The Academic Affairs office is organizing a Summer Faculty Development Week for August 16 – 20. These are based on our previous popular workshop weeks, except this time we’re hoping to have them on campus. Each session takes place in OM 108, and will be approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. Breakfast and Lunch will also be served all five days in the Faculty Lounge.  

On Monday, August 16th, from 3:45 – 5:00 PM in the Faculty Lounge, we are hosting an appetizer hour. 

On Thursday, August 19th, 5:30 – 7:30PM, Academics Affairs is hosting the Cookout on the Quad. Bring your family for great grilled food!

Sessions Include:

In this workshop we will discuss Trauma-Informed Teaching and Learning. This term describes an approach that recognizes how trauma profoundly affects the lives of many of our students. Trauma informed approaches can help improve policies, practices, and overall classroom climate in our classrooms and help accommodate the needs of individuals who have experienced trauma. Please join us to watch a few short videos to introduce the topic and then to discuss how these approaches could be used in our teaching during this difficult time. Resources for more on trauma informed teaching will be provided after the session We hope to see you there!

Two sessions that help prepare faculty to teach the new First Year Experience (FYE) course for incoming undergraduate students at Canisius College.  FYE instructors are required to attend both sessions 1 and 2.

Session 1: Co-directors Jen Desiderio and Tracy Callaghan will introduce the goals and objectives of FYE. We will review the syllabus, assignments, and policies for FYE while getting to know one another and building the FYE team. We will discuss the role of the peer mentor.

Session 2: Co-directors Jen Desiderio and Tracy Callaghan will review the class modules in detail and discuss the class and semester schedule.

Mission In Curriculum: A Resource for Teaching at a Jesuit University

Friday, August 20th, 2021 9:00 – 10:15 AM

Dr. Stephen Chanderbhan, Associate Professor, Philosophy, and Director, Catholic Studies.

Canisius faculty and the Center for Online Learning & Innovation are currently developing a new resource to assist professors incorporating Jesuit pedagogy, Catholic social teaching, and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition into their courses. This is not a spiritual resource for Catholics. Instead, the Mission In Curriculum resource is aimed at linking what we do in our classrooms to who we are as an institution by providing background on some of the values that are unique to a Catholic, Jesuit college. Come join a conversation about the resource, its development, and its future. Learn how your courses can benefit by aligning course content and activities with Jesuit social and intellectual perspectives.

Resources for Teaching Information Literacy in the Disciplines 

Friday, August 20th, 2021 10:30 – 11:45 AM

Dr. Patricia Coward, Library Assessment and Instruction Coordinator, Bouwhuis Library

Once students have completed their Foundations courses, where we presume they have been introduced to the basics of research, it is important that those skills be built on in their remaining years at the College. In this interactive session we will explore some approaches and assignments that will expand and develop the critical thinking skills that are hallmark of Information Literacy.

Standards-Based Grading

Wednesday, August 18th, 2021 1:00 – 2:15 PM

Dr. Nathan Fox, Assistant Professor, Department of Quantitative Sciences

Courses taught using “traditional” grading methods often focus on grades and partial credit at the expense course substance. Standards-based grading is an alternative to points-based grading where students have several attempts to demonstrate a level of competence with an objective, and the final letter grade is derived from these competencies. Standards-based grading ensures that a student’s grade  reflects what they learn in a course, and can be more equitable than points-based grading.

Creating Engaging Courses: Interactive tools that can be used to Teach Face to Face and Online.

Monday, August 16th, 2021 10:30 – 11:45 AM

Dr. Marya Grande, Professor, Special/Childhood Education

Sick of lecturing or using discussion boards? Come learn how to use interactive tools that can increase engagement and effectively teach in F2F and online spaces. Examples of ways to use the following tools will be shared: one-pagers/infographics, Wakelet, FlipGrid, Padlet, PDFs, Video, Images/Calendar, Nearpod, Quizziz, & Voicethread.

Stay Golden, Griffins: Supports for Student Success

Wednesday, August 18th, 2021 9:00 – 10:15 AM

Dr. Mark Harrington, Assistant Vice President for Student Development and Academic Success & HESAA Program Director
Jennifer Herrmann, Associate Dean of Student Success
Tracy Callaghan, Associate Director of Academic Achievement/Co-Director of First Year Experience
Eileen Abbatoy, Senior Associate Director of Career Development
Sierra Bonerb, Associate Director for Support Services

Join us for a brief overview of the Griff Center for Student Success. The team will discuss the various services and supports available to assist students in their academic pursuits and career goals. Additionally, the team will discuss the student success teams, first year experience, the process of submitting academic and behavioral concerns, and the cura personalis team.

Do Grades Matter? The Process of Ungrading at Canisius

Tuesday, August 17th, 2021 1:00 – 2:15 PM

Dr. Karl Kozlowski, Professor, Kinesiology

What if you didn’t have to assign a letter or number grade and instead relied on giving qualitative feedback to your students about their work? Over the past two semesters, I experimented with the “Ungraded” classroom and let students assign their own grades based on a self-reflection of their perceived performance coupled with my qualitative feedback.  This presentations and discussion will cover the theory behind ungrading, the process of implementation, and the results of ungrading in two courses.

“Reacting to the Past” is a simulation-based pedagogy that engages students in role-playing simulations connected to historical events. (https://reacting.barnard.edu) It was developed by historians but there are now simulations available in many disciplines and topics.

Jonathan Lawrence has been using some of these games since Fall 2020 and is spending the summer writing a game about the Jesuits. In the workshop we will play a short game, discuss aspects of implementing these games, and highlight some of the different games that are available.

Note – Canisius College currently has an institutional membership in Reacting to the Past – if you are interested in looking at some of the members-only materials before the workshop, please contact Jonathan at lawrenc7@canisius.edu.

Grading for Equity

Thursday, August 19th, 2021 1:00 – 2:15 PM

Building Inclusivity: Awareness and Intention in Classroom and Community

Tuesday, August 17th, 2021 2:30 – 3:45 PM

Dr. Erin Robinson, Professor, Sociology

As a Jesuit institution Canisius College is committed to inclusion: all people belong on our campus, where their identities are welcome, their experience is valued, and their perspectives find a forum.  But this commitment must be maintained every day through our classroom and community interactions and our continual investigation into justice matters.  In this session we will explore ways to build robust classroom and professional cultures of inclusion. 

Community Based Learning Workshop

Wednesday, August 18th, 2021 10:30 – 11:45 AM

Dr. Mary Rockwell, Director of the New Buffalo Institute

Community Based Learning allows students to live the mission of Canisius College by actively engaging with our community. In this session, you learn all you need to know to effectively incorporate CBL into your courses. We will discuss introducing CBL to your students and connecting it to your curriculum. We will also review the processes involved such as identifying community partners, tracking hours, offering time for reflection and evaluating the experience.

What is the Purpose and Role of Bias Resource and Response Team (BBRT)?

Thursday, August 19th, 2021 9:00 – 10:15 AM

Fatima Rodriguez-Johnson, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion

In Spring 2020, the Divisions of Academic and Student Affairs partnered to reconvene a campus wide Bias Resource and Response Team (BRRT). A version of the group has existed at the college since early 2000. This session will provide information on its current framework, share some of the proactive strategies, and review response protocols that support a positive campus climate for students, faculty, and staff.

Jumping Back In: Setting the Tone for the New Semester

Wednesday, August 18th, 2021 2:30 – 3:45 PM

Dr. Jennifer Stowe, Program Director, Literacy Education

Whether you’re teaching online or in-person, the first few days of class set the tone for the rest of the semester.  As teachers, we’re often so busy preparing syllabi and course content that we don’t take enough time to pause and reflect on the way that we want our classroom community to feel.  In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to teach intentionally and reflectively.  We’ll take the time to share how we approach our first few class periods and why we begin that way.  We’ll conclude by setting goals for community development in our individual classrooms.

In this workshop we will discuss common grammar issues in student writing and ways to approach addressing them. We will look into some of the ways traditional teaching of grammar works (or doesn’t) and consider the implications of a fundamental change in our pedagogical attitudes towards grammar.

Getting Back on Track After COVID: Developing a Long-Term Plan for Scholarship (and Sanity)

Thursday, August 19th, 2021 10:30 – 11:45 AM

Dr. Malini Suchak, Associate Professor, Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation

For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has eaten every plan we’ve made for breakfast. Many of us spent much of the summer recovering from the stress, burnout, and trauma of this time. As we turn towards the future, we are facing the daunting task of beginning again and getting our scholarship and careers back on track. This workshop will focus on jump starting scholarship after a delay, developing a reasonable and achievable long-term plan for scholarship, and just generally restoring order to an area of our lives that has been thrown into chaos. Faculty of any discipline and any level are welcome to attend.