UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Academics

Creating Inclusive Classroom Spaces in Which Students Thrive Webinar, June 9

Academic Technology Services and Innovation (ATSI), in partnership with Accessible Education Services (AES), invites faculty to participate in a June 9 webinar focused on digital accessibility in higher education, and presented through a collaboration of the Orbis Cascade Alliance and Northwest Academic Computing Consortium.

Faculty are invited to join this webinar presented by Kathryn (Kathy) Oleson, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Psychology at Reed College.

The Creating Inclusive Classroom Spaces in Which Students Thrive Webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 9 at 11 a.m. via Zoom. This webinar focuses on ways to support faculty and students’ classroom experiences in higher education. Dr. Oleson considers students’ backgrounds, including class, race, disability, and gender, and center primary needs (competence, autonomy, belonging) and concerns (e.g., self doubt about ability, impostor feelings, and stereotype threat) that students bring to the classroom. She then draws on universally-designed learning in combination with educational design rooted in social justice and multiculturalism to describe ways to design in-person and online spaces in which students flourish academically. Dr. Oleson encourages webinar participants to reflect on their own approaches and think through how these ideas are most productively applied to their institutions.

Register now for the Zoom webinar.

Please visit the NW HEAT website for additional information about the NW Higher Education Technology Group.

Kate Regan Faculty Development Awards

The Kate Regan Faculty Development Selection Committee has awarded Giannina Reyes-Giardiello, and Brandy Daniels with next year’s Kate Regan Faculty Development awards.

    • Giannina Reyes-Giardiello, international languages, has been awarded $10,000 for her project “Decolonizing “Queer Latin America”: In Search of the Other’s Other Voices.” Her research will take her to Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico and be used for development of course curriculum and sharing with various academic units both internal to the university as well externally.
    • Brandy Daniels, theology, has been awarded $10,000 for her project “Political Theology Without Men? German and global collaboration & Brazilian theo-political analysis.” Her research will take her to Brazil, be used for publication of an upcoming article, be the foundation of her second book as well as be used for curriculum in a current course and the development a new course for the school of theology.

Writing Assistance Available for Summer Classes

Summer faculty who assign writing: the virtual Writing Center is open and ready to help your students with their papers-in-process. Rather than using our online scheduler, in the summer, students can email writing@up.edu to book appointments, which will be held on Zoom.

Please visit the Writing Center website for more information and for online writing resources, or email Writing Center director Molly Hiro, hiro@up.edu, with any questions.

Request for Moms and Dads of Infants

The School of Nursing is recruiting babies (9 months and under) for a modeling gig for FNP students. The students have an assignment to evaluate an infant and estimate his/her age based on certain developmental tasks, size, and other factors. We would need you and your baby to come to campus for an hour from 1-2 p.m. on May 22. All the students and faculty are fully immunized against COVID-19 and we will be masked and practicing physical distancing to the extent possible. You and your baby will be contributing greatly to the future practice of our students and you’ll get a $10 Target gift card as a personal thank you.

Please email Michaela Cribb, nursing, at cribb@up.edu for more information.

2020 – 2021 Faculty Awards Announced

The University of Portland 2020 – 2021 Faculty Awards were presented on Tuesday, May 11, at the virtual Faculty Awards and Retirement Celebration. Some highlights:

• The James Culligan Award, established in 1953 in memory of a dedicated servant of the University and presented annually to a faculty member in recognition of distinguished service, was presented to Tammy VanDeGrift, Professor of Engineering. Winners of the Culligan Award wear the medal with their academic regalia, as a sign of the University’s highest faculty honor.

• The Deans’ Award for Faculty Leadership, presented annually to a tenured faculty member who exemplifies, in an extraordinary way, the qualities of teaching and scholarship described in the University’s Articles of Administration for appointment, advancement in rank, and tenure, was presented to Barbara Braband, Associate Professor of Nursing

• The Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, presented annually by the  Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who is a particular exemplar of the University’s commitment to superb teaching, was presented to Vail Fletcher, Associate Professor (promoted to Professor effective 01 July) of Communication Studies.

• The Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship, presented annually by the Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who presents unusually significant and meritorious achievement in professional scholarship, and whose work substantively enhances the effectiveness of his or her classroom teaching, was presented to Simon Aihiokhai, Assistant Professor (promoted to Associate Professor effective 01 July) of Theology.

• The Faculty Award for Outstanding Service, presented annually by the Committee on Committees to a faculty member who is an exemplar of the University’s commitment to service, was presented to Gary Mitchell, Professor of Business.

• The Faculty Award for Excellent Undergraduate Academic Advising and Mentoring, established in 2016 recognizes a member of the full-time undergraduate faculty who excels in the mentoring of undergraduate students, was presented to Trudi Booth, Lecturer of French.

Also noteworthy, three members of the Shiley School of Engineering: Mark Kennedy, Professor; Peter Osterberg, Associate Professor; Steve Vegdahl, Associate Professor, each received the Christie Award as well.

For more information contact the provost’s office at x7105 or staten@up.edu.

Leadership in Organizations: The Role of the Board, May 25 at 4 p.m.

All nonprofits have two things in common: a need for good governance and a board of directors that provides the governing direction.

This Learning Labs session will help deepen your understanding of governance, the role of the board, and general board operations. We will also delve into related issues such as DEI, group dynamics and process management.

Register at this link for this Zoom session.

Faculty Development Day (May 11) Program is Available

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is pleased to announce that the virtual Faculty Development Day program is ready! We hope this helps you plan your schedule so you can get the most out of it and support your colleagues who are presenting.

The day begins at 8:45 a.m. with a welcome and keynote, followed by an array of excellent sessions to choose from, and closes with the Faculty Awards and Retirement Ceremony at 5:30 p.m. These are all Zoom-based and the ones that will be recorded are noted in the program. Those recordings will be made available later through the Faculty Development Day Moodle page.

This annual event was cancelled last year, so we are excited to bring it back in 2021! It’s a great opportunity for faculty to learn, share, connect, and appreciate each other! Please contact Diane Sotak, sotak@up.edu, with questions or requests for accommodations.  

2021 Writers Magazine Published Online

The English Department is proud to announce the publication of UP’s student-run creative writing journal Writers Magazine.  This year’s all-online 2021 edition is built around the theme of “Good Bones” and gathers the year’s best writing and images by students from across campus.  It’s now available here.

Additionally, we are excited to announce that beginning fall 2021, UP will offer a Writing minor.  This addition will give a broader spectrum of students on The Bluff the chance to exercise their creative and communicative powers.  (Students in the professional schools are especially encouraged!)  The Writing minor involves a combination of workshop-style courses (playwriting, news writing, nonfiction, poetry, fiction, screenwriting) and English electives.

For details in the fall, students can contact Fr. Pat Hannon, hannon@up.edu, John McDonald, mcdonald@up.edu, or English Chair Lars Larson, larson@up.edu.