Program Updates & Activities

1.     COVID-19 Faculty Reflections.  We are still conducting our “urgent response” exploration of the ways in which faculty are managing their lives during COVID-19! As we have said in our earlier announcements, our aim is to chart faculty experiences with the intent of providing a solid, empirically based foundation on which to make decisions as the university grapples with the changes wrought by COVID-19. So far, we have collected twenty-four reflections from faculty across all colleges and ranks. The faculty who have contributed reflections have commented that they’ve found the process of writing them useful in making sense of their own lives and experiences in this unprecedented time. We have also been drawing from themes in the data thus far in our suggestions for faculty programming in the coming months but remain interested in collecting a broader sample of faculty perspectives. In other words, we’re still interested in hearing from you! All faculty are eligible to participate. Please email Sarah Trainer at trainers@seattleu.edu for information.

2.   Outreach Activities. Outreach activities have included a Roundtable at the annual ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) Conference, in which team members Agnieszka Miguel and Sarah Trainer led a discussion about the impacts faculty are feeling around COVID19. Team members, working with Sarah Bricknell at OSP, also wrote a short opinion piece for NCURA Magazine about the importance of inclusive faculty reward structures and mission alignment. Another is planned for the AJCU magazine, Conversations. Finally, team members Jen Tilghman Havens and Jodi O’Brien successfully completed their year-long participation in Cohort 11 of the Ignatian Colleagues Program and are continuing on in various advisory roles with the expectation of sharing the work of SU ADVANCE across the wider AJCU network.

3.   Fall Quarter Mentoring Opportunities. In Fall 2020, we will be offering mentoring and listening session opportunities for promotional formation for SU faculty. All sessions will be conducted remotely. Announcements and details forthcoming.  Additionally, please be aware that, as always, our colleagues in the Center for Faculty Development (https://www.seattleu.edu/faculty-development/) are a wealth of resources