Opportunities

Center for Teaching and Learning Opportunities

Friday, December 1, 12:15 -1:15 p.m.., Teske Room: Faculty at small institutions often experience burnout as they fuse personal passions and identify with the work output, leading to fatigue, burnout, and, ultimately, low morale. Please join the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Faculty Welfare Committee to discuss faculty, work, and vocation within our institutional “family” context. We'll explore the concept of virtuous excellence in academia, examining how we can avoid vicious excess and foster a more balanced, ethical approach to our work as educators. The lunch discussion will be based on the article The Virtuous Professor by Department of Theology faculty Brandy Daniels and David Turnbloom. This conversation will be an opportunity to reflect on our institutional culture and consider strategies for promoting true excellence without falling into the trap of harmful overwork. Please reserve a seat for this luncheon discussion by emailing CTL@up.edu.

Email ctl@up.edu with questions about Center for Teaching and Learning programs or call Terry Favero at 503-943-7373.

Other Opportunities

Faculty and Staff Autumn Retreat
Friday, November 8, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. All faculty and staff are invited to attend this day-long spiritual retreat. The retreat will be held on campus and will highlight themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Retreat leaders are Dr. Jordan Skornik, Executive Director of the Borland Free Clinic & Adjunct Faculty in Theology and Fr. Peter Walsh, CSC, Co-Director of the Garaventa Center. The goal of the retreat is to provide a time for individual and communal spiritual reflection and renewal, to deepen faculty and staff connections to one another and to the University’s Catholic, Holy Cross mission and identity, and to invite staff and faculty to reflect on and embrace their vital contributions to our shared mission. For more information and the retreat schedule, visit the Garaventa Website.

To sign up for the retreat, please RSVP to Shannon Mayer, Co-Director of the Garaventa Center, at mayers@up.edu. Please contact Shannon Mayer with any questions about schedule, participation, accommodations, etc.

Core Samples Lunches
Tuesday, October 8 and Wednesday, November 13, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.., Teske Room: All faculty and staff are invited to attend one or both of this fall's Core Samples Lunches as guests of the Garaventa Center and Core Curriculum Program. These have proven a terrific way for all of us to build our knowledge of what happens in UP's Core Curriculum. Learning from gifted teachers over free food and without exams: could it be any better?

Tuesday, October 8, 11:30-12:30: Dr. Anne Santiago from Political Science and Global Affairs will offer a sample of her Fall University Big Ideas exploration level course CORE 311X - Democracy and Diversity: Politics in an Age of Fracture. The UP Core is offering one of these larger signature courses each semester to highlight mission related themes such as civic responsibility and this course is specifically timed to help us all make sense of an intense election season.

Wednesday, November 13, 11:30-12:30: Dr. Brad Franco from the Department of History will provide a glimpse of his foundation level course HST 220: The Search for Justice in the Western Tradition. Learn about how an evolved version of the classic “Western Civ” model can help us think about what it means to define a just world.

The lunches will be in the Teske Room in the Bauccio Commons. Seating is limited. Please reserve a seat by emailing Shannon Mayer at mayers@up.edu. 

Digital Lab Workshops

The Digital Lab offers free, one-hour workshops to current students, faculty, staff and alumni (space permitting). Past workshop topics for include Graphic Design, iMovie, Podcasting, Canva, and more. Visit the Digital Lab's website for a detailed schedule and to register for a spot. 

Teaching with Technology Workshop Series

Teaching with Technology is an ongoing series of workshops presented by Academic Technology Services that focuses on providing professional development for UP faculty in digital skills and pedagogy. Recordings of many past trainings are available on ATSI's PilotsUP site.