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February Newsletter
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(If you have trouble reading this newsletter click here to view on web)
Welcome to February, that short, bleak, month into which we pack the celebration of two presidents, four hundred years of Black History, and the hearts and flowers of romantic love. It’s the longest stretch of the semester without a break, and if you began the semester already tired, as I did, it may all just seem like too much.
The Faculty Hub held two sessions on sustainable teaching recently, and we listened as we also discussed recovering our joy and purpose, boundary-setting, and finding efficiencies. What we heard is what you probably already know: that the past five semesters have both created and exposed enormous challenges to our conventional teaching practices. We simply cannot go on as before and be either equitable or sustainable.
So we invite you to think with us as we focus this month on the twin challenges—and promises—of equity and sustainability. On February 11, we welcome Dr. Bedelia Richards, founder of RaceTalk LLC and Associate Professor of Sociology, for a facilitated conversation on creating an inclusive environment in the classroom. Learn more and register here. Dr. Richards draws on her research and teaching practice to offer sustainable and effective practices for building trust and supporting all students, especially those with marginalized identities. We are also happy to welcome Dr. Janelle Peifer, Assistant Professor of Psychology, as our newest Faculty Hub Associate. You can read more about Dr. Peifer elsewhere in this newsletter; she’ll be working with us to facilitate conversations on building affective capacity for avoiding and dealing with microaggressions. Both faculty and students have been asking for these conversations and we are delighted to be able to offer them.
We also invite you to continue to think with us about how to make our own practices more sustainable. Whether that’s “bundling” Zoom appointments and working from home sometimes to avoid a commute, or streamlining assessments and feedback to be both more timely and more efficient, we’d love to talk about solutions that work. You may also find some of them in our Morning Blend archive—a sustainable approach to faculty development, with 10-15 minute recorded presentations and tip sheets on a variety of topics for you to access on your own time. (Or, of course, join us live on Thursday at 9 am (over Zoom) or Friday at 10:30 in the Hub for the newest offerings!)
Finally, sustainability is a matter of equity: we cannot serve our students if we don’t take care of ourselves, and of the environment around us. And our students deserve to see us setting boundaries and taking care, so that they, too, learn these important skills for themselves. I hope we can work together, not only during this short month but every month, to raise our awareness of how sustainability and equity are linked—to slow down, take a deep breath, and focus on what really matters.
Libby Gruner
Coordinator for Faculty Development in Teaching, Faculty Hub, and Professor of English
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| Faculty Hub Associates Program |
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| Welcome, Dr. Janelle Peifer! |
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| The Faculty Hub is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Janelle Peifer, Assistant Professor of Psychology to a one-semester position as Faculty Hub Associate. Dr. Peifer is a clinical psychologist with particular expertise in identity-informed approaches to development and especially college student development. In addition to her relevant research, she has facilitated conversations on difficult topics and done equity-related work at other institutions. We are excited to work with her to develop facilitated conversations for faculty interested in tailoring active listening strategies to their disciplinary needs in order to create a more inclusive environment for learning. Look for Dr. Peifer to facilitate these conversations in the coming months. |
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| Upcoming Faculty Hub Events |
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| Below is a list of selected upcoming events. For a full list of Faculty Hub events, check out our website. |
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| Thursday, February 3 at 12:12 to 12:30 p.m. Faculty Hub or via Zoom |
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| Faculty Hub Talk - Dr. Melinda Yang |
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Please join us for the first Hub Talk of the spring! Melinda Yang, Assistant Professor of Biology will discuss "Using Ancient DNA to Understand Human History: Perspectives in East Asia." The talk will be from 12:12 to 12:30 p.m. with a discussion to follow. Pizza will be provided.
Register for the Hub Talk here. |
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| First meeting: Wednesday, February 9 from 4 to 5:00 p.m. |
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| Faculty Hub Book Club: Book Proposals |
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Are you currently working on a scholarly book proposal or would like to learn more about the proposal process? Join us this spring for a book club on The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors by Laura Portwood-Stacer. This faculty reading group will be co-facilitated by Stephen Hudson (Department of Music) and Kylie Korsnack (Faculty Hub). Faculty from all schools and disciplines are invited to join us. We plan to hold three discussion meetings between February 9 and March 25. There will also be optional opportunities for participants to workshop proposal drafts with one another throughout February and March. Our first meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 9 from 4-5 p.m.
Register for the book club here. |
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| Faculty Hub Writing Retreat |
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Friday, February 11,
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Faculty Hub or via Zoom
Would it be helpful if you could block off and protect a large chunk of time to dedicate to writing? Do you want to write in community with colleagues in a loosely structured and supportive writing environment? Join the Faculty Hub for a half-day writing retreat on Friday, February 11 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. This writing retreat will provide participants with an opportunity to briefly check-in and share their writing goals with colleagues before breaking off to work individually. There will also be optional opportunities throughout the retreat for participants to engage with a writing or technology consultant. Faculty may choose to attend the retreat virtually or in-person at the Faculty Hub. In-person participation will be capped at 10.
Register for the writing retreat here.
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| Faculty Hub Conversation: Adjuncts |
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Tuesday, February 15,
12:00 to 12:50 p.m.
via Zoom
Are you currently teaching as an adjunct professor or as an instructor on a part-time or temporary appointment in A&S, RSB, Jepson, Law, or SPCS? Would you like an opportunity to ask questions, build community, and make connections with faculty in similar instructional roles from across campus?
This Faculty Hub Conversation will be co-facilitated by Kylie Korsnack (Faculty Hub), Carol Wittig (Library), and John Zinn (SPCS) and will be offered on Tuesday, January 18 from 12-12:50 p.m on Zoom.
Register for the conversation here.
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| Thursday, February 17 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Faculty Hub or via Zoom |
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| Incentives in Publishing: From Book Proposal to Contract |
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Insights into the incentives of authors, editors, publishers, and readers help demystify the book publishing process. In this session with Dr. David Pervin, participants will receive insight and tips for developing strategies to craft compelling pitches and proposals, for navigating the sometimes-fraught review process, and for understanding basic contract conditions. There will also be time set aside for Q&A. Dr. Pervin was an acquisitions editor at both commercial and university presses, including Oxford University Press, University of Chicago Press, and Palgrave Macmillan. He received a Ph.D. in political science from UCLA.
Register for the session here. |
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What is Morning Blend? They are quick (less than 15 minutes) presentations with one page tip sheets. It is a program designed with your most precious resource, time, in mind. This semester's schedule can be found here.
From the Morning Blend Archive: |
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| Program & Resource Highlights |
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| Teaching Squares |
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| Teaching Squares provides an opportunity for groups of faculty (usually 3-4) to engage in mutual, non-evaluative peer observation. Faculty participants examine their own teaching in the context of new approaches observed and reflect on how the teaching positively affects student engagement. For more information about the Teaching Squares program, visit our website or email Libby Gruner. |
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| Maintaining Continuity of Learning When Students Are Absent From Class |
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| The Faculty Hub has developed a document to provide suggestions you can incorporate into your teaching when students are absent from class. Each situation includes a number of options to consider; you may use one or more of the options to support student learning during excused absences. Read the document here. |
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| Digital Pedagogy Grants |
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Digital pedagogy (DP) grants support the purchase or licensing of software or digital services (tools) that have the potential to enhance teaching and learning. This is a pilot program that supports experimentation and evaluation of new tools for use in one or more courses for a duration of one to three semesters.
Learn more about the program or apply here. |
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| Facilitated Course Assessments |
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| The Faculty Hub provides confidential, facilitated course assessments to faculty and instructional staff upon request. This service offers faculty the opportunity to invite a consultant from the Faculty Hub into their classroom to gather anonymous feedback from their students through a facilitated conversation. Learn more about the Hub’s facilitated course assessment service or email the Faculty Hub directly with questions about this service. |
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What is your role in the Hub?
I am an educational developer in the Faculty Hub, which means I design, facilitate, and offer programming to support faculty in their roles as teachers and scholars. I have the most experience with programming and consultations that focus on inclusive and accessible teaching, course design, collaborative learning, and in gathering and/or responding to student feedback. In consultations with me, faculty can expect to find someone who is eager to listen and learn about their approaches to teaching, who is looking to connect them with evidence-based resources and suggestions that align with their teaching goals, and who is genuinely excited to think with them about teaching.
What is a recent project that inspired / excited you?
Throughout the past few semesters, I have had a chance to work with several faculty members who are experimenting with alternative approaches to assessment within their courses. I’ve done portfolio grading in the past, but have otherwise used traditional grading approaches throughout my teaching career. Inspired by faculty and colleagues who have had success with specifications grading, contract grading, and ungrading in their teaching over the past few years, I decided to try specifications grading in my FYS course this spring. I’ll be eager to share what I learn from this experience in future assessment-related consultations and programming.
What's a fun fact about you?
As an undergrad, I ran cross country and track for Bowling Green State University. During my freshman year, an injury forced me to take a break from distance running, so I decided to try my hand at learning how to throw javelin. I ended up being more successful as a javelin thrower in college than I ever was as a distance runner. Distance running (and coaching) is still my passion though.
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| External Faculty Development Opportunities |
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Lecture Breakers Podcast
The Lecture Breakers podcast is the place where educators share innovative teaching strategies to help you break up your lecture, energize your classroom, increase student engagement, and improve learning. Below are some episode recommendations from the Hub:
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