Digital Commons Network^™

Supporting Students’ Mental Health, Liz Norell

Events

Survey data from the 2021 Healthy Minds survey of UM students makes the challenges around student mental health clear. For example, the survey revealed that nearly half (46%) of responding students met the DSM definition of having moderate or severe depression. More than half of students (52%) in that survey said that mental health challenges in the preceding four weeks had hurt their academic performance on three or more days of the week. In this workshop, we will review the results of that survey to establish the scope of mental health challenges in our student population. We’ll then discuss ways …

Supporting Neurodivergent Students With Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, And Dyspraxia, Liz Norell

Events

In this follow-up to last fall’s workshop on supporting neurodivergent students, we will turn our attention to four additional neurodivergent types: dyslexia (challenges interpreting text), dyscalculia (challenges working with numbers), dysgraphia (challenges writing text), and dyspraxia (challenges with physical coordination). We will describe each of these neurodivergent types, discuss what each might look like in the classroom, and explore potential accommodations and strategies to promote student success. Lunch from Grit. (Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Johnson Commons East Ballroom)

Alternatives To Traditional Essays, Derek Bruff, Emily Pitts Donahoe

Events

Faculty panel facilitated by Derek Bruff and Emily Pitts Donahoe. There is much value in the traditional essay, but it’s not always the only, or even the best way to accomplish our teaching goals. Recently, instructors have been experimenting with a wide range of alternatives to the take-home essay, a process that the advent of generative AI has only accelerated. In this panel, UM faculty from across disciplines share new assignments they’ve developed to promote engagement, foster academic integrity, and help students demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. (Monday, March 4, 2:00-3:00 p.m., Zoom link provided after registration)

Stem Lunch #2: Reconsidering Class Time Through Flipped Learning, Dan Mattern, Mike Gill, Winn Hutchcraft, Bibek Kattel

Events

In flipped learning, first contact with new concepts moves outside the classroom to individual study time so that the classroom is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment. In this session, we’ll hear from a panel of UM instructors -- Dan Mattern (chemistry), Mike Gill (chemical engineering), Winn Hutchcraft, and Bibek Kattel (electrical engineering) -- about how they take a flipped approach to their courses. Lunch from Grit. (Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Student Union 326)

Teaching Today’S Students, Part 1: Pedagogy For A New Era, Joshua Eyler, Emily Pitts Donahoe

Events

Is this generation of students different from the ones we have taught in the past? There has been a lot of recent speculation about this question. The reality, of course, is that all generations bring with them unique challenges and opportunities into our classrooms, and our students today are facing unprecedented obstacles to academic success and personal wellbeing. In this workshop, we will address some of the characteristics of today’s students, as well as pedagogical strategies that we can use to support their engagement, learning, and growth. Lunch from Grit available. (Wednesday, February 14, 12:00-1:00 pm, Johnson Commons East Ballroom)

Yes, And: Igniting Your Pedagogical Imagination, Emily Pitts Donahoe, Derek Bruff, Joshua Eyler, Liz Norell

Events

Have you ever attended a teaching workshop and thought, “That’s an interesting idea—but I don’t know how it would work in my class.” If so, this session is for you! In the first part of the workshop, we’ll present a teaching technique chosen at random. Our expert panelists will compete to see who can translate that teaching technique to their own discipline and course in the most creative way. In the second part of the workshop, attendees will have a chance to draw their own teaching technique from the hat and brainstorm about how they might apply it in their …

Stem Lunch Series: Student Belonging In Stem, Rebecca Symula, Susan Pedigo, Jessica Osborne

Events

Date: Friday, November 10 Time: 12:00-1:00 pm Location: Johnson Commons East Banquet Room Panelists: Rebecca Symula, instructional associate professor of biology; Susan Pedigo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Jessica Osborne, principal evaluation associate, Center for Research Evaluation The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) awards the University of Mississippi a grant to understand, promote, and evaluate inclusivity in STEM education. In this session, HHMI team members will share and discuss some of their initial research featuring student and faculty perspectives on belonging and inclusivity.

Beyond Chatgpt: New Tools To Augment Your Research, Derek Bruff, Kellye Makamson, Marc Watkins

Events

Date: Wednesday, November 8 Time: 11:00 am-12:00 pm Location: Zoom Facilitators: Derek Bruff, visiting associate director, CETL; Kellye Makamson, Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric; and Marc Watkins, Academic Innovation Fellow As generative AI tools like ChatGPT receive widespread attention, there has been little focus on how the technology can aid research and education. Join us to learn about AI-powered research tools that can augment academic work. We will discuss new research applications of tools like Anthropic’s Claude 2, Google’s NotebookLM, and Perplexity. Attendees will learn how these systems can help your own research and how you can use them with …

Getting Started With Alternative Grading, Emily Pitts Donahoe, Josh Eyler

Events

Date: Wednesday, November 1 Time: 12:00-1:00 pm Location: Zoom Facilitators: Emily Pitts Donahoe and Josh Eyler Interested in different approaches to grading? Maybe even thinking about trying an alternative grading model in your own course? Join us for a workshop in which we’ll explore your grading approaches as they relate to your teaching values and your philosophy of education. We will also introduce a variety of different grading models and some strategies for implementation.

“With A Pen In Her Hand”: Communities In Gloria Naylor’S Fiction And In Her Archives Conference, Sacred Heart University

Events

Conference held October 18-20, 2023, celebrating Gloria Naylor’s fiction and the return of her Archives to Sacred Heart University.

A Pedagogy Of Kindness, Cate Denial

Events

Date: Wednesday, September 20 Time: 12:00-1:00 pm Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom Facilitator: Cate Denial, Bright Distinguished Professor of American History, Chair of the History department, and Director of the Bright Institute at Knox College What does it mean to practice a Pedagogy of Kindness? This session will explore three tenets of compassionate teaching: justice, believing students, and believing in students. We’ll reflect together on what kindness (and its lack) has meant to us within academia, and how we can – piece by piece – assemble a kind approach to pedagogy that meets the needs of our students and ourselves …

Teaching In The Age Of Ai: What’S Working, What’S Not, Derek Bruff, Robert Cummings

Events

Date: Monday, September 18 Time: 2:00-3:00 pm Location: Zoom Facilitators: Derek Bruff, visiting associate director, CETL, and Robert Cummings, executive director, Academic Innovations Group There are now many generative AI tools available to both students and instructors: ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Google Bard, Claude, Midjourney, DALL-E, and more. What is it like teaching and learning in this new age of AI? In this session, sponsored by CETL and the Academic Innovations Group, we invite the University of Mississippi teaching community to compare notes on what’s working and what’s not when it comes to incorporating or inhibiting AI tools in our fall …

What Instructors Need To Know When Working With Neurodivergent Students, Liz Norell

Events

Date: Wednesday, September 6 Time: 12:00-1:00 pm Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom Facilitators: Liz Norell, associate director of instructional support Neurodivergent students (and colleagues) surround us at UM, but we rarely get concrete tips on how to create classroom spaces to ensure these students can succeed. Estimates range from 11% to 30% of students who have some sort of neurodivergence–from autism and ADHD to dyslexia to dyspraxia. This workshop will equip faculty with actionable advice on how to create spaces that allow all neurodivergent students the opportunity to succeed.

Joy And Hope On The Margins: The Mission Imperative Of Access To Catholic Higher Education, Patricia Mcguire

Events

Introduction:

Words written in 1965 seem prophetic for today’s challenges to the human community:

“Never has the human race enjoyed such an abundance of wealth, resources and economic power, and yet a huge proportion of the world’s citizens are still tormented by hunger and poverty, while countless numbers suffer from total illiteracy. …political, social, economic, racial and ideological disputes still continue bitterly, and with them the peril of a war which would reduce everything to ashes.” (Gaudium et Spes #4)

The content and structure of Gaudium et Spes suggests a curriculum for Catholic Higher Education that is broad and deep …

What, For The University, Is Solidarity? Catholic Higher Education And The Unfinished Reception Of Gaudium Et Spes, Susan Bigelow Reynolds

Events

Introduction:

Forty years ago, Jesuit philosopher and theologian Ignacio Ellacuría accepted an honorary doctorate from Santa Clara University and delivered a commencement address with which some of us here today are likely familiar. In the concise and penetrating speech, Ellacuría proposed a vision of the university as both a center of intellectual inquiry and cultural production, and as a “social force”—a place concerned with the transformation of social reality.

“To Expel Or Embrace? The Challenge And Promise Of Handing Down The Catholic Intellectual Tradition In Light Of Dei Verbum”, Grant Kaplan

Events

Introduction:

The conference description puts in remarkably succinct language what it takes most academics a long time to say. The description prompts participants “to explore how our reading and understanding of Vatican II documents, as well as the formative thinkers of Vatican II and the Catholic intellectual tradition, can deepen and expand our vision of Catholic higher education, addressing new and old challenges.” In accordance with this prompt, my paper will take up one challenge, an old one: handing on the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Vatican Ii And Catholic Higher Education: Guest In Its Own House?, Massimo Faggioli

Events

Introduction:

Almost exactly sixty years ago to the day, pope John XXIII opened Vatican II, the greatest religious event in the 20th century and an epoch-changing council like only Trent before, with a speech, Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, which single-handedly redirected the agenda of the council and arguably also the course of Church history. Even though Vatican II deserves to be celebrated, anniversaries often have the unstated purpose to administer symbolic sedation. So, this conference is not a celebratory moment, rather an opportunity to reflect on the state of the reception of the council especially in Catholic colleges and universities. In …

Lilly Fellows Program Grant To Fund Conference Honoring Vatican Ii, Shu Founding, Sacred Heart University

Events

Sacred Heart University has received a Lilly Fellows Program grant to develop and host a three-day, regional conference next October on Vatican II and Catholic Higher Education which will be held on the 60th anniversaries of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) and Sacred Heart University’s founding.

Arab-American Identity, Hannah Mesouani

Events

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion sponsored this 3D program.

Black Lives Matter Candlelight Vigil, Office Of Diversity And Inclusion, Illinois Wesleyan University

Events

This event was sponsored by Amnesty International, Office of Multifaith Engagement, and Pride Alliance for a BLM candlelight vigil to honor the Black lives lost due to police violence and to honor a few notable Black people who have passed this year as well.

Gathering For Racial Justice, Office Of Diversity & Inclusion Illinois Wesleyan University, Elyse Nelson-Winger, Hannah Mesouani, Sean Ly

Events

Music: Prelude from J.S. Bach's Suite No. 2 in D minor (Kira Gurovich)
During music: Slide show of names
Elyse Welcome
Kaleb Carter reading Poem
Hannah to Speak
Karla to Speak
Nancy to Speak
Sean Ly to Speak
Elyse share questions for reflection and Hannah types in Chat or with a powerpoint?
Music: Sarabande from Leclair's Violin Sonata "Tombeau" (Ethan Schuller and Eva Ferguson)
People share: Elyse - with people in Evelyn Hannah with people in Chat
Katherine Watson & another Ambassador recite Maya Angelou’s poem: Continue
Jarlai to read Poem
Hannah close - future events & sharing of commitments

Multicultural Graduation 2020 (Video, Flyer And Screenshots), Office Of Diversity And Inclusion, Illinois Wesleyan University

Events

No abstract provided.

Lavender Graduation 2020, Office Of Diversity And Inclusion, Illinois Wesleyan University

Events

No abstract provided.

Students Learning With Communities Annual Awards 2020: Social Media Activity, Students Learning With Communities

Events

On Wednesday 6 May, 2020 the Programme for Students Learning With Communities moved the annual awards event online for the first time due to the Covid19 pandemics. We were delighted to be joined on Twitter by so many staff, students and community partners to celebrate the community engaged research and learning projects carried out this year in the curriculum."

Update – Cuba Trails And National Public Lands Day Celebration!, University Of New Mexico Prevention Research Center

Events

Over the last 10+ years, Cuba, New Mexico has been the beta site for the UNM Prevention Research Center’s VIVA (Village Interventions and Venues for Action) Connects program.

Viva Connects Intern Bio: Laurel Fimbel Presents On The Barriers And Facilitators For Physical Activity In Rural Communities., University Of New Mexico Prevention Research Center

Events

VIVA Connects was proud to host Laurel Fimbel as an undergraduate Pipeline Network student intern this year.

Viva Connects Intern Wins Unm Undergraduate Pipeline Network Poster Presentation Award!, University Of New Mexico Prevention Research Center

Events

VIVA Connects and the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center is happy to announce the outstanding achievement awarded to one of our summer interns–Tavia Chuyate.

Silver City Residents Improving Boston Hill Signage Part Ii, University Of New Mexico Prevention Research Center

Events

The VIVA Connects team visited Silver City last month to assess progress on the Boston Hill Trail System’s Signage Improvement Project.

Silver City Residents Improving Boston Hill Signage, University Of New Mexico Prevention Research Center

Events

In 2018, Silver City was one of two communities awarded a VIVA Connects Community Grant.

Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon, University Of New Mexico Prevention Research Center

Events

The Mount Taylor Quad is a grueling winter quadrathlon.