested in carpooling with other faculty, contact Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir.
Professional Development Opportunities
Research Seminar on Affirming and Inclusive Engaged Learning for Neurodivergent Students. The Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University invites interested scholars and practitioners, regardless of discipline, to apply to join a multi-institutional cohort of researchers who will investigate systems, supports, pathways, and pipelines for neurodivergent students to facilitate access to and participation in high-quality engaged learning experiences. Selected applicants will meet on Elon University’s campus one week every June for the next three years. The deadline to apply is January 16, 2024; more information is available here. Alexis Hart (ahart@allegheny.edu) has been participating in the current research seminar and would be happy to talk with interested faculty.
2024-2025 Workshop for Early Career Faculty. The Nielsen Center for the Liberal Arts at Eckerd College invites early-career faculty at liberal arts colleges to join a supportive learning community and national network. Nielsen Fellows participate in a seminar-style workshop throughout a year-long program that includes three in-person gatherings at Eckerd College on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The deadline to apply is December 22, 2023; more information is available here.
Events
Upcoming Events
- Dec 14 – Informer 5 Lunch & Learn Session on Visualizations (Murray 120, 12pm)
- Dec 20 – Course Reflection Coffee Break (see green box above)
- May 14, 2024 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, October 2023
October 18th 2023
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Gator Day Faculty Events
Please join us for these two Gator Day (Tuesday, October 24) events for faculty.
Using Assessment Instruments. (Tillotson Room, 9:00am-10:00am) A hands-on workshop that guides faculty through the process of implementing assessment instruments such as the DR rubrics (in courses that carry an ME or CL tag) and those identified in program assessment plans.
Caffeine and Cupcakes. (Tippie Alumni Center, 10:00am-11:00am) The Office of the Provost invites you to stop by to connect with colleagues, eat some cupcakes, and pick up some Allegheny goodies.
Professional Development Opportunities
Community-Engaged Learning Series. Three workshops focused on community-engaged learning and its transformative impact on students and the community will take place from October 18 to October 20. For more information and to register, click here.
ALIC Workshops. The Art department is offering a series of one hour digital art workshops. The first round of workshops includes:
– A Guide to Cell Phone Photography (October 18 & 25)
– Photoshop Comes to the Rescue (November 1 & 8).
Sign up for a workshop here. More details are available in this post on My Allegheny.
Informer 5. ITS will be offering multiple Lunch & Learn sessions on using Informer 5. These include introductory sessions on October 26 and November 3, an Advanced Usage session on November 16, and a Visualizations session on December 14. Lunch will be provided and all sessions will take place in Murray 120 at 12 pm. See more details here and use this form to sign up for sessions. More information about Informer is available here.
Professional Opportunity
Director of General Education. Applications are now open for the new Director of General Education position. Interested tenured faculty are invited to apply for this five-year, renewable position by November 1. As described in the job description, the Director of General Education will report to Peter Bradley (Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, Strategic Planning, and Assessment) and will lead the college-wide strategic developments, implementation, analysis, and reporting of general education student learning outcomes and assessment.
Teaching Conference
Ohio PKAL Conference. The eighth annual Ohio Project Kaleidoscope (OH-PKAL) conference, Navigating Current Challenges & Opportunities in STEM Higher Education, will be held at Otterbein University on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The keynote speaker is Dr. Lynne Parker, Associate Vice Chancellor of The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and expert in Artificial Intelligence. OH-PKAL is a network of STEM faculty and graduate students promoting and enhancing evidence-based, learner-centered STEM undergraduate education. Check out the call for proposals to learn more about the conference’s themes and to submit a proposal for a poster, presentation, or workshop. If you’re interested in carpooling with other faculty, contact Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir.
Fundraising and You
Are you interested in learning more about how fundraising at Allegheny works? This could include: how to identify and engage with potential donors; how to effectively communicate possible donor opportunities; how Institutional Advancement can help departments and programs connect with donors; the role of faculty in donor stewardship; or understanding fundraising responsibilities for faculty who move into administrative roles. Interested faculty are invited to complete this form, briefly indicating the kinds of topics they would like to learn more about. Responses will be collected by Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir and shared with Institutional Advancement in order to plan possible training opportunities.
In the Library
Each month we will highlight a resource in Pelletier.
– Interactive video quizzes, polls, and ratings
– Advanced video analytics
– Royalty-free stock media.
See this page for more details.
Allegheny has 25 licenses, which can be accessed here. Each license provides a month of access and can be renewed each month, if licenses are still available.
Canvas Information
Assignment Submission Issues. If your students are reporting that they cannot upload their assignments to Canvas, please have them work through the steps below, which were communicated in a Canvas announcement on October 18. In short, make sure they are logged into their Allegheny account and have authorized Google Drive on Canvas. Also, both students and faculty should use the Google Drive (LTI 1.3) option in Canvas. The other option (Google Drive) is an older version with less functionality.
1. Before you start, log out of ALL Gmail accounts on your device. Then log into only your @allegheny.edu account and no other Gmail in the same browser. Sometimes the process will glitch if you are logged into a non-Allegheny Gmail account.
2. From the Canvas navigation menu, click on “Account” and then choose “Settings”.
3. Under “Web Services”, check whether you see Google listed in the “Registered Services” section or in the “Other Services” section. If it is in the “Other Services” section, click on it and proceed to step 4. If it’s listed under “Registered Services”, you’ve already authorized it, so you can skip to step 6.
4. Click on Canvas may prompt you to log into your Google account. Use ONLY your @allegheny.edu Gmail.
5. Once you’ve logged in, it should show Google listed in the “Registered Services” section of your account settings.
6. When submitting an assignment, make sure you use the Google Drive (LTI 1.3) option, and not the Google Drive option.
If you still encounter issues with uploading files from Google Drive even after Google Drive is listed in the “Registered Services”, please let the Canvas Team know by emailing canvasteam@allegheny.edu, and we will reach out to you to help troubleshoot. Including screenshots and exact wording of any error messages you encounter will help tremendously!
Canvas and RSEs. Don’t forget that because the end of semester Reports of Student Experience (RSEs) are administered via Canvas, all courses that are eligible for RSEs must have published Canvas sites. This doesn’t mean that entire courses need to be managed through Canvas. You can find instructions on how to create a minimal Canvas course in this document.
Events
Upcoming Events
- Oct 18 – Getting Started with Community-Engaged Learning (Collaboratory, 6:00pm-7:00pm)
- Oct 19 – Assessing Community-Engaged Learning (Collaboratory, Noon – 1:30pm)
- Oct 20 – Campus-Community Partnerships: Moving from Transaction to Transformation (Collaboratory, Noon – 1:30pm)
- Oct 24 (Gator Day) – Using Assessment Instruments, 9:00am-10:00am, Tillotson Room
- Oct 24 (Gator Day) – Caffeine and Cupcakes, 10:00am-11:00am, Tippie Alumni Center
- Oct 26 – Basic Usage Informer 5 Lunch & Learn Session (Murray 120, 12pm)
- Nov 3 – Basic Usage Informer 5 Lunch & Learn Session (Murray 120, 12pm)
- Nov 16 – Advanced Usage Informer 5 Lunch & Learn Session (Murray 120, 12pm)
- Dec 14 – Visualizations Informer 5 Lunch & Learn Session (Murray 120, 12pm)
- May 14, 2024 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- May 16 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, September 2023
September 20th 2023
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Mindfulness Minute
Inspired by the spring 2023 book group focused on Oren Jay Sofer’s book Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, here is one example of a way to create short pauses amidst your busy day:
Right now, as you are reading this newsletter, be aware of the sensations of your body sitting (or walking, or standing). Bring your attention to points of contact between your body and the chair and your feet and the ground. Keep returning your attention to those points of contact. Were you aware of those sensations a few moments ago before beginning this exercise? How does it feel to become aware of your direct, present-moment experience?
Fall Educator Resource Institute
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute on Monday, August 21. Materials from all of the sessions are now linked to the schedule.
Whether or not you attended the ERI, we invite you to complete the ERI survey. As part of this initial survey, ERI participants will have the opportunity to opt into a follow-up survey that will be distributed later this year to collect information about the kinds of changes participants made as a result of the ERI.
Save the Date. The Spring Educator Resource Institute will take place on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Click here to save the date on your calendar.
Gator Day Faculty Events
Mark your calendars for these two Gator Day (Tuesday, October 24) events for faculty.
Using Assessment Instruments. (Tillotson Room, 9:00am-10:00am) A hands-on workshop that guides faculty through the process of implementing assessment instruments such as the DR rubrics (in courses that carry an ME or CL tag) and those identified in program assessment plans.
Caffeine and Cupcakes. (Tippie Alumni Center, 10:00am-11:00am) The Office of the Provost invites you to stop by to connect with colleagues, eat some cupcakes, and pick up some Allegheny goodies.
In the Library
Each month we will highlight a resource in Pelletier.
Explain to your class why you have chosen the teaching methods, readings, assignments, in-class activities, policies, and assessment strategies that you are using. Students don’t assume that everything you do is for their own good.
Canvas Information
Canvas Workshops. Recordings from the August 17 Canvas Essentials workshop and Canvas Q&A session are now available via the Canvas Workshop Materials document, which is linked to the Canvas Tips page.
Canvas and RSEs. Please remember that all courses that are eligible for end-of-semester Reports of Student Experience (RSEs) must have published Canvas sites because the RSEs are administered via Canvas. This doesn’t mean that entire courses need to be managed through Canvas, but every Canvas course does need to be published with at least some minimal amount of content. You can find instructions on how to create a minimal Canvas course in this document.
Fundraising and You
Are you interested in learning more about how fundraising at Allegheny works? This could include: how to identify and engage with potential donors; how to effectively communicate possible donor opportunities; how Institutional Advancement can help departments and programs connect with donors; the role of faculty in donor stewardship; or understanding fundraising responsibilities for faculty who move into administrative roles. Interested faculty are invited to complete this form, briefly indicating the kinds of topics they would like to learn more about. Responses will be collected by Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir and shared with Institutional Advancement in order to plan possible training opportunities.
Useful Subscriptions
- Allegheny is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), a nationally-recognized, independent organization that provides online career development and mentoring resources for faculty at all stages of their career. To take advantage of resources such as the Monday Motivator emails, 14 day Writing Challenges, and a range of webinars, set up your free account by following the steps detailed in this post.
- Looking for news, advice, and analysis that is relevant to higher education community? Use your Allegheny email to create free accounts with platforms such as Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education and then subscribe to email newsletters that connect to your interests. Department chairs, check out the Ask the Chair posts that address readers’ questions related to departmental leadership.
Do you have other suggestions that would be of general interest to faculty? Email them to Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir for use in future issues of the digest.
AI and Teaching
AI Assignment Collection The WAC Repository, a publication of the WAC Clearinghouse and the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum, recently released TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies, a digital collection of 34 undergraduate-level assignments to support students’ AI literacy, rhetorical and ethical engagements, creative exploration, and professional writing, along with an Introduction to guide instructors’ understanding and their selection of what to emphasize in their courses.
Events
Upcoming Events
- Oct 24 (Gator Day) – Using Assessment Instruments, 9:00am-10:00am, Tillotson Room
- Oct 24 (Gator Day) – Caffeine and Cupcakes, 10:00am-11:00am, Tippie Alumni Center
- May 14, 2024 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (save the date)
Past Events and Materials
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session
- Aug 21 – Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 21 – Spring 2023 Educator Resource Institute
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.
Faculty Development Digest, August 2023
August 10th 2023
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 Rachel Weir at rweir@allegheny.edu.
Fall Educator Resource Institute
Allegheny faculty, staff, and administrators are invited to participate in the Fall 2023 Educator Resource Institute on Monday, August 21, with sessions running from 9:00am to 3:00pm. A full schedule has been posted on the Faculty Resources site; please check this schedule for updates and room details.
For planning purposes, participants are asked to select the workshops that they will be attending by 3pm Friday, August 18, using this form. You will receive a calendar invite for each session that you select, as a reminder of your responses.
Setting Up Your Courses
Check out the Preparing for a New Semester page for reminders and tips for the new academic year. In particular:
- Take a look at the Syllabus Checklist page as a reminder of the required and recommended syllabus content. This page summarizes the information found in Section 9.1 of the Faculty Handbook.
- If you are teaching a course that has an ME or CL tag, please make sure you are able to identify at least one assignment that will assess that learning outcome. Faculty teaching courses with other DR tags should still consider how specific assignments could be used to assess those learning outcomes, as we anticipate expanding this requirement to additional tags in future semesters.
Reports of Student Experience (RSEs) The fall RSE survey will be open during the week of December 4, so please make sure that you set aside time for students to complete the survey during class that week. This survey is administered via the RSEs link that appears in the navigation menu in each of your Canvas courses. For this reason, all courses that are eligible for RSEs must have published Canvas sites, preferably by the Add/Drop deadline so that reminders don’t need to be sent out to instructors. This doesn’t mean that entire courses need to be managed through Canvas. You can find instructions on how to create a minimal Canvas course in this document.
You may also want to make time to administer a midterm course reflection, followed by a post-semester course reflection.
Canvas Information
Canvas Workshops.On Thursday, August 17 at 10am, Instructure trainer Cory Chitwood will facilitate a virtual, 90-minute Canvas Essentials workshop, aimed at new Canvas users or anyone who would appreciate a refresher on the basics of Canvas. Sign up via this form.
Cory will also run a virtual, 90-minute Q&A session at 1pm on August 17. Participants will have the opportunity to submit questions during the session and Cory will aim to address as many as possible during the allotted time. Sign up here.
Also on August 17, at 2:30pm Instructure will be hosting a 30-minute virtual session on creating and using rubrics and duplicating assessment and content for effective and efficient content building. Click here for more information, including the Zoom link.
Course Mergers. Library Services, working with the Office of the Registrar, has developed a streamlined process for merging course sections in Canvas. Faculty who are teaching more than one section of a course may wish to request that the sections be merged into a single Canvas course. To request a merger, please use the Request a Canvas Course Merger button on the Library Resources for Faculty page, and submit the form provided. Requests will be processed by Library Services after approval by the Registrar.
Please allow time for processing. It is imperative that course merger requests be submitted before classes begin. Course mergers cannot be completed after students have submitted assignments or participated in discussions in the course. Please note that this process supersedes the former methods of emailing LITS or opening a WebHelp ticket.
Canvas Support. The Canvas Tips page contains information about Canvas resources and support, course set-up reminders, troubleshooting suggestions, and a link to materials from previous Canvas workshops. Two quick reminders:
– If you’ve copied content from a previous course, watch out for issues with invalid links or unpublished images (the dreaded padlock!). You can identify these quickly using the Course Link Validator. See this article for more information.
– If you can’t find one of your courses in Canvas, click on the Courses icon and then select All Courses. Click the star next to any course to add it to your Courses menu and your Dashboard. See more information here.
AI and Teaching
AI and the Honor Code The Honor Committee is actively discussing the potential impact of generative AI (genAI) on academic integrity. The Committee already interprets Article II regarding “unauthorized assistance” based on what an instructor does or does not define as authorized. So, instructors who wish to restrict the use of genAI in their courses have the support of the Honor Code in doing so because the act of authorizing or forbidding particular types of assistance resides with the instructor. As with any other allegation, no outcome can be promised in any individual case, and it remains incumbent upon the instructor to make the case for a violation of the Honor Code consistent with their own course policies. This is no different from any other case an instructor might bring. — Ian Binnington, Dean for the Student Experience.
As the above statement indicates, faculty have the freedom to select genAI policies for their own courses. Whatever approach you choose to take, please communicate it clearly to students. To assist with this process, here are some lists and guides compiled by educational developers over the summer:
- Classroom Policies for AI Generative Tools (Lance Eaton)
- AI Prompts for Teaching (Cynthia Alby)
- What’s My Stance on genAI in This Class? (Gettysburg College Johnson Center for Teaching and Learning)
Additionally, here are three of the many articles written about AI over on the last few months:
- 4 Steps to Help You Plan for ChatGPT in Your Classroom (Flower Darby)
- How to Write AI Prompts: The Key to Better Outputs from Generative AI (Laura Starita)
- From AI to A+: Prepare Your Students for Using ChatGPT and Other AI (Ryan Watkins)
Professional Opportunity
Have you ever wanted to know how to become a reviewer for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)? Join the NSF for their webinar “Becoming a Reviewer for the NSF GRFP” on August 15th, 2:00pm-3:00pm ET; register here. This webinar is for those who have not reviewed for the NSF GRFP and will provide an overview of the review process and offer you the opportunity to ask questions. Serving as a reviewer offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights into the review process, equipping you with the knowledge to better support your students in their application process; see more information here.
Fall 2023 Opportunities
Fall Teaching Circle
A teaching circle is a group of up to a dozen faculty members who meet on a regular basis throughout the semester to share issues, ideas, and advice connected to their teaching in a confidential and supportive setting. Our fall teaching circle will be facilitated by Assistant Professor of Computer Science Doug Luman. Watch for a My Allegheny announcement for information about dates and times, plus a sign-up form. Please contact Director of Faculty Development Rachel Weir with any questions.
Writing Accountability Group.
Are you an untenured faculty member (tenure-track, NTTR, visiting, adjunct, etc)? Do you have scholarly writing projects you need to complete and just have a hard time finding the time? Do you like to have camaraderie while you work? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, please join us for the Writing Accountability Group (WAG)! Starting September 16th, we will be meeting one Saturday a month to write (9:00-12:00), socialize during lunch (12:00-1:00), and write some more (1:00-4:00). Lunch is provided. If you are interested in joining us, please complete this form. Note that completing this form does not mean you are required to attend every meeting. If you have any other questions about WAGs, please email Chris Normile at cnormile@allegheny.edu. This group is sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
Upcoming Events
- Aug 16 – New Faculty Orientation, Day 1
- Aug 17 – Canvas Essentials Workshop (sign up here)
- Aug 17 – Canvas Q&A Session (sign up here)
- Aug 18 – New Faculty Orientation, Day 2
- Aug 21 – Fall Educator Resource Institute
- Aug 22 – Exploratory Advisor Training 2, 11:15am-4:00pm
The second in a series of two required workshops for instructors of LS 198 and LS 199.
See the Faculty Development Opportunities page for additional links to previous events.