Late-career Stage

Affinity group

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.

Why an affinity group?

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.

Aims of the group

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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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.

Affinity group

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.

Aims of the group

In this space, participants will aim to support one another in:

• sharing experiences to increase community and belonging across campus,
• exploring the impact of race, power, and privilege on our various facets of work, at all stages of our careers, and
• pursuing our work and personal lives with more balance, confidence, and agency.

Why create a group for term faculty of color?

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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Ignatian Pedagogy Series: Active Learning

Co-sponsored by the Center for Jesuit Education (CJE)

As a participant in this module of the Ignatian Pedagogy Series, you will:

• Explore how active learning is supported both in higher education literature and in Ignatian Pedagogy.
• Experiment with a range of active learning approaches as both a student and a teacher.
• Examine active learning as a vehicle for transformative learning.
• Reflect on the experience of new active learning strategies.
• Develop concrete plans to embed active learning strategies in future courses.

What are the dates?

It’s important that participants attend all three sessions in the series.

• Wed, Oct 11 | 12:30–2:30 | In person | Casey Commons (CASY 530)
• Wed, Oct 25 | 12:30–2:30 | In person | Casey Commons (CASY 530)
• Wed, Nov 8 | 12:30–2:30 | In person | Loyola 302

Lunch and refreshments are provided at each session, with support from the Endowed Mission Fund.

Who is facilitating the module?

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.

How do I register?

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.

What if I have questions?

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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SU ADVANCE Workshop

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:

• Effective Communication
• Aligning Expectations
• Assessing Understanding
• Self-Efficacy
• Professional Development
• Addressing Equity and Inclusion

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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Workshop

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:

• identify suitable learning outcomes for your course.
• design activities that link with your learning outcomes.
• develop graded assignments that align with your learning outcomes.
• align all of the above under a coherent course design structure.

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SU ADVANCE Workshop

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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Workshop

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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Faculty Leader Series Workshop

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:

• Do I feel pressure to be the best in all of my duties?
• Do I find it easier to find examples of mistakes than examples of successes?
• Do I feel like criticisms about my department or college are a personal attack?
• Do I hesitate to share my departmental practices until they are a “proven success”?
• Do thoughts about work keep me up at night?

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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