This weekly newsletter for academic leaders is designed to share information of interest to the university community.
Today is the first day that COVID-19 vaccines are available to everyone 16 or older in Ohio, and we strongly encourage everyone — students, faculty and staff alike — to take full advantage of this opportunity to protect yourself, your family and the broader community from COVID-19. Information about vaccination is posted on the Safe and Healthy Buckeyes website — whether through the Wexner Medical Center or more than 1,300 locations statewide.
Three key messages to amplify
For the 12th week of spring semester, please amplify these messages with your areas of the university community.
- Watch the State of Academic Affairs: Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce A. McPheron celebrated the academic community's accomplishments and highlighted how our focus on our strategy and values has supported — and will continue to support — powerful outcomes for our university in the 2021 State of Academic Affairs speech. If you missed the address, the video and transcript are available online.
- Respect the break and remember the conversion day: The instructional break is Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday is a conversion day — meaning that classes on April 2 will follow the Wednesday schedule. No classes or classwork are to be scheduled during the break, and where possible, please find opportunities for mental health breaks for faculty and staff who do not have the day off.
- This year's tenure extension deadline is Thursday. Vice Provost Helen Malone reminded probationary tenure-track faculty last week that they have until Thursday, April 1, to opt in if they want a one-year extension of the tenure clock. Faculty are also reminded to engage with their department chairs and promotion and tenure committee chairs if their work has been disrupted by the pandemic.
Faculty may submit course proposals for new GE
Faculty are reminded to submit course proposals for the new General Education curriculum, which is scheduled to begin autumn 2022. Proposals are limited to the theme categories and the Race, Ethnic, and Gender Diversity Foundation course. More details about course submission, and about the new curriculum in general, are available on the GE website.
The Office of Outreach and Engagement is seeking applications from faculty and/or faculty-led teams for the 2021 Engagement Impact Grants. Grants will be awarded at a maximum amount of $10,000 to support development of impact reports for programs, performances or exhibits; development of a public policy document or report; or support for team to develop a grant proposal or finalize a manuscript for publication submission. The application deadline is April 15.
Upcoming events
- At 2 p.m. today (March 29), Teaching About Violence will discuss challenges and concerns that surround topics related to violence (such as war, genocide, hate crimes and sexual violence) and provide instructors with strategies for facilitating generative classroom experiences.
- At 11 a.m. Tuesday (March 30) GTA Toolkit: Crafting a Teaching Portfolio and Teaching Statement will identify strategies for constructing teaching portfolios and common mistakes to avoid. Participants will structure a teaching statement around goals, methods and assessment.
- At noon Tuesday (March 30), a Workshop on Assessing Instructional Redesign will discuss considerations for developing an assessment plan to measure the impact and effectiveness of a Drake Institute Instructional Redesign project.
- At 6 p.m. Wednesday (March 31), Jerlando F.L. Jackson will deliver the keynote address in the Our Inclusive Path Forward series. Jackson will focus on "African Americans' Attitudes Toward STEM: Implications for Educational and Occupational Decision Making." Jackson is the Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, department chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, and founding director and chief research scientist of Wisconsin's Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- At 2:30 p.m. Thursday (April 1), Reducing Barriers for Students with Hidden Disabilities will discuss culture-setting and stigma-reduction strategies instructors can use to refine their inclusive teaching practice.
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