Office of Faculty Development

Faculty and the Workplace

Faculty Elections: Voting Ballots for 2024

Tuesday, January 23
Noon
Session Leader: Fran Pease  

Find out who is on the ballot and how voting is organized. 

Accommodations: A Guide on the Process and Implementation

Wednesday, January 31
Noon
Session Leader: Kirsten Schramm

Associate Director of Accessibility Services, Kirsten Schramm, will review how students are approved for reasonable accommodations, aspects of the law dictating the accommodation process, and ways LFC's most occurring accommodations can be supported.

Let's Talk About Service

Wednesday, February 21
4:00 p.m.
Session Leaders: Ben Zeller and Liz Benacka  

Current and former FPPC Chairs discuss how committee service appointments are made and what faculty should know about service pre- and post-tenure.  

Community Care: Building a Culture of Care 

Thursday, March 7
Noon
Session Leaders: Dr. Ashley Wood

Join Health and Wellness staff to discuss the importance of developing a culture of care and support on campus.  This conversation will include tips about how to engage effectively in our own self-care behaviors as a way of role modeling successful coping skills for our students.  This will include a discussion of different stress management techniques students, faculty, and staff can employ and the importance of setting and respecting healthy boundaries in the pursuit of community care

Advising (Two Sessions)

Monday, March 18 at Noon
Tuesday, March 19 at 4:00 p.m.
DO Library 203
Session Leader: Matt Kelley

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)

Brown Bag Lunch: Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Student Spaces Series (Part II)

Tuesday, February 6  
Noon
Session Leader: Nevin Heard, Office of Intercultural Relations 

The Brown Bag Lunch Series offers an informal space for faculty and staff to gain an understanding of inclusive practices pertaining to specific marginalized identities or sociocultural issues. Attendees are invited to actively engage in discussion around sensitive topics with the aim of creating greater belonging campus wide.  

The Creating Inclusive Classrooms & Student Spaces Series Brown Bag Lunch will discuss pedological and pragmatic practices for furthering inclusion and belonging in the classroom and other spaces frequented by students. Part I will allow for the sharing of foundational knowledge for taking a student-centered approach through an equity lens and mindset. Part II of the series will take a deeper and more nuanced approach to analyzing and overcoming barriers to incorporating inclusion and belonging. The sessions in this series build upon each other but are not required for attendance. 

Supporting Undocumented Students: A Hands-On Workshop  

Wednesday, March 20  
Noon
Session Leader: Ninna Villavicencio, Office of Intercultural Relations  

This interactive session will provide an overview of practical tools and strategies to effectively support and advocate for undocumented students. Faculty and staff can expect to practice different real-life scenarios and generally learn about resources available to undocumented students both on and off campus.

Inclusive Disability Practices

Thursday, April 4 
Noon
Session Leader: Kirsten Schramm

Associate Director of Accessibility Services, Kirsten Schramm, will review different types of disabilities frequently seen at Lake Forest College, inclusive practices to support disabled students, and an overview of legal obligations as it pertains to ADA.

Faculty Success Series

ChatGPT and Higher Ed: One Year In

Tuesday, January 23  
4:00 p.m.  
Remote Session
Session Leader: Autumm Caines, Instructional Designer, University of Michigan – Dearborn  

We are now one year into a world with ChatGPT which has brought the potential for both positive and negative impacts in higher education. With a rapidly changing news cycle around these tools it is crucial for educators to stay informed. This session offers a deep dive into the impacts of large language models, examining both their potential and challenges. To set the stage for a broader understanding of ChatGPT's role in academia we begin with a brief history, essential definitions, and updates we've seen to the tech over this past year. We then continue on with key areas of focus including privacy concerns, where we'll address how ChatGPT intersects with data security and personal information. The critical issue of academic integrity is also at the forefront, exploring ChatGPT's dual role as both a facilitator and a potential disruptor in educational settings. We'll conclude with a discussion on policy formulation, aiming to guide educators in harnessing ChatGPT's capabilities responsibly and effectively in their teaching and learning practices.

Teaching with Bots: A Practical ChatGPT Workshop for Educators

Tuesday, February 20
4:00 p.m.
Session Leaders: Alex Cates and Kimiko Matsumura

Join us for an interactive session that offers a hands-on introduction to ChatGPT. Bring your laptops and practice using ChatGPT and other AI through teaching-focused demonstrations and discuss how AI technology can enhance classroom dynamics and student engagement. We will walk through how to use ChatGPT to outline a day in your class including lecture ideas, classroom activities, assessments, and rubrics. Explore how to work with AI to accomplish more and create a better experience for your students, all while keeping the essential human in the loop.

Extramural Funding Resources: Administrative Support for Research and Sabbatical Grant Awards

Wednesday, February 28  
4:00 p.m.   
Remote Session
Session Leader: Edwin Hunt, Consulting Director of the Office of Grants & Sponsored Research—Lake Forest College  

The content of this workshop session includes, but is not limited to: discussion of funding resources in general and by type; the process of identifying potential funding resources for research and sabbatical grant support; targeted extramural funding resources reports for faculty; best practices regarding the development and submission of an application, proposal, and/or letter of intent/interest for all types extramural grant awards.  

Preparing Yourself for the Tenure Process and Recalibrating Post-Tenure

Thursday, April 18  
4:00 p.m.

Faculty and the Workplace

Faculty Elections: How do they work?  

Monday, October 2
4:00 p.m.
Session Leader: Fran Pease, Assistant Dean of the Faculty

What is the process of our campus elections? How is each division represented? How do we vote and what is the timeline? 

Community Care: Let’s Talk About Mental Health 

Tuesday, September 26
Noon
Session Leaders: Dr. Ed Neumann 

Join Health and Wellness staff to discuss the best ways to support students’ mental health needs throughout the upcoming year.  This conversation will include a discussion of the mental health needs of our students, tips on how to identify students in distress, and suggestions about how best to connect students with the resources they need. 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)

Brown Bag Lunch: Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Student Spaces Series (Part I)

Monday, October 23
4:00 p.m.
Session Leader: Nevin Heard, Office of Intercultural Relations

The Brown Bag Lunch Series offers an informal space for faculty and staff to gain an understanding of inclusive practices pertaining to specific marginalized identities or sociocultural issues. Attendees are invited to actively engage in discussion around sensitive topics with the aim of creating greater belonging campus wide.  

The Creating Inclusive Classrooms & Student Spaces Series Brown Bag Lunch will discuss pedological and pragmatic practices for furthering inclusion and belonging in the classroom and other spaces frequented by students. Part I will allow for the sharing of foundational knowledge for taking a student-centered approach through an equity lens and mindset. Part II of the series will take a deeper and more nuanced approach to analyzing and overcoming barriers to incorporating inclusion and belonging. The sessions in this series build upon each other but are not required for attendance.

Advising Student Empowerment Groups and & Student Organizations

Tuesday, November 7
Noon
Panel: Ninna Villavicencio, Courtney Joseph, Tessa Sermet, and Deja McClellan

Learn about our student empowerment groups and student organizations, how we advise, what role faculty and staff play, and the importance of these groups on our campus.  

Color-blind racial ideology and STEM instructor's beliefs and practices 

Wednesday, October 18
4:00 p.m.
Remote Session
Session Leader: Professor Tatiane Russo-Tait, University of Georgia 

This seminar will explore how "color-blind" or color-evasive racial ideology can inform STEM instructors’ equity-related beliefs in ways that constrain their ability to disrupt deficit narratives, appropriately support students from racially minoritized backgrounds, and recognize their own responsibility in ameliorating racial injustice in their spheres of influence. Critical consciousness development is key for instructors to individually and collectively advance racial justice in STEM learning environments. 

Faculty Success Series

Assessing Critical Thinking at the Department Level: Strategies for Showcasing Student Skills

Monday, September 18  
4:00 p.m.  
Session Leader: Holly Swyers, Chair, Assessment Committee 

How does your discipline see evidence of critical thinking, and how well can your students articulate their critical thinking skills to potential employers and graduate programs? This session is geared toward helping departments articulate and develop evidence-based (and accreditation supporting) claims about how your majors will bring sought after skills into their professional lives. 

Navigating the AI Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges

Tuesday, September 5 
4 p.m. 
Session Leader: Rachel Whidden & Research Assistant, Sophia Timm 

As AI technology, particularly ChatGPT, becomes more prevalent in educational settings, it is important for faculty to understand the capabilities and limitations of this cutting-edge technology. Join us as we present the findings of our summer research, address the recent concerns surrounding generative AI usage and explore strategies for developing a balanced approach to integrating AI technology into the learning process. 

Finding Statistics and Data through the Library

Wednesday, October 11
Noon
Session Leader: Tommy Crawford, Reference & Instruction Librarian

Through a partnership with the Applied Data Center and the Library, the College has acquired access to Statista, a new data and statistics database. This session will introduce faculty to the ways which they and their students can use Statista in their courses and personal research. We’ll explore how to find statistics, industry reports, forecasts, infographics, and more.

Maximizing Research Productivity with Students without Sacrificing Teaching Quality

Wednesday, November 8 
Noon
Session Leader: Vivian Ta 

This session will focus on how to incorporate students into your research program in a productive manner during the academic school year without sacrificing teaching quality or your mental health. Topics include strategies to more efficiently: manage and maintain a large research lab, work with students in every stage of the research process, and publish on a regular basis. 

What to Know Before Third-Year Review

Monday, November 27 
4:00 p.m.