Faculty Writing Retreats
Faculty Writing Retreats (in-person and virtual) will help you meet your writing goals for the year. Begin new articles, revise and resubmit, polish your book proposal, complete your last edits, and connect and collaborate with other faculty scholars.
For Fall 2021, in-person writing retreats are back! Register for any of the following dates. If you register, you may also choose to write along in your office or at home and join our lunchtime round table via Zoom.
Location: FCTL Conference Room, Meyer Library 204
Time: 8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Dates:
- Friday September 17
- Friday October 22
- Friday November 19
- Mon-Tue Dec 20–21
Please register through My Learning Connection by searching for “Faculty Writing Retreats Program” and choose the sessions you wish to attend. If you sign up, you are not obliged to stay all day if you have other obligations.
Participants will be sent a form to log their goals and contacted prior to each event with a reminder.
Lunchtime workshops may feature special topics and/or guest presenters on writing and research productivity.
Morning coffee and catered lunch provided by the Office of the Provost.
For more information or to be put on the mailing list, please contact the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.
Monday Morning Mentor
The programs in the Monday Morning Mentor series, presented by respected academic peers, cover timely and relevant topics in only 20 minutes—long enough to provide actionable insights, but short enough to fit anyone’s schedule. Each program becomes available online every Monday for 32 weeks (16 in fall and 16 in spring). For instructions on how to register, please go to the Academic Community in Blackboard.
Learn about upcoming Monday Morning Mentor sessions:
How Can I Increase Exam Security with Custom Question Banks?
September 13–19
For faculty who want to increase their exam security, this 20-Minute Mentor demonstrates how to use question banks to create unique exams and improve academic integrity.
How Can Discussion Responses Give Narrative Shape to an Online Class?
September 20-26
For online teachers who are looking to create a more useful and engaging discussion board that ties to course content, this 20-Minute Mentor provides practical strategies to manage the discussion board and use it to frame course content.
View all Monday Morning Mentor sessions
Magna Publications™ Enrichment Courses
- Developing and Teaching an Online Course
- Start Teaching Online
- Practical Solutions for Flipping your Classroom
- Engaging Students
These courses are delivered in a self-paced online format. Enrollment is available now. Course work must be completed by September 18th.
Please contact the FCTL for a free Professional Learning Pass to one of these courses.
Online Learning Consortium™ Faculty Workshops in September
The OLC offers an extensive online learning opportunities for education professionals. Below are just a few of the workshops offered in September. Check out all of the workshops available in September and beyond.
- Creating Effective Assessment – Sept 13–19
- Fundamentals: Increasing Interaction & Engagement – Sept 20–26
Contact the FCTL for a free Professional Learning Pass to any of these workshops.
Blend by Design Online Course by Katie Linder
- Step-by-step course design from The Blended Course Design Workbook.
- Registered Faculty will have lifetime access to this online course.
Contact the FCTL to reserve a seat for this workshop.
New! Showcase Fridays
Showcase Fridays are an extension of the annual Showcase on Teaching and Learning providing an opportunity to learn and discuss with colleagues a variety of topics and issues surrounding the science and art of teaching. These may include teaching with Zoom, service-learning pedagogy, strategies for assessment and student feedback, or inclusive teaching.
Sessions are easy to attend. All sessions will be held on Friday mornings from 11:00–11:50 a.m. and delivered over Zoom (links will be emailed Monday morning for that week’s session).
Upcoming Showcase Friday sessions:
- Sept. 3: Service Learning: Connecting Academic Coursework to Community Partners
- Sept 10: Assessment for Learning or Compliance? Teacher Educators Share Research-based Shifts in Grading Practices
View all Showcase Friday presentations
Self-Paced FCTL course development boot camps
The resources from the FCTL’s virtual online boot camps are available as a self-paced course development boot camp. This self-paced version will cover many of the same things as the virtual and on-campus boot camps, but you will be participating at your own schedule and can contact the FCTL Instructional Designers at any time during this process. Their contact information is listed in the meet your instructional designers area of the modules.
What’s included in the self-paced course development boot camp
- Best practices related to online courses and teaching
- Different assessment options available in Blackboard
- How to remove potential barriers for students with disabilities
- Strategies to foster community and engagement in the online classroom
- Strategies to prevent student cheating
- Copyright and fair use in distance education
How to find the self-paced boot camp
- Log into Blackboard and select the Community Tab at the top of the page
- Select Academic Community from the My Organizations module
- Once in the site, on the main menu, locate “self-paced course development boot camp” to access the boot camp materials
Apply for a curriculum innovation mini-grant
There is now additional funding available for Curriculum innovation mini-grants. Awards are limited up to $1,200 per grant application.
Curriculum innovation mini-grants support faculty with ‘pivoting’ their courses during the ongoing Coronavirus.
Applicants must complete an application indicating:
- What one change do you want to make to your course? i.e., better engage students with the content, create more engaging video lectures, determine better strategies for blended instruction.
- What do you think might help you with this change? i.e., document camera or other video equipment, digital tools that will engage students, not sure.
- How will you know if you were successful in creating this change? i.e., I will see better scores, I will have more engaging course materials online, my students will be more satisfied with their learning experience.
Submit Curriculum Innovation Mini-Grant Application
Free resources for creating blended and online instruction
Check out these resources:
- 100 Mistakes Academic Writers Make…and How to Fix Them
- Resources for Writers: Digital Writing Tools
- Teaching in Higher Ed
- The Scholarly Teacher
- Faculty Focus Home page
- The K. Patricia Cross Academy Techniques Video Library
What is the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning?
The FCTL supports teaching excellence for faculty at all levels. Check out the many support services offered by the FCTL to see how you can benefit.
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