The Center for Faculty Development offers a number of programs and events which may be specifically useful for mid-career faculty.
If, as a mid- or late-career faculty member, you become a program director or department chair (and have other faculty reporting to you), then another program that might be useful to you is the Chairs' Community of Practice (CoP).
This informal forum for chairs and directors from across the university is an opportunity to share ideas, expertise, practices and perhaps even challenges. Over a collegial glass of wine, you'll have a rare change to talk to your peer group with the aim of making chairing a more enjoyable experience.
To find out more about the Chairs' CoP meetings scheduled for this year, visit the Chairs' CoP website.
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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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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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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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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