NFI Schedule & Materials
2023-2024 New Faculty Institute
Leader: Dr. Jay Zysk, Director, Office of Faculty Development
Email: jzysk@umassd.edu
Offices: LIB 215 (in the OFD suite) and LARTS 343
Phone: x8864
Office hours: individual meetings available by appointment (please email)
All NFI meetings take place on Wednesdays from 3.00-5.00 p.m. in the Office of Faculty Development (Library 212) unless noted otherwise. The OFD will provide coffee, tea, soft drinks, and snacks at all sessions!
Many sessions will include interactive trainings and tutorials, so please bring your laptops.
Additional information and materials can be found at https://www.umassd.edu/nfi/
SEPTEMBER
Wednesday, 9/13: Getting Things Started & Welcome Reception
Join us as we begin the 2023-2024 New Faculty Institute! Reacquaint yourself with your new faculty cohort and bring any questions from your first week of classes. We’ll have a brief conversation and overview of the OFD.
At 4:00 p.m., we will proceed downstairs to the Grand Reading Room for our annual New Faculty Welcome Reception. We will be joined by Interim Provost Ram Bala, Associate Provost Thomas Boone, members of the Office of Faculty Development, and the college deans. All new faculty members will be formally welcomed to the university and introduced by their respective deans—all over wine and cheese!
Wednesday, 9/20: Overview of Student Support Services
As faculty members, we have our students’ best interests in mind and we want to help them achieve success in concrete and meaningful ways. In this session join Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dr. Kimberly Scott, and members of the Division of Student Affairs as they share information and referral contacts pertaining to the services that faculty are likely to utilize in their efforts to support students in and out of the classroom.
Wednesday, 9/27: CITS Instructional Development / Online Teaching and Learning
Join members of the CITS Instructional Development Team to discuss the services, resources, and workshops they provide. This presentation will provide an overview of MyCourses (our learning management system) as well as review strategies and best practices for teaching blended and fully online courses.
OCTOBER
Wednesday, 10/4: Library Resources & Writing and Multiliteracy Center
Dr. Elisabeth Buck, Director of the Writing and Multiliteracy Center (WMC) will discuss the services the WMC offers to students, including peer tutoring and classroom visitations. Then, Dean Nancy Godleski, along with Kari Mofford, Jo-Ann Cooley, Sonia Pacheco, Emma Wood, and Lorraine Heffernan from the Claire T. Carney Library will survey library resources for students and faculty across the disciplines as well as provide an overview of open educational resources (OER) initiatives at UMass Dartmouth.
Wednesday, 10/11: COIN and Academic Advising
Audra Callahan, Ben Baumann, Stephanie LeBlanc and Keith Coutu from the Registrar’s Office will conduct a COIN tutorial with a focus on academic advising. Then advising coordinators and professional advisors from different colleges will discuss strategies for effective student advising.
Wednesday, 10/18: An Introduction to Curricular Processes and Academic Policies
How do you develop and propose a new course in your department? How can you propose one of your existing courses for inclusion in University Studies? What is a roster verification request and why is it important? What action should you take when a student contests a grade or asks for an incomplete? How do you handle a case of plagiarism or academic dishonesty? Members of this panel will discuss these and other curricular processes and academic policies.
Wednesday, 10/25: No NFI Meeting / No Classes
NOVEMBER
Wednesday, 11/1: Sponsored Research and Research Compliance: Processes, Opportunities, and Supports
Join Interim Provost Ramprasad Balasubramanian, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Megan Hennessey-Greene, Research Development Manager Jennifer Glass, Intellectual Property Consultant Catherine Ives, and Director of Institutional Ethics and Compliance Stephanie Pena to discuss external and internal research grant opportunities, ethics, and research compliance.
Wednesday, 11/8: Coffee with the Chancellor.
As the semester winds down, join Chancellor Mark Fuller for a unique opportunity to hear about some recent campus updates, his vision for UMass Dartmouth, and what he sees as top priorities for the campus’s success. Chancellor Fuller also welcomes the opportunity to hear about your experiences at UMassD thus far and discuss any questions you might have.
Wednesday, 11/15: Meeting with Provosts and Deans
Interim Provost Ramprasad Balasubramanian, Associate Provost Thomas Boone, and the deans of your respective colleges will discuss topics related to teaching, scholarship and professional activity, and service as well as specific personnel actions including the annual faculty activities report (FAR), contract renewal, tenure, and promotion.
Wednesday, 11/22: No NFI Meeting
Wednesday, 11/29: Contract Renewals and Personnel Actions
Building on our earlier meeting with the Provost and Deans, this session will describe the process of annual reviews, contract renewals, and tenure and promotion applications. Join members of the OFD staff to discuss strategies for shaping effective teaching, research, and service narratives as well as gathering and documenting supporting evidence.
DECEMBER
Wednesday, 12/6: A Conversation about Teaching and Learning: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Join OFD Assistant Directors Michael Sheriff, Tom Hertweck and Katie Krafft for a session introducing a variety of best practices for teaching and learning. Topics will include course design and development, strategies for active learning, “small teaching,” and anti-oppressive pedagogy. We’ll use this session to reflect on our approaches to teaching and learning this semester and think about some innovations and improvements we might consider for the semester ahead. As this is the last NFI meeting of the semester, pizza will be served!