Other Opportunities for Faculty


Online Teaching Insights Series (OTIS)
The Online Teaching Insights Series (OTIS) is a new initiative designed to offer ongoing, structured support to faculty who have completed their initial orientation to online teaching. OTIS is intended to address the unique challenges of online instruction by providing timely communications, resources, and training to enhance teaching effectiveness and improve student outcomes.

OTIS will launch as a pilot during the Fall 2024 semester, featuring weekly communications over a span of seven weeks. Starting the week before classes begin, all faculty teaching online this Fall will be informed about the initiative and invited to participate. Faculty are encouraged to engage with the OTIS materials, provide feedback on what was helpful, suggest areas for improvement, and indicate what additional support would be beneficial.

The goal of this pilot stage is to engage faculty with a range of online teaching experiences, including those who have been teaching online for several years. Their insights will be invaluable in refining the program to better serve the community.

This initiative underscores a commitment to excellence in teaching and continuous improvement.

NCFDD:

  1. Go to http://www.facultydiversity.org/join
  2. Choose Butler University from the drop-down menu
  3. Select “Activate my Membership”
  4. Complete the registration form using your Butler email address (i.e., username@xfmlsp.com)
  5. Go to your Butler email inbox to find a confirmation/welcome message. Click “Activate Account” in the email.
  6. Start perusing resources and opportunities!
    If you have any technical questions, feel free to email NCFDD at Membership@FacultyDiversity.org.

OneHE
OneHE offers short and engaging modules that are created by leading experts in teaching and learning. Faculty and instructional staff can earn badges for completing one (or both) of two challenges:

The New to College Teaching Challenge includes a combination of modules selected specifically to support new instructors and early-career faculty.

The Choose Your Own Teaching Adventure Challenge allows you to enhance your teaching effectiveness by selecting the modules relevant to your interests and career stage.

Visit: http://onehe.org/register/butler-university/ to gain access to the platform!

LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is particularly advantageous for college faculty as it offers a convenient and effective way to stay updated with the latest trends, tools, and methodologies in education and their respective fields of expertise. With a broad range of courses, faculty members can continuously enhance their teaching strategies, learn new technologies, and develop skills that can improve student engagement and learning outcomes. The platform’s flexibility allows faculty to fit professional development into their busy schedules, accessing content at their convenience.

LinkedIn Learning is also beneficial for faculty well-being, as it supports a balanced approach to professional development. By offering courses that can be accessed anytime and anywhere, it reduces the pressure of traditional, time-bound professional development programs, allowing faculty to learn at their own pace without added stress. The platform includes courses on mindfulness, stress management, and work-life balance, which can directly contribute to improving personal well-being.

Research Writing Groups
Research working groups are intended to offer the opportunity for faculty members to gather together for a few hours each week to work on their research and writing. The goal of these groups is to create accountability and set times in schedules dedicated to research and writing. During each meeting, faculty will meet together in the same room, share goals for the session, and work quietly on something related to their individual research (i.e., finding sources, reading, writing, designing experiments, etc.).   

Times for fall 2024 groups will be set based on availability of participants. Please reach out to David Orvek (dorvek@xfmlsp.com) if you’re interested in joining a group for the fall 2024 semester.

PALSave Course Redesign Grant Opportunity
Are you considering switching to a zero cost textbook in one of your 2024-25 courses? If so, PALNI invites you to participate in the PALSave Course Redesign Grant program! As the recipient of a five-year Lilly Endowment, Inc. grant to support our affordable learning initiative, PALSave will be offering $500 stipends to faculty as an incentive to adopt zero cost textbooks.  Zero cost textbooks may include open educational resources (OER), library ebooks, or other materials available to students at no additional cost.

Professors are eligible for one redesign stipend per academic year.

If selected, PALNI will provide you:

  • A module-based learning guide for adopting a zero cost textbook
  • Support for the textbook adoption process through email consultation and/or web office hours
  • A $500 stipend

In order to receive the stipend, participants will be expected to provide:

  • Verification of the change from commercial to zero cost textbook, via syllabus submission
  •  Agreement to follow up with mid- and/or post-semester information. Includes the following:- Student Perception Survey- PALSave Course Tracker (number of students, previous textbook)- Student Success Tracker (final average GPA, DFW rate)

If you are interested in this opportunity, please fill out the application at this link, including a short personal statement addressing these questions: Why are you interested in adopting a zero cost textbook? What are your barriers, and what do you hope to learn?

Due to the variance in semester timelines and bookstore deadlines, we are leaving the application form for 2024-25 redesign grants open throughout the academic year, or as long as funds are available. Applications will be reviewed regularly, with applicants notified of a decision no later than 3 weeks after submission.

Any questions may be directed to locally to Jennifer Coronado (jraye@xfmlsp.com) , or to PALSave Leads amanda@palni.edu and erinm@goshen.edu.  For more information about PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning, visit http://palsave.palni.org/.