Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Faculty Development Digest. We will use this digest to highlight 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.
We know you’re in the midst of wrapping up the fall semester but, when you’re ready, we invite you to peruse the spring 2023 faculty development opportunities. These include a Mindful Communication book group and the Critical Professor Series. You can also see what’s coming up by checking out the Faculty Development calendar, which is posted on the Faculty Development Opportunities page.
For now, here are the highlighted items for this issue. The next issue, which should be out in early January, will focus on helpful start-of-semester resources.
Upcoming Events
At noon on December 14, join the GLCA Consortium for Teaching and Learning for a virtual Conversation on Ungrading.
If you’d like to set aside some time to reflect on your fall courses in the company of colleagues, please join us at one or both of the Course Reflection Sessions, which will take place on December 21 and January 5.
If you’ve been notified that you’ve reached your Canvas storage limit or you just want to learn more, check out the workshop on Using Google Storage with Canvas.
Resources
If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to sign up for a free NCFDD (National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity) account via Allegheny’s institutional membership; see instructions here.
Once you’ve done that, check out their article It’s Crunch Time, which lists 10 end of semester tips. Our favorites: Lower Your Standards in Non-Essential Areas of Life and Ruthlessly Assess What Grading ACTUALLY Needs To Get Done.
If you’re looking for tips on how to make time for what matters most to you, check out Oliver Burkeman’s blog The Imperfectionist. He’s also offering a masterclass on “letting go of overwhelm and finally getting round to what counts” on January 14 and 15, 2023 (more details here). The cost is $45, which can be reimbursed from your Faculty Travel allowance for this year.
Tech Tips
You can print securely from college-owned devices to any Toshiba printer on campus by selecting Release Printers as the destination, swiping your college ID at the printer, and selecting the print job from the list.
You can also print from your personal devices. No set-up is needed to print from an iPad or iPhone. For other devices, first install the Mobility Print app (see instructions). In both cases, select Release Printers as the printing destination.
Spring 2023 Opportunities
Communities of Practice
Critical Professor Series
Using various interdisciplinary frameworks, this professional development opportunity will reintroduce faculty to hidden dimensions of their pedagogical identities and actively discuss equity and inclusion inside undergraduate classrooms. Upon completion, participating faculty may be asked to co-facilitate future department level, course diversity audits throughout the College. Participants will meet weekly for 8 weeks beginning January 2023 (lunch will be provided). Participating faculty will receive a stipend for their active engagement. If interested, please complete this Google form by January 5th, 2023. For more detailed information, please contact Heather Moore Roberson at hroberson@allegheny.edu.
Mindful Communication Book Group
How can we slow down to focus on creating conversations, spaces, and a community prioritizing care and compassion? The spring 2023 faculty book group, facilitated by Sharon Wesoky (Political Science), will focus on Oren Jay Sofer’s book Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication to learn the theory behind mindful approaches to communication, as well as specific practices to cultivate skills in presence and patience, curiosity and care, focusing on what matters, and applying these skills to conversations both in and out of the classroom. There will also be the opportunity to participate in optional instruction in mindfulness meditation. Meetings will take place on Mondays (January 23, February 6 and 27, March 20, April 3 and 17, and May 1) from 12:30pm to 1:20pm, with lunch provided, and all participants will receive a copy of the book. Please contact Sharon Wesoky or Rachel Weir with any questions. Interested educators can sign up by completing this form. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
Writing Accountability Group
Are you an untenured faculty member (tenure-track, NTTR, visiting, adjunct, etc)? Do you have writing projects you need to complete? Do you need some camaraderie while you work? Please join us for the Writing Accountability Group! We meet one Saturday a month to write (9am-12pm), socialize during lunch (12pm-1pm), and write some more (1pm-4pm). Lunch will be provided. If you’re interested, please email Pam Runestad at prunestad@allegheny.edu for details.
Events
- January 5 – Course Reflection Session 2
- January 10 – Workshop on Using Google Storage with Canvas
- May 16 – Spring Educator Resource Institute (click this link to add the event to your calendar)
- May 17 – Department Chairs Workshop