Monthly Sessions for Faculty
In an effort to meet the needs of faculty, the monthly sessions for faculty begun in 2023, were continued. These sessions cover a diverse range of topics pertinent to professional development for faculty. The sessions are designed to support faculty in their research, their roles as university citizens, and to foster a work culture of equity and respect.
Fall 2024-Spring 2025
Fall 2024
- Job Crafting | September 30, 12:00-1:15pm
While we are all mostly familiar with what is expected of us as faculty, we rarely have conversations about how to strategically develop our careers in higher education. Most often, we make decisions regarding our teaching and service from a “needs” basis or assuming that elevates us or draws attention to us. However, this does not necessarily result in successful promotion and tenure. This interactive session will provide participants the opportunity to hear from colleagues and think about how to use ‘job crafting.’ This session will begin with Senior Vice Provost Mangala Subramaniam explaining the concept of job crafting and how to use it for career planning. Panel participants will share their perspectives on the following questions:- How have you aligned your choice of service assignment/s with your career goals?
- What are some approaches you utilize to decide when and what to say ‘yes’ to when contacted for a service commitment?
- What are some ways we can actively reflect on our talents and what brings us joy when allocating our time
Mangala Subramaniam, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; D'Arcy Mays, Associate Dean for Research and Operations & Founding Chair & Professor, Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, College of Humanities and Sciences; Umesh Desai, Chair & Associate Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy; Maria E. Teves, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
- Faculty Well Being | November 11, 10:00-11:15am
Faculty well-being involves balancing life and work (yes life, first!). Faculty must be intentional in finding this balance, assessing their time use, and engaging in self-care; even as we focus on caring for the family, the patient,and the student. What do we mean when we talk about faculty well being? How do we mitigate burnout? This interactive session will explore what faculty well being is, what the role of the institution is in developing a culture of well being.
Fall 2023-Spring 2024
Spring 2024
- Forging Collaborations | February 21, 3:00-4:30pm
This will be an interactive session providing participants the opportunity to hear from senior faculty members on the areas of strengthening existing collaborations and best practices on creating new partnerships. A brief panel discussion will be followed by roundtable activities and hands-on application with master facilitators. What does collaboration mean and entail (especially effective ones)? How do you seek out collaborators within your discipline and across disciplinary boundaries? And, how do you continue to maintain the collaborations while also building new ones as you pursue new lines of research inquiry?
Lisa Richman Ballance, Associate Vice President for Strategy and Regulatory Affairs, Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation; Carly Katz, Senior Director of Federal Relations, Government Relations, Office of the President; Susan Bodnar-Deren, Graduate Program Director & Associate Professor, Sociology; John Fife, Associate Research Professor of STEM, School of Education; Fantasy Lozada, Associate Professor, Psychology
Fall 2023
- ‘Nuts & Bolts’ of Teaching & Learning | September 20, 12:00-1:30pm
The first session, featuring four speakers, focuses on the specific components of teaching and learning, including student success. Key elements of a syllabus, addressing student needs, and utilizing resources to support students, among other topics will be covered.
Maggie Tolan, Senior Associate Vice President for Student Success, Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success; Elaine Reeder, Director of Curriculum Development, VCU Online; Laura Westmoreland Gariepy, Associate Dean for Research and Learning, VCU Libraries; Susan Coombs, Interim Director, CTLE - Roundtables: Building Research; Forging Collaborations; Innovative Teaching | October 18, 3:00-4:30pm
This session will offer three distinct roundtables for participants. The roundtable discussions will be co-facilitated by VCU faculty and experts in these areas:- Building Research: How do you structure a research agenda depending on your discipline? How do you seek out funding opportunities? How do you keep pace with multiple research projects and build research pipelines?
Lisa Ballance, Associate Vice President for Strategy and Regulatory Affairs, OVPRI; Mangala Subramaniam, Senior Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs - Forging Collaborations: What does collaboration mean and entail (especially effective ones)? How do you seek out collaborators within your discipline and across disciplinary boundaries? And, how do you continue to maintain the collaborations while also building new ones as you pursue new lines of research inquiry.
Pam Parsons, Associate Dean of Practice and Community Engagement, School of Nursing; Chelsea Williams, Associate Professor, Psychology, Kathy Tossas, Assistant Professor, Health and Behavior Policy -
Innovative Teaching: What is innovative teaching across disciplines? What may be examples of innovative teaching that participants can share? What and how did you create an innovative pedagogy, teaching style, assignments or any other aspect of teaching? How can they be applied across disciplines and modalities?
Susan Coombes, Interim Director, CTLE; Krista Donohoe, Associate Professor, Pharmacotherapy and Outcome Sciences
- Building Research: How do you structure a research agenda depending on your discipline? How do you seek out funding opportunities? How do you keep pace with multiple research projects and build research pipelines?
- Navigating Academic Workspaces and Building Relationships | November 15, 2:00-3:30pm
Higher Education has many layers and often complex structures that need some understanding to successfully navigate these spaces. This session will focus on possible ways to build relationships that are inclusive and respectful. What are some ways to navigate relationships across multiple roles (i.e. co-researcher, colleague, supervisor, community member)? What are some best practices to build inclusive relationships in both formal and informal settings? How do we understand the notion of ‘speaking up’ and/or disagreements?
Carlos Smith, Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Ethics and Community Engagement; Maria Teves, Assistant Professor, Department of OB/GYN; Archana Pathak, Interim Assistant Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs; Cleo Magwaro, Associate Vice President, Equity and Access Services