Faculty Resources

Updates

On the right-hand side of the Faculty Resources site, you will find several new additions:
– The Opportunities for Faculty box contains information about time-sensitive opportunities. Check to see what’s coming up whenever you access the site! Feel free to submit items to Rachel Weir.
– The Recent Posts box contains links to recent issues of the Digest and other posts on the Faculty Resources site.
– The Digest Topics box contains a word cloud of topics that appear in issues of the Digest. Just click a topic to access all relevant issues. Click Digest to access all issues.

Mark your calendars!
– The Spring Educator Resource Institute will take place on Tuesday, May 16. Click here to save the date on your calendar.
– The Fall Educator Resource Institute will take place on Monday, August 21. Click here to save the date.

Teaching Tools

Have you made time in your course schedule for a Midterm Course Reflection? Week 7 (Feb. 27 – Mar. 3), 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.

At the end of the semester, you can return to this feedback and your responses to it as part of a post-semester course reflection. Watch for opportunities to join a May course reflection session with colleagues – more details soon!

Canvas Information

Did you know that you can control how long students have access to your Canvas course by adjusting the Participation option in Settings? Choosing Term means the course will be visible as soon as you publish it and will be available until the last day to submit work for an Incomplete for that semester. Choosing Course instead gives the instructor the option to adjust the start and end dates manually. If you want to make your course visible to all enrolled students indefinitely, uncheck the box next to “Restrict students from viewing course after course end date,” located at the end of the Participation section in Settings. All of these settings are course-wide; there isn’t a way to give students different access dates.

You also now have the option to change the course name that is displayed in the Courses menu. Just go into Settings and update the entry in the Course Name box. This change will be in effect for everyone in your course. You can create a course nickname just for yourself by clicking the three vertical dots on the course card in your Dashboard and changing the entry in the box below Nickname.

If you do make any changes in Settings, don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the page and click the yellow Update Course Details button so that your changes are saved.

AI-Based Writing Systems Workshop

On Friday, February 3, we were joined by Heidi McKee and James Porter, both of Miami University, for a workshop on AI-Based Writing Systems. If you weren’t able to attend, please check out the materials below:
– Recording
– Slides
– Handout
You can also find these materials on the Teaching Resources page, under On-Campus Workshop Materials.

FCR Updates

The Foundation & Corporate Relations (FCR) office invites you to check out the grant opportunities below and to contact them early and often at fcr@allegheny.edu if you’re thinking about applying for a grant.

Humanities Faculty: Community-Engaged Course Development & Voter Education The Project Pericles’ Periclean Faculty Leadership (PFL) Program in the Humanities Grant provides $4,500 grants to design new or significantly revised courses in the humanities that incorporate community-initiated projects and voter education. There are multiple deadlines to apply. If you are interested, please complete the FCR office’s grant proposal endorsement form, indicating which deadline you are interested in.

Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Faculty: Fundamental Research The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation of The Pittsburgh Foundation awards annual research grants to researchers at Pennsylvania colleges and universities to carry out fundamental research in biology, chemistry and physics. Grant programs include:
– New Investigator Research Grants – Up to six awards at a maximum of $150,000 for two years ($75,000 per year).
– New Initiative Research Grants – Up to four awards at a maximum of $300,000 for two years ($150,000 per year).
If you are interested in this opportunity, please complete the FCR office’s grant proposal endorsement form by March 1, 2023.

Call for FCR ERI topics The FCR office is planning a presentation during the next ERI. What topics would you like to know more about? How to write a strong proposal? How to create a grant budget? How to write a solid grant report? Email your ideas to fcr@allegheny.edu.

Did you know? The National Endowment for the Humanities website offers a tool to help match your project ideas with available opportunities. Don’t forget to contact Allegheny’s Foundation & Corporate Relations office at fcr@allegheny.edu to discuss your ideas!

Fulbright Programs

The 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar Program is now open. Faculty whose work could benefit from some international field time or who would like to spend a semester or two teaching abroad are highly encouraged to apply. Allegheny faculty have fared well in this competition over the years; see this page for a full list. Anyone with even a passing interest in applying is encouraged to reach out to the Fulbright Campus Liaisons – Rachel Weir and Patrick Jackson – for more information or to start a conversation about Allegheny resources that might be useful as you put together an application.

Do you have a student or advisee who is doing great things? Share their name with Senior Assistant Dean for Fellowship Advising Patrick Jackson and he will reach out to connect the student with fellowship opportunities including the Fulbright Student Program, the Rhodes Scholarship, the Marshall Scholarship, and many more.

Teaching Conferences and Workshops

Faculty and staff are invited to participate in Teaching and Learning Together: The Possibilities and Challenges of Pedagogy Partnerships, a summer workshop hosted at Grinnell College on June 13 and 14, 2023 through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Pedagogy partnerships bring together faculty, students, and others to co-create meaningful teaching and learning experiences. The grant will cover all costs for participants (travel, lodging, and meals). Interested participants should complete the application form by Friday, February 24.

The Center for Innovative Pedagogy at Kenyon College is currently accepting presentation proposals for the 2023 What Works Conference, which will take place virtually during the week of May 30-June 2, 2023. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 1 March 22 (extended deadline), and presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by March 30.

The 7th Annual Teaching, Learning, and Technology Conference (TLTCon 2023), hosted by the College of Charleston, will take place online on May 16-17, 2023. This year’s keynote speaker is Jay McTighe. Jay is a veteran educator and accomplished author having co-authored 18 books, including the award-winning and best-selling Understanding by Design® series. The conference is free but spaces are limited, so register today!