One of our goals as a Center is to engage SU faculty in conversation around the deeper questions of academic practice, based on national and international research into higher education. Events are open to ALL SU faculty.
Countering burnout by cultivating imperfection
Fri, Jan 21 | 2:00–3:15 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Naomi Hume (Art History)
Our return to campus promised relief from the isolation of working and teaching remotely for a year. But faculty report feeling burned out after the fall. What is burnout and what can we do to alleviate it, even as the pandemic and its impacts endure?
In this session, we’ll define burnout as it is discussed in the literature and address why it is particularly prevalent among women and BIPOC faculty. We will explore how perfectionist habits perpetuate burnout and learn to cultivate imperfection to interrupt that vicious cycle. Cultivating imperfection does not mean aiming to fail. Instead, it allows us to adapt our standards to discern which tasks demand close attention and which tasks just need to get done.
We’ll end the session with practical steps to interrupt perfectionism so we can devote more time and attention to what really matters.
» Registration is now closed.
Teaching to Transgress
Mondays: Jan 24, Feb 7, and Feb 28 | 12:30–1:45 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Roxy Hornbeck (Performing Arts & Arts Leadership)
Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Almost 20 years since its publication, Teaching to Transgress remains essential reading for educators seeking to reground their own practice in social and racial justice. In her book, hooks calls on educators to "transgress" against current educational practices that sustain racial, gender, and class inequities. Rather, she challenges us to reimagine a more liberatory practice of teaching, inviting us into a conversation about how to institute deep systemic change in our pedagogy, and reshaping our practices beyond the superficial. In her own words, "To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn." In this learning community, we will focus on the unique work that white faculty members need to do in their roles as leaders and teachers to promote more just and equitable spaces.
The author of Teaching to Transgress, Black feminist intellectual, professor, and activist, bell hooks, passed away on December 15, 2021 at the age of 69. This learning community honors her legacy and reminds us that the voices of Black Women who came before can be carried on in the work we do today.
In this three-session learning community for white-identified faculty, facilitated by Roxy Hornbeck (assistant professor of Arts Leadership), you'll read through the book with colleagues and explore how hooks's ideas and challenges can reshape your own work as an educator.
This community is for any white-identified faculty member who wants to move beyond self-awareness around racial identity to make concrete shifts in pedagogy and practice.
Fifteen spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Teaching to Transgress is 200 pages long and the reading will be split across the three sessions to be manageable for participants. It is available to SU faculty electronically via Lemieux Library. Alternatively, the Center is pleased to be able to offer hard copies of the book, to be delivered to a location of your choice.
The three dates in Winter Quarter are:
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Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT)
Tuesdays: Jan 25, Feb 8, and Feb 22 | 11:00–12:30 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Katherine Raichle and David Green
Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
We know from decades of research that access to learning in higher education is inequitable for marginalized students. These inequities have been heightened during the pandemic, deepening an unjust pattern of underrepresentation and underachievement in higher education for many groups of students. Faculty are often left feeling that addressing such discrepancies is beyond their control or bandwidth. Yet there are simple and immediate ways to create more equitable access to learning in your classes.
In this three-part series we will explore a simple and high-impact transformational approach to teaching – the Transparent Design in Learning and Teaching initiative in higher education (TILT). Put simply, TILT is an approach to teaching that helps students better understand how and why they are learning course content. Even tiny adjustments to teaching practices informed by TILT have been shown to bridge inequitable access to learning, enhancing learning for ALL students, while importantly benefiting underrepresented students in particular. Moreover, research has shown a lasting impact of TILT on students’ confidence, metacognitive self-awareness, sense of belonging, and persistence. Faculty, too, have experienced their own benefits, including higher-quality student work, thus feeling greater satisfaction in their grading and teaching.
This is a hands-on and practice-oriented series with advance readings to complete. We will learn about TILT and apply its principles to the design of assignments, grading criteria, and teaching practices in our classes.
Over the three sessions, you'll learn how to:
This community is for any faculty member who is seeking to enhance their students’ learning and make their learning practices more equitably accessible to all students.
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Teaching in the Jesuit Tradition
Facilitated by Jenny Loertscher (Chemistry) and rotating guest facilitators
Co-sponsored by the Center for Jesuit Education
Teaching in the Jesuit Tradition (TJT) is a community-driven series aimed at building connections and exchanging ideas related to teaching and learning at a 21st century Jesuit university. All are welcome; faculty in their first few years at Seattle University are especially encouraged to attend.
There will be six hour-long Zoom sessions held over the 2021–22 academic year. You are welcome to attend as many sessions as you choose. Those who attend will be given access to the Canvas teaching repository and will be invited to contribute materials as well.
If you have any questions, would like to contribute teaching materials, or have ideas for topics for the spring quarter sessions, please contact Jenny Loertscher (loertscher@seattleu.edu).
Pedagogies for Social Justice: Structuring Learning Experiences
Wed, Jan 26 | 12:30–1:30 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-facilitated by Jenny Loertscher and Kerry Soo Von Esch (College of Education)
Join colleagues in developing ways to structure learning experiences to promote social justice in the classroom and beyond.
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Using Reflective Practices to Deepen Teaching and Learning
Fri, Mar 4 | 12:30–1:30 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-facilitated by Jenny Loertscher and Andrea Fontana (Center for Jesuit Education)
Join colleagues in learning how reflective practices can be used by faculty and students to help deepen their experience of teaching and learning. As part of this session, we will participate in a guided reflective exercise, a thoughtful review of the quarter, followed by discussion of how these reflective practices could lead to making different choices as an instructor and enhancing your students’ learning.
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Thursdays: Jan 27, Feb 10, and Feb 24 | 1:30–2:30 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Katherine Raichle
The Center for Faculty Development will be offering an affinity group for faculty parents of school-age children. The purpose of this group is to provide a space to discuss and explore the unique challenges faced by faculty who have children in their care. The challenge of parenting while maintaining a rigorous schedule of teaching, research, and/or service to the university is not new. However, the benefits of finding a community of support around parenting has never been more urgent. We have faced unprecedented demands of caregiving and schooling while balancing the work of our academic lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The return to in-person work for ourselves and in-person school for our children has offered sources of consolation and desolation. Let’s convene and share where we are during this time and find ways to support one another.
The psychological benefits of convening groups of people around common identities and experiences are well known. Research on affinity groups, in particular, has shown that they enhance agency and optimism, while also providing access to beneficial information and support.
At its most basic level, we hope that this group offers a space where you can feel less isolated in your experience. We hope to foster a community of support amongst faculty parents, where they can share experiences, offer suggestions, and explore how to navigate these extremely challenging times.
*Note: if you are interested in this group but cannot make the time scheduled, please email faculty-development@seattleu.edu and let us know. We would like to support all faculty parents during this challenging time and will work with you to find ways to offer support.
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Shifting mindsets for faculty success in a volatile world
Tue, Feb 1 | 12:30–1:45 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Colette Taylor (Leadership & Professional Studies)
In the wake of a pandemic and the current racial tension, faculty have been confronted with sudden and drastic changes. One possible response, “VUCA,” is the ability to reframe the mind toward actionable resolutions and high levels of engagement; it requires that faculty colleagues and leaders work to listen and learn. The acronym VUCA stands for “volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity” – four challenges that each require different kinds of responses (e.g., Bennett & Lemoine, 2014). One challenge for many faculty is a reticence to shift mindsets. If we, as faculty members, are to make any inroads with colleagues and students, the ability to pivot from one framework of thinking to another – quickly and seamlessly – requires nimbleness and open-mindedness.
This hands-on workshop provides participants a space to examine how they can practice shifting mindsets and apply self-care while holding the role of educator. Additionally, there is a strong focus on equipping faculty at all levels with the necessary tools to guide their departments with a renewed sense of courage and character, ultimately preparing to teach and work in a VUCA world.
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Promotion to full professor: Your questions answered about the Holistic Faculty Development Plan
Wed, Feb 2 | 10:30–12:00 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the SU ADVANCE program and the Center for Faculty Development
Co-facilitated by Jodi O'Brien (Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Development) and Jean Jacoby (Co-Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Associate Dean, College of Science & Engineering)
Beginning in fall 2022, all faculty applying for promotion to Full Professor are required to develop a “Holistic Faculty Development Plan” (HFDP) that articulates their own professional trajectory and interests.
Building on the informational sessions we held in December 2021 (slides available on the SU ADVANCE site here), this Winter Quarter Zoom session includes general Q&A, as well as small-group discussion. All faculty who have questions about the new guidelines, the new HFDP requirement, and/or the promotion process are welcome to attend.
Please register by January 30. You will then receive the meeting information and Zoom link.
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Labor-based contract grading as an anti-racist pedagogical practice
Fri, Feb 4 | 2:00–3:15 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office of Sponsored Projects
Facilitated by Tara Roth (English), Alex Smith (English), and Hannah Tracy (English)
Labor-based contract grading is an anti-racist writing assessment practice grounded in composition and critical race theories. Recent scholarship and current praxis in the field of Composition and Rhetoric demonstrate that labor-based contract grading encourages students to take risks and think critically about language and writing assessment as historically and socially contextualized rather than governed by a universal standard. Grading contracts benefit both faculty and students by creating more supportive relationships and removing barriers to student success.
Grading contracts are highly customizable, allowing faculty flexibility in design and implementation. Grades are based on the amount of labor a student performs in the course instead of the instructor’s perception of the “quality” of student writing. The instructor therefore takes on the role of coach, rather than judge, and models rhetorical listening as a way to disrupt traditional frameworks, racialized power dynamics, and classroom hierarchies. In the process, this model also returns compassion to our courses – a timely reframing in our current climate.
Students are encouraged to meet their own writing and critical thinking goals as they make revisions based on constructive instructor feedback. When given freedom to choose which suggestions to accept or reject, students learn to trust their own abilities as writers. Grading contracts also alleviate anxiety for students who struggle with writing, allowing them to relax during the writing process knowing they won’t be penalized for doing something “wrong.”
In this interactive and research-based workshop, we will share what we have learned in piloting labor-based contract grading in our classrooms, share samples, field questions, and help facilitate a conversation about strategies for incorporating this assessment strategy into your own courses.
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Co-producing leadership: How to follow and when to lead
Mon, Feb 7 | 11:00–12:15 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Colette Hoption (Management)
A browse through any bookstore (or even our University mission!) will affirm that leadership is a hot topic. Faculty are especially poised to question, “What is leadership?” for the sake of developing our students into leaders and exerting influence in our own communities.
However, just as there are different styles of leadership that sell books, there are different styles of “followership” and followers whose stories need to be told. There is a general lack of attention paid to the follower role in scholarship and in the popular press, resulting in an incomplete understanding of leadership. For example, even if we know exactly how we want to lead, how can we know that others will want to follow? This workshop redresses the leader–follower imbalance by introducing participants to five followership styles. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own followership, and the strategies they have used to enable great leaders and curb destructive ones.
By the end of this workshop, you will:
This workshop is suitable for any faculty member who is engaged in collaborative work within explicitly or implicitly hierarchical teams, and/or interested in empowering leaders (for a just and humane world).
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How to create psychological safety and a speak-up culture
Tue, Feb 15 | 12:30–1:45 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Therese Huston, SU Faculty Development Affiliate
Researchers find that high-performing groups at work have something common: they enjoy high psychological safety. Individuals are more willing, for example, to speak up in a meeting when psychological safety is high. But what is psychological safety, and what can you do to foster it? In this interactive workshop, we’ll look at ways to create psychological safety for yourself, for the people in your department, college, or school, and for the meetings you lead, with a special focus on creating psychological safety in virtual environments.
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Writing Workshop for Faculty Applying to Full Professor in 2022–2023 and 2023–2024
Wed, Feb 16 | 10:00–11:30 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the SU ADVANCE program and the Center for Faculty Development
Co-facilitated by Jodi O'Brien (Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Development) and Jean Jacoby (Co-Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Associate Dean, College of Science & Engineering)
If you are seeking promotion to full professor in the next two years, then this writing workshop is for you.
The university’s revised promotion guidelines for Full Professor include a new requirement for faculty to develop their own “Holistic Faculty Development Plan” (HFDP), beginning Fall 2022. The HFDP provides faculty an opportunity to articulate their own individual professional trajectory and interests.
This online workshop offers support and opportunities for writing and reflection for those of you planning to apply for promotion in the next two years (i.e., submitting your promotion file in Fall 2022 or Fall 2023). Although an HFDP is an individual effort, we will discuss some of the generalizable guiding principles that underpin this holistic plan.
If you are unsure whether you will apply for promotion the next two years, please email Sarah Trainer at trainers@seattleu.edu for more information.
Please register by February 9. You will then receive the meeting information and Zoom link.
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Trust and the life of the university
Wed, Feb 16 | 2:05–3:30 | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the Consortium of Interdisciplinary Scholars
Facilitated by Jen Schulz (Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies)
Two years from the start of the pandemic, the prefix du jour in higher education worldwide is “re-:” Universities are re-committing, re-engaging, re-imagining, re-positioning, re-structuring. What each of these endeavors may presuppose is trust.
But what do we mean by “trust” in the context of the university? Depending on our perspectives, “trusting” may be a strategic move, an emotional process, a social investment, a legal responsibility. Often we conflate and confuse these facets when we name “trust” as a goal.
So is it possible to find common ground for a shared understanding of trust within university communities? In what ways do our attempts to establish trust foreclose on the potentially more necessary work of naming what was and will always be contingent and conditional? Or is trust the precondition upon which the re-building and re-imagining of higher education depends?
Come join a panel of colleagues from across the university who offer their rich perspectives on trust in a university setting and invite us into conversation.
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Reimagining the "Impact Factor": The Ignatian Research Paradigm
Co-sponsored by the Center for Jesuit Education, the SU ADVANCE Program, the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture, and the Center for Faculty Development
Facilitated by Kristi Lee (College of Education) and Jen Tilghman-Havens (Center for Jesuit Education)
How can faculty scholarship contribute to the common good? How does Seattle University’s Jesuit mission invite a reimagining of research and scholarship in light of our distinctive place within the academy? This Thematic Faculty Learning Community will explore these questions in light of the university’s mission and through the directives of the SU ADVANCE Program (an NSF-sponsored grant to examine pathways to promotion for women faculty in STEM and beyond).
Faculty will be inspired to reimagine their own scholarly agendas within an evolving mission-inspired paradigm. This three-part Thematic Faculty Learning Community will:
Participants will also receive a stipend of $100 upon completion.
The foundational work for this series was recently presented to a summit of the Jesuit universities on the West Coast.
All faculty will be invited to attend. We imagine this series being of particular interest to new faculty as well as faculty recently promoted to Associate or Full Professor.
This series has been postponed until Spring 2022. New dates to follow.
Registration has been temporarily suspended. This series has been postponed until Spring 2022.
Fifteen spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
It's essential that you can attend all three sessions of the series, so be sure to block off all three times on your calendar before you receive confirmation of your place.
Any questions about the series can be directed to Kristi Lee (leekrist@seattleu.edu) or Jen Tilghman-Havens (tilghman@seattleu.edu).
