May 2024 Tuesday Tips

7th May 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: You Can Listen

I have been struggling with what to share this week. This is an exciting and stressful time of the year under typical circumstances with commencement and finals just days away. The budget situation combined with the tension on campuses throughout the nation has many of us trying to find the right words. Faculty are often the face of the institution for students. You are the person they ask questions of and look to for guidance. This is incredibly challenging especially since very few of us are trained in international politics, budget projections, or de-escalation. These issues are making their way into our classrooms and offices whether we want them to or not. 

There are resources on campus to help you and your students navigate challenging situations. The Counseling Center exists as does the Employee Assistance Program. However, the thing we can all do regardless of our professional background is the simplest–we can all listen. You can listen to your students who feel alarmed by what is happening in Israel, Gaza and/or campus. You can listen to students who have been subjected to antisemitic or anti-Muslim bigotry. You can listen to your student who does not want this to be the focus of the end of their semester as they try to finish the term or graduate. You can listen to your colleague who is anxious about the budget and what that will mean for their job. You may hear something you need to share with your Department Chair or a different office on campus–cross that bridge when you get to it.

Listening does not mean agreeing and it almost always helps. It can help you understand and it can help someone else feel heard. This is not the first time I have shared this advice in a fraught moment. I want to borrow the closing line I used in 2016. 

No one ever looks back on a decision and says to themselves “I wish I would have understood people less before proceeding.” So ask students how they are doing, let them know your office student hours are open to them, and listen.

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

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 May 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: Goodbye and Hello

The end of Spring is such an incredible time at Chico State. It is a great moment to consider what worked and what needs improvement in your classes and workflow. We are reflecting on our year in FDEV and marking some changes in the Teaching Tip for this week. 

Goodbye. I am going to take a moment of personal privilege to say a fond farewell to our Academic Technology Officer, Kathy Fernandes who has served on our campus and in the Chancellor’s Office for over 30 years. She has had an outsized leadership impact on our campus from the founding of TLP to the online pivot during COVID. Kathy’s impact was possible because she had clarity of purpose. She always understood supporting students to be the job and found ways to do that through supporting faculty and using technology. Whether she was negotiating a contract, figuring out work schedules, or helping set up a camera in a room, she was always doing her job with faculty and students in mind. Kathy has been one of my most important collaborators on campus and will remain my friend. We will miss her leadership a great deal. 

We are also saying goodbye to our READI Hub funding cycle as we mentioned in March(opens in new window) and this round of Teaching Climate Change and Resilience. These have been strong programs closely aligned to the mission of the campus and we will look for ways to continue this important work. 

Hello. As you reflect on where you might need additional support next year, we are offering a sneak peek at our likely offerings for the Fall. Applications will be live when we start the contract for next year. For now, have a look and see if you can find a match for where you might need support.

• Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT)
  Lead: Allison McConnell(opens in new window)
  Compensation: $500
  Format: Online and Primarily Asynchronous
  
  The Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) Program is an asynchronous, self-paced Canvas course structured around the QLT evaluation rubric. This QLT course is designed to meet core standards in the QLT instrument through the completion of eight modules with associated deliverables that guide you to fully redesign a course (or design a new course). Topics and deliverables focus on backwards design, student engagement, authentic assessment, inclusion and accessibility, and more. This QLT course requires a final course review. While focusing on online learning, QLT provides a framework that is applicable to all modes of instruction.
  
  
• Advancing Hispanic/Latinx Student Success
  Leads: Teresita Curiel(opens in new window) and Gloria Lopez(opens in new window)
  Compensation: $500-$1000
  Format: TBD
  
  This project is partially funded by a generous U.S. Department of Education Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) grant from PI Ryan Patten, College of BSS.  We are happy to collaborate on this important work.  This FLC will feature connected workshops focused on better understanding Hispanic/Latinx university students and how Chico State can advance their success.
  
  
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Teaching (EDIT) (probable)
  Leads: Alisa Wade(opens in new window) and Allison McConnell(opens in new window)
  Format: Flex
  Compensation: TBD
  
  The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Teaching (EDIT) Series includes six workshops, and is designed to offer faculty an introduction to basic concepts of equity, diversity, inclusion, and how they can be implemented in the classroom in order to create more equitable and accessible learning environments. Each workshop explores--and models--a different facet of student-centered and inclusive teaching through tools, resources, and strategies: positionality in the classroom, antiracist pedagogy, backward design, accessibility of course materials, culturally responsive teaching and the hidden curriculum, and practices of classroom community building. Workshops are each paired with a teaching guide (and other materials) and offer the opportunity for faculty to complete deliverables that they will be able to incorporate into their course(s) moving forward.
  
  
• Leadership Development (probable)
  Lead: Holly Nevarez(opens in new window)
  Compensation: TBD
  Format: Flex
  
  The leadership development faculty learning community (FLC) will introduce leadership styles and strategies. This FLC is designed for you to lead from wherever you are. Perhaps you are not a formal leader on campus, but find yourself leading other staff or students; perhaps you would like to be a formal leader someday and want to start to develop skills; or perhaps you are going to be a department Chair next year and want to start preparing. In any of those scenarios, this FLC is for you. We will talk about staffing, collegiality managing difficult people, explore campus resources,  work to develop a leadership philosophy and more.
  
  
• Grant Writing (probable)
  Lead: Julie Jessen(opens in new window) and TBD
  Compensation: TBD
  Format: TBD
  
  This FLC will lead faculty members through the grant writing process. Julie Jessen from CSE will help faculty in the process of identifying grant opportunities and partners. Faculty writing support will also be there to provide writing structure and guidance. The goal is to have a grant submitted or ready to submit by the end of the Fall!

As the campus prepares for graduation, visit the Chico State Commencement webpage for 2024 ceremony and celebration information.  

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.