Faculty Development Day: Winter 2018

On January 5, University faculty took part in a development session, complete with engaging presenters and a continental breakfast. Twice a year at the beginning of the academic year and at the start of the New Year, faculty members are given the opportunity to gather for professional development learning sessions and to socialize with colleagues.

During the first half of the development series, attendees took part in three sessions to enhance their skills in the creation of syllabi, and to learn more about instructional technology and online resources across the University. John Fitzgerald, DO, associate director, Physician Assistant Studies program; Brooke Kruemmling, PhD, COMS, assistant provost; Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, clinical director, Speech-Language Institute; Elizabeth Tonkery, OD, MPH, associate dean, Accelerated Scholars Optometry Program; and Satya Verma, chair, Education Policy and Curriculum Committee, as representatives of the University’s Education Policy and Curriculum Committee presented the Anatomy of a Syllabus: Part 1.

With ever-increasing technology needs across academia, the second and third sessions of the day focused on the effective utilization and the availability of online technology resources. The half hour-long second session served as a refresher course on Instructional Technology: Creating a Test on Blackboard and Panopto Basics, which included details on lecture capture. Presented by Jill Leslie, director, Instructional Technology in the department of Technology and Learning Resource Center Services, faculty had the opportunity to ask questions throughout the session to clarify or review specific aspects as needed for their didactic needs.  Session 3: A Guide to Salus’ Online Resources was presented by Salus librarian Elyssa Mulcahy, in which she reviewed the capabilities of additional online resources. For this session, Marietta Dooley, MSLIS, director of Library Services, was on hand to field questions.

Faculty across programs find the bi-annual University Development (UD) Days beneficial both on a professional and personal level. "UD Day is not only a great way to gain knowledge in new teaching and learning techniques, but it's also a way to connect with faculty for the sharing of ideas outside of our programs," Serianni said. "Faculty can get into the trenches with teaching, student advising and other programmatic requirements but days like UD Day allow for us to connect across the entire University to develop different student activities, learn from one another's professional best practices and share ideas for future interprofessional projects."