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| Faculty Newsletter | May 2022 |
Dear faculty,
As Northwestern enters the final, hectic weeks of the academic year, it's important that we remain advocates for our students' well-being and success. Faculty are often the first to notice a concerning change in a student’s behavior. Sometimes students share their academic or personal struggles with a trusted instructor. More frequently, a student might skip classes, fail to turn in homework or miss an exam without any advance notice.
To improve the University's coordination when connecting undergraduate students to support services, Northwestern has identified guidelines that point faculty to appropriate campus offices based on specific behaviors. Developed by Schools’ Advising Leadership (SAL) and Student Assistance and Support Services (SASS), the Faculty and Adviser Action Guide provides a protocol for faculty to know whom to contact based on student behavior.
Student behaviors frequently are ambiguous, and the action guide helps faculty determine when to escalate their concerns to their school advising leaders, who then reach out to the student to discuss resources and best next steps.
We have published a video and more information on the Undergraduate Advising website, and we will offer workshops throughout next year to ensure faculty have the opportunity to meet with their school leaders and the SASS team.
We appreciate the challenges you face as the first point of contact with students who exhibit stress and may be struggling in your class. Our hope is that the guide will help you connect to the resource most prepared to support you and your students. We welcome partnership and feedback from faculty as these strategies are refined and evolved to meet the needs of our student body.
Thank you,
Sumit Dhar
Miriam Gamoran Sherin |
News and notes |
University Teaching Awards
Five faculty members were honored May 17 during the 2022 University Teaching Awards. The annual recognition is given to professors who demonstrate excellence and innovation in undergraduate teaching. The recipients were nominated by the deans of the schools, or colleges, in which they have their principal appointments. Winners were selected by a committee chaired by the provost and made up of senior faculty members, University administrators and a student representative. This year's winners were:
Visits from Nemmers Prize winners
Northwestern honored the winners of the 2020 Nemmers Prizes in earth sciences, economics and mathematics during a private ceremony on May 23. Winners of the prestigious prizes are among the most eminent in their fields, and each receives a $200,000 stipend for their accomplishments. During their visits to campus, Nemmers Prize winners interact with the Northwestern community, meeting with students and faculty, delivering lectures, and participating in workshops and seminars. The 2020 honorees—Nalini Anantharaman for mathematics, Katherine Freeman for earth sciences and Claudia Goldin for economics—are scheduled for active visits to campus.
Universal Design for Learning Practicum
AccessibleNU, NUIT Teaching and Learning, the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, SPS Distance Learning and University Libraries invite faculty to participate in Addressing Evolving Needs with Universal Design for Learning Practicum, a three-week virtual program designed for instructors of all levels, backgrounds and teaching contexts. The third and final practicum in a three-part series and based on the three principles of Universal Design for Learning, the practicum weaves together interactive synchronous sessions, asynchronous learning activities, individual consultations, and opportunities to learn with and from peers. Faculty may indicate their interest for one of the three iterations for the 2022-23 academic year here with registration coming soon. The dates are: Aug. 15-Sept. 2 (summer), Oct. 17-Nov. 4 (fall), and Feb. 6-24 (winter).
Final exam pilot for instructors with graduating seniors in isolation
A small group of academic support offices will pilot live, human-proctored remote exams during Spring Quarter final exam week, June 6-10. The pilot is focused on graduating undergraduate seniors who report a positive COVID-19 test to the University and thus are unable to attend an in-person exam. Live-proctored remote exams are designed to facilitate timely course completion and graduation while supporting the integrity of the exam environment. Staff will monitor reports of positive COVID-19 cases from graduating seniors and reach out to their instructors to offer a live-proctored remote exam for the student. Faculty who want this support will complete a short survey about their exam requirements, then proctors will remotely monitor students via Zoom at the scheduled exam time. Faculty will receive a message about the pilot during exam week only if they have a student in isolation, and are asked to respond promptly. Direct questions to Assistant Provost and University Registrar Jaci Casazza.
Affordable teaching materials
Sixteen applicants of the 2022 Open Educational Resource grant will receive at least $5,000 to develop free teaching material for a Northwestern undergraduate course. The grant committee estimates that the completed projects will save 1,650 undergraduates $193,000 in the first year, and every additional year the materials are assigned. Funded by the Office of the Provost and University Libraries, the Open Educational Resources Grant (OER) Program is designed to support faculty who are interested in developing free teaching materials for their undergraduate courses, from textbooks to websites, videos, and homework sets. The program supports the work involved in finding, creating, using and sharing OER as a replacement for commercial textbooks and courseware.
Support for Ukrainian scholars and more from Buffett
The Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs is working with the Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies Program (REEES) and other schools and units across the University to launch several new initiatives that support students and scholars affected by the Russian war in Ukraine. Among the many initiatives, Northwestern Buffett now provides virtual visitorships to support internally displaced Ukrainian scholars. These grants offer the Northwestern community opportunities to interact with and learn from Ukrainian scholars, while in turn providing scholars critical financial support to continue their scholarly work from the conflict zone.
In case you missed it
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Faculty support and resources |
Caregiving support pilot program
The Office of Human Resources and the Office of the Provost have teamed up to offer Northwestern’s benefits-eligible faculty a new resource for their family caregiving needs. Cariloop is a comprehensive caregiving facilitator with a track record of excellent customer service that pairs licensed and certified healthcare coaches with clients to assist with finding the caregiving resources they need to manage care transitions and life events. Beginning June 1, this program will be offered only to Northwestern’s benefits-eligible faculty in a one-year pilot. Northwestern will use this pilot to determine whether to continue this partnership beyond the one-year trial and extend the program to Northwestern staff.
Webinar on faculty hiring
Provost Kathleen Hagerty hosted the third and final faculty webinar of the academic year May 16 on the topic of faculty hiring strategies and processes. She was joined by School of Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson. The May 16 webinar followed a faculty webinar on Jan. 12 that addressed the return to campus after Winter Recess and the March 10 faculty webinar on Northwestern's response to the pandemic's long-term effects on faculty. |
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Help us build future newsletters! If your school or department is working on a project that is relevant to the entire faculty, send an email to faculty@northwestern.edu. |
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