A Word From the VP
Dear Colleagues,
I hope that you had a relaxing and renewing winter break and that 2020 (still sounds strange to me) is off to a great start for you and your students.
In this issue of “Faculty Matters” we recognize our newly promoted and tenured colleagues along with faculty members who were awarded 2020-2021 sabbatical and professional development leaves. Please congratulate your colleagues on their accomplishments! I had the pleasure of reading their promotion files and leave applications. They are an amazingly accomplished group and are advancing their academic disciplines, mentoring students to pursue their dreams, and keeping FSU on the rise in national rankings. My thanks to all of you who served on Promotion, Tenure, Sabbatical and Professional Development Leave Committees. Your service is much appreciated.
One of the top priorities of the Office of Faculty Development & Advancement is to meet the mentoring needs of faculty at all career stages. Every fall we pack an incredible information into New Faculty Orientation, but there’s only so much information one can absorb in a few days. That’s why we extended NFO to include monthly meetings throughout the academic year to help our newest colleagues adjust to faculty life at FSU. This fall we also launched a series of events intended for Associate Professors, with two faculty-led panel discussions, one on the “Path to Full” and the other on “Strategic Sabbaticals”, with more events for mid-career faculty planned for this semester. Thanks to the initiative of Professor Aimee Boutin of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, a workshop for Full Professors is scheduled for this semester: “Full Professor, What’s Next? A Workshop on Career Paths after Full”. In this issue, you can read about these and other planned events in support of the development and advancement of FSU faculty.
Finally, as reflected in FSU’s Strategic Plan, we are committed to the goal of increasing campus diversity. Increasing the diversity of our faculty is an important part of this goal. For the past year, I’ve been meeting with lots of faculty and leadership groups to solicit ideas and feedback about how FSU can be more successful in increasing the diversity of our faculty. This semester, in partnership with the Office of Human Resources and with the participation of faculty from all parts of campus, we are developing specific action plans to increase recruitment and retention of faculty members from underrepresented groups. I welcome your ideas and your participation in developing and implementing these plans.
I wish you all a healthy and productive semester.
Best,
Janet Kistner
Professor of Psychology
Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement
Faculty Support
Weekly Writing Retreats
It probably makes sense to all of us that regular times dedicated to writing produces ample research for promotion, tenure, and more. But how does a faculty member expected to teach, mentor, and provide service to the university and beyond make sure that regular writing time happens? A commitment to a group of your peers to meet and write in camaraderie has made regular writing times a reality for many FSU faculty. Why don’t you come join them this semester?
Mondays, 1:30 – 5:00
Dirac Science Library
Wednesdays, 8:30 – noon
Norwood Reading Room in Strozier Library
Thursdays, 8:30 – noon
Turnbull Conference Room in Bellamy Building
Faculty Writing Intensives
There comes a point when a writing project needs daily attention. Perhaps for you it is the beginning of a project long procrastinated; perhaps it is the finishing of a project with a deadline. The FSU Faculty Writing Intensives provide daily writing time to maintain intense short-term focus. Choose between four full days of writing or five half days, but don’t delay. As meals are provided, space is limited.
Spring Break, March 16 – 19, 9:00 – 4:00, breakfast and lunch provided, HSF
April 13 – 17, 8:00 – noon, breakfast provided, Pepper Building
Path to Full Workshops
In Fall, Vice-President Kistner began a series of workshops aimed at de-mystifying and making intentional the path to full professor at FSU. Those workshops continue this spring with the following topics.
Session #3: The Power of Self-Reflection
Monday, February 24
3:30 – 5:00
The path to tenure is a well-defined and highly monitored process in academia. To be successful and attain tenure and promotion, a faculty member must have already established and consistently practice successful work strategies. True? Maybe what you are discovering post-tenure is that you cannot continue to work in the way you have pre-tenure. Session 3 will include time for self-reflection, possibility mapping, and role model identification. Faculty will leave with a personally charted post-tenure path.
Session #4: Increasing the Value of Your Teaching
Friday, March 20
1:30 – 3:30
Has your post-tenure reflection led you to the conclusion that teaching and student learning are your passions? Are you considering becoming a master teacher, a workshop facilitator training other teachers, a researcher in the scholarship of teaching and learning, a leader in a national organization dedicated to teaching excellence, a graduate student mentor of teaching, a blogger about teaching? How can increased excellence in teaching be valued in promotion review at an R-1 university? How can your research expertise and discipline-specific knowledge be used to enhance your teaching? These are some of the questions we will address in Session 4 of the Path to Full seminars.
Full Professor, What Next? A Workshop on Career Paths after Full
You finally reached the top rank on the academic ladder and now have the flexibility to make more independent and personal career choices than ever before. What can you do next? With less pressure to publish or perish, how does one find a new balance between external markers of professional success and personal fulfillment? This series of informal workshops aims to explore choices for mid-career full professors through shared experience and discussion. Hosted by Aimee Boutin, Professor of French.
What next? Paths after full professor
January 31
Noon – 1:30
211A Westcott
With less pressure to publish or perish, how does one find a new balance between external markers of professional success and personal fulfillment?
Redirecting research plans
February 28
Noon – 1:30
211A Westcott
Tired of the same old thing? Interested in going in a new, uncharted or riskier direction? Faculty share experiences of their forays into interdisciplinary endeavors in research.
Reinvigorating teaching
March 27
Noon – 1:30
211A Westcott
Some aspects of teaching get easier when one has years of experience but others may get harder. Faculty discuss different perspectives on investing in teaching at the full professor stage and the rewards of renewing commitments to teach and mentor the next generation whether undergrad, grad or junior colleagues.
Transitioning to administration and leadership roles in the university and profession
April 24
noon – 1:30
211A Westcott
Fulbright Application Workshop
February 14
10:00 – 11:30
Classroom, Scholar’s Commons, Strozier Library
Perhaps what is next for you, Associate or Full Professor, Teaching Professor or Researcher, is a Fulbright Scholar award and the opportunity to work with colleagues outside the United States. Come learn about all the awards Fulbright offers and how to make a Fulbright work with your life at FSU. If you want to learn more about the possibilities of Fulbright before the workshop, listen to what your colleagues say about Fulbright and read Mary Stewart’s article .
NCFDD Faculty Forum
The Spring 2020 NCFDD Faculty Forum will present the webinar "Creating a Harassment Free Lab" led by Dr. Kathryn Clancy. This webinar provides information applicable to all research groups. In it, Dr. Clancy describes the reality of the lived experience of harassment in academic settings and offers paths for improving climate and taking personal responsibility for those times we have power over others. FSU faculty will watch the webinar together and discuss ways we can remove gender harassment from our classrooms, research groups, labs, faculty meetings, and beyond.
Tuesday, February 11
3:30 – 5:00
201 Westcott
Faculty Celebrations
Promotion and Tenure
Congratulations to FSU faculty who have achieved promotion and/or tenure in 2020. We are proud of your accomplishments and glad you are part of the FSU community.
Specialized Faculty Promotion
Congratulations to FSU Specialized Faculty who have achieved promotion in 2020. We benefit from your professional growth and are proud of your accomplishment.
Professional Development Leave
Congratulations to specialized faculty who were awarded a one-semester Professional Development Leave for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Sabbatical Leave
Congratulations to our accomplished faculty earning sabbatical leave next year. Sabbatical leave enables faculty to focus their attention on one project and make significant headway. We wish creativity and productivity to all 2020-21 recipients.
A Fulbright Award is a Powerful Thing
Mary Stewart, Professor Emeritus, Department of Art, is in the midst of serving her Fulbright Scholar Flex award to Canada. With Fulbright-funded research and teaching experiences scheduled for November 2019, May 2020, and October 2020, Mary is engaged in varied work on creativity. Read more about her experiences and then sign up for the Fulbright Application Workshop coming in February.
Faculty Fulbright Application Workshop
Thank You
Thank you to all faculty who work to fine-tune their syllabi and teaching so that students understand why and how to follow the Academic Honor Policy. The Academic Honor Policy process at FSU is educational in nature and it works! The university should be a place we learn from mistakes and become better students, yes?! If you have questions or concerns about FSU’s Academic Honor Policy, contact Ann DelRossi.
Nuts and Bolts
Social Media Interns
Zuzanna Szculc
Antonio Ortiz
Chloe BogdajewiczFaculty enjoying the FDA social media at FSU will be happy to welcome Chloe Bogdajewicz to our team of Social Media Interns. Chloe is a senior studying elementary education who has had the opportunity to teach and mentor students in schools around Leon and Gadsden county. She was interested in our internship because she wants to gain skills in using social media to promote education.
We’re happy to welcome back to our Social Media Intern team Antonio Ortiz and Zuzanna Szculc. Antonio is a senior majoring in Creative Writing and Zuzanna is a senior Marketing major. Both Zuzanna and Antonio joined our internship to build their skills using social media in a professional setting. All three students will lead us this year in designing celebrations of faculty accomplishments on social media, building online interactions that solicit engagement, and identifying useful methodologies for applying social media to a specific target group like university faculty.
Fun with FEAS
Did you know that you can use FEAS+ to search for a research or writing collaborator?! FEAS+ allows faculty to enter their areas of expertise!
(Note: The areas of expertise category is not included on the P&T, QER, General or Short vitae formats. It may be included in the Custom vita at the user's discretion.)
To enter your expertise:
- Log in to feas.fsu.edu
- Click on “Add/Edit Entries”
- Click on “Add General Entry”
- Click on “Expertise,” then “Areas of Expertise”
- Fill in the topic
Note: each topic should be entered separately as its own citation - Click “Save”
To search for collaborators:
- Log in to feas.fsu.edu
- Click on the Menu ≡ at the top, right of the screen
- Click on “Expertise Search”
- Enter a topic, then click “Run Search”
- You may click on the number of Citation Hits to view the match, or you may view the published version of the CV
New Teaching Awards Accepting Nominations
As our recent ascent in national regard indicates, FSU is an outstanding place to learn. In order to more fully honor the remarkable teaching and learning that takes place at this institution, we are proud to introduce the following undergraduate teaching awards. This year, these awards will be presented in addition to the pre-existing teaching and advising awards. We invite nominations from students, alumni, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members. Self-nominations are welcome. Regardless of academic department or rank, all full-time faculty who teach undergraduates are eligible to be nominated in the following categories:
Community Engaged Teaching
- FSU is proud to hold a Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.
- This award honors faculty who teach exemplary courses in which students engage with the broader community through service learning, community writing, public scholarship, or similar. Community partners may also nominate faculty for this award.
Foundational Course Excellence
- Excellent introductory courses are essential for building strong foundations for the rest of our students’ education. Foundational courses are lower-division and usually have high enrollment in each section (or across many sections).
- This award honors faculty who effectively and consistently provide students with the tools they need to succeed in downstream courses and in their careers.
Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring
- This award honors faculty who teach courses in which the learning environment is explicitly designed to be inclusive so that all students can flourish.
- This award may also honor faculty who serve as role models or who mentor students beyond the classroom.
Innovation in Teaching
- This award honors faculty who have invested considerable time and effort into transforming the learning experiences they provide for their students.
- Nominees should be able to describe the transformation of their course over time and provide evidence of student learning gains.
Faculty who have won a teaching award in the last five years are not eligible at this time. Nominations are due by January 31, 2020.
Nominees will be contacted with instructions for application.
Faculty Support Around Campus
The FSU Faculty Community
Thank you to Kris Harper for her years of service to the FSU community. We wish Dr. Harper well in her new position at the University of Copenhagen and we thank Dr. Eric Chicken for assuming the mantel of Faculty Senate President.
A Word from Faculty Senate President Eric Chicken:
Welcome back to the second half of the academic year! I hope you had a good winter break. The faculty senate continues to work on constitutional revisions, updating its bylaws, examining improved methods to evaluate teaching and learning in classrooms, and improving technology support for teaching and research. Initial changes to the constitution that involved modifications related to titles and procedures which have changed since the constitution was written will be finalized early this spring.
The senate relies heavily on several standing and ad-hoc committees to do its work. These majority of faculty who serve on these committees are not senators, so thanks to all of you who participate in this important part of faculty governance.
If you have concerns, please send an e-mail to FAC-SenPres@fsu.edu.
Faculty Senate meets once/month and all meetings are open. You will find us at Dodd Hall Auditorium starting at 3:35 pm on January 15, February 19, March 25, and April 22. Meeting minutes and agendas are posted on at the Faculty Senate website.
Eric Chicken
Department of Statistics
Faculty Senate President
FSU Authors Day
February 18
4:00 – 6:00
Robert Bradley Reading Room in Strozier Library.
FSU Authors Day is hosted by the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement and University Libraries. This reception gathers friends of FSU to celebrate all book publication by faculty and staff in the 2019. Come see what your colleagues have produced, learn what staff members are writing, and celebrate publication success.