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September 2021 Tuesday Tips
7th September, 2021
Dearest faculty,
I don’t know about you, but the first 2-3 weeks have been… weird. There, I said it. I am on campus, I enjoy the FDEV office space and team dynamic, I am energized by the colleagues I see, and yet, most of my meetings are still in Zoom, so I feel I am living in a limbo between limited in-person interactions and the ever-present virtual world.
In doing some reading in preparation for this Tuesday Tip, I came across an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education,The Great Disillusionment (Ellis, 2021). The author presents a fairly grim look at academia, from the perspective of both faculty and staff, and she explores how, while “employees’ dedication to higher education’s mission has fueled colleges for many years […], the pandemic has caused many people to renegotiate this dynamic.” More specifically, Ellis shares how “the graciousness, the compassion, the ‘we do it for the students, we do it for the work’ — that’s gone.”
This year I would like to commit, as Faculty Development Director, to rekindle some of that graciousness, compassion, and passion and to focus on faculty’s needs more closely. Let me be clear, though: my commitment does not involve glorifying practices that justify working overtime and prioritizing work over health and wellness. I am not looking for faculty to embrace compassion at the expense of their well-being. I want to commit to rekindling faculty’s passion by offering resources, programs, and events that can help you thrive in all areas of your professional growth.
Last year, FDEV was inevitably very “reactive” to the pandemic, the switch to online instruction, and the need for supplemental training in digital pedagogy and academic technologies. For this, we have received very good feedback and we are grateful that our efforts could respond to and serve your needs. But looking at the low number of applications for FDEV programs in Fall 2021, I started wondering if we are truly responding to your current needs. This is certainly not a criticism towards the low number of applications we are receiving: on the contrary, I see this is a clear call for the Director of Faculty Development to stop for a minute, listen to “her” faculty, and re-think what faculty truly need to thrive.
For this reason, we had a long and important conversation last Friday with the FDEV Advisory Board to discuss how whether we are reacting to the pandemic, climate change, the wildfires, or social and racial injustice, the burnout is palpable, and we are now constantly in “survival mode.”
Good job, Sherlock, you might think: did you really need an Advisory Board meeting for that??
Well, no, I did not need an Advisory Board meeting to know faculty are burned out. I needed that conversation to discuss how to better respond to and address the exhaustion I feel so present, though.
For this reason, we had a long and important conversation last Friday with the FDEV Advisory Board to discuss how whether we are reacting to the pandemic, climate change, the wildfires, or social and racial injustice, the burnout is palpable, and we are now constantly in “survival mode.”
Good job, Sherlock, you might think: did you really need an Advisory Board meeting for that??
Well, no, I did not need an Advisory Board meeting to know faculty are burned out. I needed that conversation to discuss how to better respond to and address the exhaustion I feel so present, though.
In this spirit, we have extended the deadline for the open calls of all FDEV Fall 2021 programs, and we have designed THIS SURVEY to collect feedback so that we can plan the rest of the year with your needs in mind.
I hope that you will be willing to take a few minutes out of your day to fill out this survey, knowing that the Advisory Board and I will read your feedback carefully and we will use it to guide our efforts.
I hope that you will be willing to take a few minutes out of your day to fill out this survey, knowing that the Advisory Board and I will read your feedback carefully and we will use it to guide our efforts.
Faculty, you are my priority, now and always, and I am here to support you in every way I can.
Chiara Ferrari, Ph.D.
Faculty Development, Director
Campus zip: 026
Phone: 530-898-3094
cfferrari@csuchico.edu
https://www.csuchico.edu/fdev
Professor
Department of Media Arts, Design, and Technology
Campus zip: 504
Phone: 530-898-4647
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.
14th September, 2021
Sent on behalf of Beth Shook and Edward Roualdes, CAL$ program leads
Chico Affordable Learning Solutions (CAL$) provides resources to faculty regarding affordable course materials, including how to find and adopt quality zero-cost or low-cost textbooks and other materials, or create Open Educational Resources (OERs).
CAL$ has been on the Chico State campus since 2013, and went by the name Textbook Affordability Project (TAP) until 2018. We adopted the name Chico Affordable Learning Solutions to better align our campus effort with the Chancellor’s Office program, Affordable Learning Solutions(opens in new window). CAL$ has offered both summer and academic-year workshops as well as does one-on-one mentoring with faculty. Since 2014, Chico State faculty participating in CAL$ programs have helped students save over 1.2 million dollars.
About OER
Open Educational Resources (OER), for the purposes of CAL$ funded opportunities, are defined as teaching and learning materials that are in the public domain or licensed to allow anyone free and perpetual access to them. OER materials should allow others to engage in the five 5 R activities: reuse, retain, revise, remix, and redistribute. OERs include a wide range of materials including books, case studies, reference materials, assessments, assignments, tutorials, slides, videos, and more.
Funding opportunity
Chico Affordable Learning Solutions (CAL$), for the first time since its inception, is pleased to offer course release support to faculty who want to create their own Open Educational Resources. With funding from the Chancellor’s Office program Affordable Learning Solutions(opens in new window), CAL$ will be able to provide course releases for three faculty members (of up to 3 AWTU per participant) in spring 2022. Applicants should follow the Call For Applications (Google Doc), which are due by Friday, October 1. We anticipate notifying selected applicants by Friday, October 8th.
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.
21st September, 2021
Dear faculty,
This Tuesday Tip is written to encourage you to attend our new series on Podcasting for Teaching and Learning, which will start next week. Faculty Development is organizing the series in collaboration with the Technology and Learning Program, and we hope that you are excited to learn more about how podcasting can be used in your classes. As you can see in the webpage, the meetings will be held in Glenn 302 (a hyflex room, yay!) and also via Zoom, so feel free to attend in your preferred fashion, but we do ask that you register here(opens in new window) so we can plan according to the expected audience.
In tandem with this series, I want to make sure that you are aware of a number of resources available on our website:
- Friday Forum: Podcasting for Teaching & Learning(opens in new window) (video recording): check out the video for the Friday forum we offered last year and listen to Chico State faculty and staff as they discuss how they use podcasts in their classes.
- Teaching Guide: Podcasting for Teaching & Learning(opens in new window): check out this teaching guide, which provides resources, ideas, and practical applications for the use of podcasts in the classroom.
In particular, I want to point out this article, “Can creative podcasting promote deep learning? The use of podcasting for learning content in an undergraduate science unit,”(opens in new window) (Pegrum, Bartle, and Longnecker, 2014), which examines the use of podcasts in an undergraduate chemistry course, specifically in relation to deep learning. I want to encourage all faculty to think of ways in which podcasting could be useful and beneficial in your classes, across Colleges, disciplines, and formats.
The first workshop will be held next Wednesday, September 29th, 3:00-4:30 pm, and we hope to see you there!
If you want to comment on this tip, please go to our blog(opens in new window), and feel free to share ways in which you use podcasting in your class!
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.
Chiara Ferrari, Ph.D.
Faculty Development, Director
Campus zip: 026
Phone: 530-898-3094
cfferrari@csuchico.edu
https://www.csuchico.edu/fdev
Professor
Department of Media Arts, Design, and Technology
Campus zip: 504
Phone: 530-898-4647
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.