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.
Mondays: Oct 2, Oct 23, and Nov 6 | 11:00–12:00 | Via Zoom (with the final gathering in-person) | Zoom link provided upon registration
Facilitated by Brooke Gialopsos (Criminal Justice)
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, for many, the benefits of finding a community of support around parenting has never been more urgent. We 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 over the past year or so. 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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Wednesdays: Oct 4, Nov 1, and Nov 29 | 12:30–1:30 | In person | Loyola 501B | Tea and coffee provided; Bring your own lunch
Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Facilitated by Colette Hoption
The Center for Faculty Development and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion are excited to announce the continuation of an affinity group for tenure-track faculty of color. The purpose of convening the group is to provide a space for the collective exploration of the impact of race, power, and privilege on the academic life of colleagues immersed in teaching, scholarship, and service at pre-tenure stages of their careers.
There are three primary reasons. First, the Task Force on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence report recommends boosting our capacity to retain talented minoritized faculty and facilitate professional development opportunities. Second, research on affinity groups indicates they enhance participants’ agency and optimism, while providing access to beneficial information and support. Third, from our own conversations with members of the Seattle University community, we know that faculty of color need a space where they can discuss their unique experiences in a supportive environment with peers who are similarly situated.
This professional development opportunity aims to empower tenure-track faculty of color to build community, share experiences, and pursue their academic life with more confidence and agency. We hope that this caucus process gives participants the space to determine “what solidarity could look like for...as people of color committed to the work of social, racial, and gender justice” (Kad Smith, Compass Point) at Seattle University.
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Pathways and challenges toward promotion to Full Professor as a faculty of color
Fall Quarter kickoff event: Thu, Oct 5 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Fall Quarter workshops: Thursdays, Nov 2 & Dec 7 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the SU ADVANCE Program and the Center for Faculty Development
Facilitated by Angelique Davis, professor in the department of Political Science, an SU ADVANCE Fellow, and an NCFDD-trained Faculty Coach (National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity)
SU ADVANCE will host this 4-part workshop series in the 2023–24 academic year to discuss and provide support for the unique challenges and the opportunities experienced by faculty of color who are associate professor in rank.
This series of workshops is designed to support faculty of color seeking promotion to full professor in 2024–25.
Winter Quarter: Thursdays, Jan 25 & Mar 7 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Spring Quarter: Thursdays, Apr 4 & May 2 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
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The Chairs' Community of Practice is open to all current department chairs and chairs-elect, plus program directors and directors-elect who have faculty reporting to them directly (for example for performance reviews).
We gather twice per quarter.
Further details and how to register are available on the Community of Practice page here.
Tuesdays: Oct 10, Oct 31, and Nov 28 | 2:30–3:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Facilitated by Andrea Verdan
The Center for Faculty Development and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion are excited to announce the launch of an affinity group for term faculty of color. The group is open to both full-time and part-time term faculty of color.
In this space, participants will aim to support one another in:
The university’s goal to Promote Inclusive Excellence (RSD Goal 4) calls for initiatives to support diverse faculty to develop and thrive at Seattle U. Having piloted a format with tenure-track faculty, we are now ready to launch a parallel group for term faculty, whose intersecting identities are minoritized both socially (as a person of color) and professionally (as a non-tenure-track faculty member).
This affinity group aims to foster an equitable faculty culture and structure where all members of the community thrive and experience fulfilling work. Additionally, research on affinity groups shows that they enhance participants’ agency and optimism, while providing access to beneficial information and support. Finally, from our own conversations with members of the SU community, we know that term faculty with marginalized identities need a space where they can discuss their unique experiences in a supportive environment with peers who are similarly situated.
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Co-sponsored by the Center for Jesuit Education (CJE)
As a participant in this module of the Ignatian Pedagogy Series, you will:
It’s important that participants attend all three sessions in the series.
Lunch and refreshments are provided at each session, with support from the Endowed Mission Fund.
The entire series is co-facilitated by Andrea Verdan of the Center for Faculty Development and Jen Tilghman-Havens of the Center for Jesuit Education. Jenny Loertscher (Chemistry) and David Green (Center for Faculty Development/International Studies) will also be joining them in these sessions. All share a passion for this transformative educational approach.
Register using the regular link for this quarter’s events from the Center for Faculty Development (also included below). It’s essential that you can attend all three sessions of the series, so please be sure to block off all three times on your calendar before you receive confirmation of your place.
If you have any questions about the Ignatian Pedagogy Series, please email faculty-development@seattleu.edu or Andrea Verdan (verdana@seattleu.edu) or Jen Tilghman-Havens (tilghman@seattleu.edu) directly.
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Mentoring the Mentors for Holistic Faculty Development Plans
Thu, Oct 12 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the SU ADVANCE Program and the Center for Faculty Development
Co-facilitated by SU ADVANCE Fellows: Jodi O'Brien (Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Interim Associate Provost), Colette Taylor (Special Assistant to the Provost for Strategic Directions), Eva Sedgwick (Marketing), and Jenny Loertscher (Chemistry)
Mentoring is described in the literature as an essential component of career success, productivity, and satisfaction, yet many departments and institutions struggle to provide this transformative mentoring. The SU ADVANCE curriculum for mentor training emphasizes equitable and intersectional mentoring skills and practices to support faculty mentees of diverse backgrounds and experiences through the promotion and tenure process.
This workshop, aligned with the newly implemented promotion and tenure guidelines, will address the following topics:
This session will include guided discussion, evidence-based practices, case studies, and activities. Participants also have access to online learning modules and web-based resources.
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Strong yet flexible course design with "constructive alignment"
Mon, Oct 16 | 11:00–12:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
OR
Tue, Oct 17 | 10:30–12:00 | In person | Casey Commons (CASY 530) | Coffee, tea, and snacks provided
Co-facilitated by David Green and Katherine Raichle
Designing (or redesigning) a course can be overwhelming, and we are often unsure where to begin. What content should I include in my course? What do I want my students to do with the content in the course, and beyond? How will I assess my students?
In this session, we’ll address these questions. You will learn how to create an overarching course structure informed by the “constructive alignment” model of course design from the higher education research. This model provides a road map for course design that clearly aligns the learning outcomes that you have identified for the course with relevant learning and teaching activities and graded assignments.
This type of course design will provide a clear and manageable structure for you and your students in the course, as well as promoting their best learning. You’ll finish the session having made concrete progress in designing and/or redesigning a course.
In this session, you will learn how to:
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Creating your faculty identity and your Holistic Faculty Development Plan
Thu, Oct 19 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the SU ADVANCE Program and the Center for Faculty Development
Co-facilitated by SU ADVANCE Fellows: Jodi O'Brien (Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Interim Associate Provost), Colette Taylor (Special Assistant to the Provost for Strategic Directions), Eva Sedgwick (Marketing), and Jenny Loertscher (Chemistry)
Faculty members often struggle to decide on career paths, and with balancing their identities as teacher-scholars; research on identity formation has identified three significant influences: context, roles, and agency. Identity influences career decisions and, in turn, affects engagement in various activities encouraged by Seattle University.
We have designed this single-session workshop to foster teacher-scholar identity formation by using the Holistic Faculty Development Plan (HFDP). Faculty seeking promotion have to produce a multi-year HFPD as part of their evidence of a thoughtful, integrated promotion file. You may ask yourself, “What is an HFDP?” and “How should I begin writing one?”
We realize that many of you already approach your professional trajectory in an integrated manner, even if you haven’t explicitly stated it previously; now, you need to articulate this integration systematically in writing your HFDP.
This session will also help orient those faculty whose trajectory doesn’t yet feel integrated and are wondering how best to start.
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The Mid-Term Check-in: Comparing notes on our students' academic experiences
Fri, Oct 20 | 12:30–1:45 | Via Zoom | Bring your lunch! | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by Learning Assistance Programs and the Center for Faculty Development
Co-Facilitated by David Green (Center for Faculty Development) and Angelique Jenkins (Learning Assistance Programs)
Join us for this inaugural gathering of faculty and student-facing staff focused on academic success.
What is happening in our classrooms and office hours this term? What are some of our key partners in supporting academics – such as Learning Assistance, Writing Center, and Disability Services – noticing in their own interactions with our students?
This metaphorical “half-time huddle” provides us an opportunity to share observations, experiences, and ideas that will help us all better understand shifts and patterns among our students.
Our goal here is to work in partnership to be better placed to support students’ academic success and to connect them with the right resources in a timely manner. It may also help faculty refine future courses in response to emergent issues, as well as shaping offices’ and centers’ future programming for both students and faculty.
As this format is experimental, we’d especially appreciate your post-session feedback so we can adjust and adapt in future quarters.
Relationship-rich education: How human connections drive success in college
Tuesdays: Oct 24, Nov 7, and Nov 28 | 11:00–12:15 | In person | Casey 515 | Coffee, tea, and snacks provided
Facilitated by Hilary Hawley (Director of First-Year Academic Engagement)
What can we do to boost our students’ sense of belonging and success in the classroom? What practical steps can make a difference? And how can we best support our growing number of students from first-gen and underrepresented backgrounds?
In Relationship-Rich Education, authors Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert demonstrate that human relationships form the foundation of learning, belonging, and achieving in college, and they place special emphasis on the classroom: “the single most important site for students to experience welcome and care, to be inspired to learn, to build webs of relationships, and to ask questions of meaning and purpose” (p. 80).
The authors share stories from campuses large and small, in-person and virtual, to show how faculty have been able to make positive adjustments to their teaching to support both faculty-student and student-student relationships and mentoring.
Significantly, they note that while designing for welcome and inclusion is good for all students, relationship-rich education is especially beneficial for students on the margins of higher education, including first-generation students, BIPOC students, and LGBTQIA students.
In this three-session learning community for faculty, facilitated by Hilary Hawley (Director of First-Year Academic Engagement), you’ll read through the book with colleagues and explore questions both transformative and practical to your work as an educator.
This community is open to all faculty looking to make concrete shifts in pedagogy and practice. Faculty
who regularly engage with first-year students are particularly encouraged to apply.
15 places are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Relationship-Rich Education is 160 pages long, and the reading will be split across the three sessions to be manageable for participants.
This learning community meets in Casey 515 on:
Tea, coffee, and snacks will be provided at all sessions.
Advancing equity in the promotion process for new faculty
Thu, Oct 26 | 12:00–1:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the SU ADVANCE Program and the Center for Faculty Development
Co-facilitated by SU ADVANCE Fellows: Jodi O'Brien (Principal Investigator, ADVANCE grant; Interim Associate Provost), Colette Taylor (Special Assistant to the Provost for Strategic Directions), Eva Sedgwick (Marketing), and Jenny Loertscher (Chemistry)
This session presents an opportunity to hold a unique and valuable conversation on diversity, equity, inclusion, and sense of belonging; it has the potential to impact not only new faculty in the SU working environment, but also their students and colleagues. In this workshop, ADVANCE Fellows will present research on challenges related to faculty diversity and equity nationally and locally at SU; we will present data on patterns of inequity in academia and explore tools and approaches we can use at SU to improve the environment for professional success and advancement.
The workshop will include small group discussions and will focus on specific issues related to Teaching, Scholarship, and University Service and Institution Building.
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Learning outcomes: Curricular design on a firm footing
Mon, Oct 30 | 11:00–12:30 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
OR
Thu, Nov 2 | 2:00–3:30 | In person | Casey Commons (CASY 530) | Coffee and tea provided
Co-facilitated by David Green and Colette Hoption
As we reimagine the SU curriculum, it is essential that we set our courses and programs on a steady footing. To that end, this workshop focuses on learning outcomes because they are the foundation of curriculum design at both the course and program level.
At the course level, effective learning outcomes can help us stay on track, separate vital course material from the less essential, and give students cues about where to focus their energies.
At the program level, effective learning outcomes indicate what knowledge and skills we have chosen to prioritize and distinguish our programs from those at other institutions.
In this session, you will become familiar with common pitfalls of writing learning outcomes, as well as strategies to overcome them. You will also have dedicated time to making progress on the learning outcomes associated with your courses and programs,
If you’re working on revising a current course, feel free to bring a copy of the course syllabus with you.
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Publishing in the post-pandemic landscape: A luncheon discussion with faculty
Fri, Nov 3 | 12:30–1:30 | In person | Student Center 210 | Lunch provided
Co-sponsored by the Seattle U Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement, the Center for Faculty Development, and the Office of Sponsored Projects
Moderated by Michael Trice (Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement)
How has the world of publishing changed in the wake of the Covid pandemic? What do these changes imply for writers and scholars in the academy? Find out in a moderated conversation on the opportunities and challenges of publishing today, from the perspective of two executives in the industry. Our panelists are:
Come join us with your publishing-related questions for a Q&A portion of the session.
TILT: Assignment adjustments for equity, retention, and belonging
Mon, Nov 6 | 12:30–2:00 | In person | Pigott 304 | Lunch provided
OR
Thu, Nov 9 | 10:30–12:00 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-facilitated by Katherine Raichle and Jennifer Marrone (Management)
Transparent Design in Learning and Teaching (TILT) is a teaching approach involving a minor redesign of assignments that helps students better understand how and why they are learning course content.
TILT has been shown to benefit both students and faculty. For students, TILT boosts students’ sense of belonging, retention, and academic achievement, with additional gains in achievement for students from underrepresented backgrounds. For faculty, implementing TILT results in higher-quality student work, allowing faculty to feel greater satisfaction in their grading and teaching, as well as saved time.
Please remember to bring with you a copy of an upcoming assignment to apply the TILT approach to. You might want to focus on assignments where you’re disappointed with students’ performance, where you get a lot of push-back or questions from students, or where you find student motivation lacking.
Identifying and understanding research and publication metrics
Tue, Nov 7 | 4:00–5:00 | Via Zoom | Zoom link provided upon registration
Co-sponsored by the Lemieux Library & McGoldrick Learning Commons and the Center for Faculty Development
Facilitated by Yen Tran, Associate Librarian & Scholarly Services Librarian (Lemieux Library & McGoldrick Learning Commons)
Knowing the impact of your research can help with many things, including:
With various tools and types of metrics, identifying and understanding the research and publication metrics can be cumbersome.
In this session, you will be introduced to the different types of metrics and the tools you can use to gather them. The research and publication metrics to be discussed include citation tracking, journal impact, book impact, researcher impact, social and cultural impact, and alternative metrics. There will also be time for you to explore the tools and conduct your own searches.
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Overcoming perfectionism as an academic leader
Mon, Nov 13 | 11:00–12:30 | In person | Administration 307 | Coffee, tea, and snacks provided
Facilitated by Colette Hoption
Having survived the higher education system at its most exacting level, many faculty have imbibed the idea that perfectionism is both normal and necessary. In light of this, we invite you to answer the following questions about yourself:
These questions poke at common indicators of perfectionism in academia. They may also be especially relevant to academic leaders whose roles have greater visibility because of their critical impact on others’ work lives, including class scheduling, service assignments, APRs, tenure and promotion recommendation letters, and hiring decisions.
While there is value in striving for excellence (e.g., getting a sense of achievement), excessive perfectionism provokes self-defeating thoughts (e.g., “I am not good enough”), establishes unrealistic goals, and stalls progress in your work, just to name a few consequences.
In this session, we’ll watch segments from an NCFDD webinar entitled, “Overcoming Academic Perfectionism,” and throughout, we will pause for questions, reflections, and exercises to situate the information for chairs and program directors. In the end, you will gain knowledge of, and practice with strategies for identifying and responding to excessive perfectionism.
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