Workshops and Conversations
The provost’s team is committed to cultivating a culture of transparency, collaboration, and community co-design and providing faculty, librarians, and staff with the tools and support they need to thrive. The following series of workshops and conversations are open to all faculty, librarians, and staff.
Curated by Sheila Smith McKoy, Vice Provost of Equity, Inclusion, and Faculty Excellence, this series supports faculty and librarians with sessions tailored to their professional development as we slowly heal from the pandemic and strive to animate and make actionable our commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This series of workshops will provide supportive tools and dialogue for staff, faculty, and librarians, to support their success as leaders who seek to empower, create equitable change and foster an ethic of self-care.
This series will provide an engaging space for important conversations around curricular innovation and the evolution of our academic programs in light of the Strategic Plan’s call for us to “re-imagine Jesuit education”.
Each month, we will hold a public forum on one of the strategic plan goals, hosted by the relevant working group, allowing the community to hear how that group is approaching its charge, sharing its progress, and inviting broader participation. See dates and events links on the USF 2027 Strategic Plan website.
A virtual series funded by the 6+YOU Initiative and the Jesuit Foundation. The UAC established this series to help faculty and staff identify both implicit and explicit bias in assessment.. Please note that each session will hold twice. You are free to join any of those.
Community Conversation with Working Group #2: Invest in and Promote Scholarly, Creative, and Community-Focused Endeavors
Thursday, February 16, 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm I Zoom
About this event
The Strategic Plan Forums give the USF community the opportunity to hear directly from the strategic plan working groups about their charge and progress, and to provide input on the work ahead. Please join us for a Strategic Plan public forum with working group #2 on Invest in and Promote Scholarly, Creative, and Community-Focused Endeavors, which will be hosted by co-chairs Annette Regan and Sevan Suni and the members of working group #2.
Annette Regan, CRASE Co-Director and Assistant Professor, School of Nursing and Health Professions
Sevan Suni, Assistant Professor, Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
Community Conversation with Strategic Plan Working Group #1: Reimagining Jesuit Education
Wednesday, February 22, 11:30 am - 12:10 pm I Zoom and in-person
About this event
This community discussion is part of a series of planned conversations around the Strategic Plan organized by the working groups in conjunction with the Strategic Plan Advisory Council (SPAC) and the Provost's Office. The primary goal is to hear from as many folks as possible on the issue of what a reimagined Jesuit Education at USF could look like, and how existing Jesuit values and pedagogy could be incorporated in new, or already existing, curricular, and co-curricular ways to help USF meet future challenges and evolving local and global contexts. We will collectively consider questions such as: What do you think needs to be “reimagined” in the USF curriculum? What do you think needs to be protected from change? What new or reimagined co-curricular programs do you think should be considered? How might we better integrate diversity, inclusion, and global initiatives into a USF Jesuit education and faculty and staff hiring?
Catherine Lusheck, Professor, Art History & Museum Studies, and Chair, Art + Architecture Department
Joshua Gamson, Associate Dean for Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
Simon Flores, Associate Dean, Retention and Persistence, Center for Academic and Student Achievement
The Gathering: A Conversation Among Gerardo Marin Fellows.
Thursday, February 23, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm I HyFlex location: LM 270 - Del Santo Reading Room / Zoom
About the Event
Join us as we honor the legacy of Gerardo Marín and the accomplishments he achieved in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion that continue to live on through the research and dedication of the Gerardo Marín fellows. USF President Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J., and Provost Chinyere Oparah will highlight the importance of the Gerardo Marín Fellowship program and its impact on USF and across the country. The event will include conversations and reflections from our Fellows, friends and colleagues of Gerardo Marín, and a networking reception.
CTE/ETS Symposium 2023: Reimagining Jesuit Education @ USF
Wednesday, February 22, 10:0 am - 3:00 pm and Thursday, February 23, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. I Hyflex
About the Event
The symposium will gather our teaching community and include some student voices to reflect upon our shared experiences over the past three years and discern what we’ve learned and how we and our students have changed. Let’s dream together about our shared future as we work to design the next chapter of teaching and learning at USF.
The aims of the 3D Symposium are to foster dialogue across areas and roles, build and strengthen our community, and revitalize our passion for teaching and learning. It will provide space to share key learnings from 2.5 years of remote, hybrid, hyflex and online teaching; we hope to glean ideas, insights, and recommendations that will help guide the implementation of our Strategic Plan, particularly our first goal to “Reimagine Jesuit Education.”
Community Conversation with Working Group #4: Extend our Visibility, Prominence, and Accessibility
Thursday, March 2, 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm I Zoom
About this event
The Strategic Plan Forums give the USF community the opportunity to hear directly from the strategic plan working groups about their charge and progress, and to provide input on the work ahead. Please join us for a Strategic Plan public forum with working group #4 on Extend our Visibility, Prominence, and Accessibility, which will be hosted by co-chairs Ellen Ryder, Vice President, Office of Marketing Communications, Christine Yeh, Professor, School of Education, and the members of working group #4.
Panelist / Hosts:
Ellen Ryder, Vice President, Office of Marketing Communications
Christine Yeh, Professor, School of Education
First-Year Experience (Curricular Transformation Initiative)
Tuesday, March 7, 11:45 am - 12: 45 pm. I Zoom
About This Event
The event will be a conversation about creating a more cohesive, integrated, and equitable first-year experience for our students.
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Tuesday, March 9, 12:00 pm - 4:30 pm I Hyflex
About the Event
Handling difficult conversations effectively is a core competency for effective leadership. Avoiding difficult conversations destroys collegiality, impacts morale, and prevents us from putting students first. Based on the Harvard Negotiation Project and their groundbreaking book of the same title, this workshop will build confidence in handling difficult conversations with colleagues and students
About our Facilitator:
Alonzo Emery is a mediator, facilitator, and Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. Alonzo’s mediation and facilitation work focus on increasing the capacity of individuals and organizations to navigate challenging conversations and manage complex negotiations. Alonzo received their B.A. from Yale University, cum laude, and their J.D. from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, and has also studied at the University of Cape Town, Tsinghua University, Taiwan University, and Peking University.
In this training, participants will explore:
● Listening – when you least want to and most need to
● Developing accountability
● Disentangling intention from impact
● Managing strong feelings
● Managing identity
● Preparing for a difficult conversation
The Office of the Provost invites you and members of your team to join this transformative Harvard training course. We welcome participants from across the university including faculty, administrators, chairs, and academic support staff.
Conversation with Working Group #3: Providing a Radically Inclusive, International and Welcoming Campus
Thursday, April 6, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM I Zoom
About this event
The Strategic Plan Forums give the USF community the opportunity to hear directly from the strategic plan working groups about their charge and progress, and to provide input on the work ahead. Please join us for our first Strategic Plan public forum with working group #3 on PROVIDING A RADICALLY INCLUSIVE, INTERNATIONAL, AND WELCOMING CAMPUS EXPERIENCE, which will be hosted by co-chairs Jane Bleasdale, Lester Deanes, and Kevin D. Lo and will feature Dr. Genia Bettencourt, Assistant professor of Higher and Adult Education in the Department of Leadership at the University of Memphis, whose work focuses on issues of access, equity, belonging and student success in higher education.
Guest Speaker
Dr. Genia Bettencourt, Assistant professor of Higher and Adult Education in the Department of Leadership at the University of Memphis
Co-hosts
Jane Bleasdale, Assistant Professor, School of Education
Lester Deanes, Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement, Student Life
Kevin Lo, Professor, International Management, School of Management