Dear Colleagues,
What an exciting few first days on campus! Whether welcoming our students during move-in, participating in the clap-in, or enjoying the many events during First Weekend, I hope you’ve had fun, too! The semester is off to a wonderful start.
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the mental health of our entire community continues to remain a priority. The next Mental Health Training date is announced below. I would like to share this Chronicle article, Teaching: Simple ways to support student mental health in class, with you for information that can be included in your courses. As a reminder, we will again celebrate World Mental Health Day on October 10. I encourage you to review your course schedule for the day and hopefully integrate available activities and sessions as much as possible—for your students and yourself.
Slate CRM Transition
The Slate Student Success Portal has replaced RAPS for early alerts and student advising. For more information and guidance on how to raise alerts, visit wright.edu/information-technology/slate-student-success-portal. The Slate Student Success Portal can be accessed in WINGS using your Wright State login credentials.
Student Success: Building a Culture of Care
We will share quick tips to build a culture of care in your classroom this fall as we collaborate to impact student success. This week’s focus is building trust and rapport.
Trust is the foundation of a successful faculty-student relationship. When students trust their faculty, they are more likely to actively participate in class, seek guidance, and take risks in their learning.
Quick tips to build trust and rapport this week:
- Share your “why” for teaching and passion for your field of study
- Start to learn your students’ names when possible
- Tell students that you believe they can succeed and want to support their success
- Encourage them to visit you during “Student Support Hours” (office hours)
If you have any thoughts or questions regarding this or other student success topics, reach out to Dr. Amelia Salazar, vice president for student success, at Amelia.Salazar@wright.edu to get connected!
Center for Faculty Excellence
Once again, the Center for Faculty Excellence is pleased to bring weekly tips to your inbox every Monday morning through Monday Morning Mentors. These are quick video presentations with additional materials provided. The presentation and supplemental material for “How Can I Use AI Tools to Better Manage My Time?” are available through September 1. To access the presentation, use “manage895” as the password.
The center also holds events throughout the year that provide our teaching community with opportunities for learning and improving teaching skills, networking, sharing ideas, and viewing demonstrations of new, emerging pedagogical techniques and technologies. Upcoming events for the Fall Semester include:
- Check out the Library: Library Services for Faculty in Support of Instruction, Research, and Scholarship, primarily for new faculty.
Wednesday, September 11, 1:00 p.m., virtual (Webex link will be sent upon registration)
Register
- Planning Your Course Assessment: This workshop will walk faculty through developing an assessment plan for courses. Beginning this fall, departments must assess one outcome per course. The assessment should be consistent across all sections and all terms for the year. The process for recording the assessment plan in Planning and Self-Study will also be covered.
Thursday, August 29, 2:00-2:45 p.m., virtual (Webex link will be sent upon registration)
Friday, September 6, 10:00-10:55 a.m., at Lake Campus (in-person)
Register
- Program Assessment for 2023-2024: Program assessment is done first and foremost to improve the quality of our academic programs. Accreditors like HLC ensure the institution has quality programs and therefore require assessment. The 2022-2023 program assessments were reviewed and individual feedback was provided. This workshop will review trends from the 2022-2023 reports and review the Planning and Self-Study system for program assessment, including introducing newly unlocked features.
Tuesday, September 3, 11:00-11:55 a.m. (in-person)
Friday, September 6, 11:00-11:55 a.m., at Lake Campus (in-person)
Wednesday, September 11, 10:10-11:05 a.m., virtual (Webex link will be sent upon registration)
Thursday, September 12, 12:30-1:25, p.m. virtual (Webex link will be sent upon registration)
Register
- Closing the Loop on Program Assessment: The greatest benefit from program assessment comes from closing the loop on the assessment cycle. In this workshop, participants will recognize the importance of discussing assessment results in their department and articulate questions that could be asked of assessment data that lead to data-informed changes and greater student success.
Wednesday, October 9, 9:05-10:00 a.m. (in-person)
Monday, October 14, 3:35-4:30, p.m., virtual (Webex link will be sent upon registration)
Tuesday, October 15, 2:00-2:55 a.m. (in-person)
Register
- Closing the Loop on Course Assessment: At the beginning of the term, assessment plans were created for each course. Now that the term is wrapping up, it is time to collect, report, and analyze the data. This workshop will walk through these processes to close the loop on course assessment for the term. Participants will learn how to report and/or collect data in the Planning and Self-Study system, receive tips on analyzing assessment results, and identify data-informed opportunities to improve student success.
Tuesday, November 26, 2:30-3:25 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, December 6, 11:15 a.m.-12:10 p.m., virtual (Webex link will be sent upon registration)
Thursday, December 12, 12:30-1:25 p.m. (in-person)
Register
Mental Health First Aid Training
The Mental Health Task Force is thrilled to announce an invaluable training opportunity that we believe will greatly benefit all employees—a comprehensive Mental Health First Aid training program. This program aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to provide crucial support to individuals who may be experiencing mental health challenges. Understanding and addressing mental health concerns is more important than ever, and this training is designed to empower us all to make a positive difference.
The next Mental Health First Aid training session will take place on Thursday, September 7. To register, email Dr. Huma Bashir.
Research and Sponsored Programs: Training Opportunities
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs will host grant writing workshops, facilitated by Hanover Research, throughout the fall semester. All sessions will be held on Zoom from noon to 2:00 p.m. To access, select the link below on the date of the presentation:
- September 25: Long-Term Strategic Grant Planning and Developing a Strong Concept Paper
- September 27: Program Officer Engagement and Essentials of Competitive Proposals
- October 2: Writing Competitive NSF, NIH, and DOD CDMRP Proposals
- October 4: Developing and Maintaining Collaborations and Resubmissions
The sessions will be facilitated by Steven Jax, Ph.D. Dr. Jax is a senior grants consultant at Hanover Research who has supported over $48 million in funded grants from a wide range of funders, including NIH, NSF, DOE, and many private funders. Before joining Hanover, Dr. Jax was a research scientist for 14 years in the field of cognitive neuroscience and neurorehabilitation.
Faculty Affairs
- Beginning this fall, annual reviews will be due September 15. Faculty will report their academic year activities for the previous academic year (thus, fall 2023 to spring 2024) not for the calendar year, as in the past (11.7)
- Submissions will solely be collected through information entered by faculty in Watermark’s Faculty Success software.
- One-hour user training sessions and system overview and submissions training are available.
- Evaluation of teaching and service as well as scholarship for TETs will be based on a five-point scoring system. (11.3)
- Teaching and service will be evaluated for the year under review only; scholarship will be evaluated for the year under review, with the merit score for that year then averaged with the two prior years. (11.2)
- Criteria for evaluation of teaching and service have changed; see section 11.6.
The provost or a provost designee may also periodically review the productivity of faculty who are either tenured or on continuing contract. (11.9)
Faculty Intervention Dates at a Glance
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Due Dates |
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|---|---|---|---|
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Full Term |
A Term |
B Term |
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Participation Rosters* |
Weeks 1-2: |
Weeks 1-2: |
Week 8: |
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Midterm Grades |
Weeks 6-7: Due by Wed., Oct. 16, by noon |
N/A |
N/A |
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Last day to drop with a W grade |
Fri., Oct. 25 |
Fri., Sept. 20 |
Fri., Nov. 8 |
*X Term – coincides with the last day for a 100% refund; look up dates
- Participation Rosters — Instructions for submitting participation rosters for students who have yet to establish participation at least once in your class will be sent on the first day of classes. This is not only a critical process for Title IV compliance, but it also helps our student success staff to reach out to students who might need assistance. The period for submitting your participation roster will close at midnight of the last day a student can drop and receive a 100% tuition refund.
- Midterm Grades — Faculty will regularly submit midterm grades for all undergraduate courses. Further information is available on the registrar’s faculty resource page.
For additional information, please check out the Orientation and Success Programs’ faculty resource page for FAQs, or feel free to contact me with questions.
When a Student Needs Support
Wright.edu/help is a great resource for helping students or making referrals. This site contains contact information for emergency or essential departments that can assist your students all in one location.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Amy Thompson, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
