Author Archives: johnsojg

FSB Entrepreneurship speaker series announced

The Institute for Entrepreneurship at FSB announces the two speakers in their 2017-2018 Miami University Distinguished Entrepreneurship Scholar Lecture Series:

Dr. Tom Lumpkin, C.S. Trosper Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in the Michael J. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma. His talk, Social Entrepreneurship Impact: Are We Digging in the Wrong Place?, will be held on Monday, November 6, 1:30-3:00 pm is FSB 2079 and emphasizes his current research on the great challenge of sustainability and the impact of sustainable, ethical, entrepreneurial (SEE) enterprises.

Dr. Saras D. Sarasvathy, Paul M. Hammaker Professor in Business Administration in the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Holds cross-appointments at the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore, India), as the Jamuna Raghavan Chair Professor in Entrepreneurship, at Nankai University (Tianjin, China), as the Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship, and at Chalmers University (Göteborg, Sweden), as the Jubilee Professor.  Her talk will be held on Friday, March 2, 1:30-3:00 pm is FSB 2079. Widely considered a leading scholar on the cognitive basis for high-performance entrepreneurship, Dr. Sarasvathy… is best known for her research examining effectuation, which is a model of entrepreneurial thinking that serves founders in the processes of opportunity identification and new venture creation.

Citizenship and Democracy Week

From John Forren, Department of Justice and Community Studies on the Hamilton campus, about events the week of Sept 11-15, across all Miami campuses and other venues. Contact John for a calendar of events which includes discussions and panels, films, engagement and volunteer opportunities, a naturalization ceremony and an open session of the Ohio Court of Appeals. He also writes:

And of course, anything that you could do to encourage your students (and friends, neighbors, relatives, colleagues, etc.) to take part in the various events would be greatly appreciated as well! (As a side note, we will be keeping track of student attendance at most of the events; thus, if you would like to embed one or more of the programs into your courses as extra credit, etc., we can, in most cases, provide you with a post-event list of student attendees.)

Thanks for your support of this event — and best wishes for a great semester!

Cross-cultural mentoring of graduate students

From Valerie Robinson in the Graduate School on a relatively new program:

In Fall 2015, the Graduate School introduced a program in Cross Cultural Mentoring. We partnered interested faculty with diverse doctoral students with all but dissertation status. It was a successful initiative by a number of measures and we want to extend it this year to include more graduate students. We hope you consider participating.

We seek doctoral level faculty/staff who will engage the student not as an advisor, but as a role model, counselor, and experienced future colleague, providing support for the research process and preparing for life after the dissertation.

We seek diverse doctoral students in at least their second year who are interested in a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship with a faculty or staff member.

We are planning a kick-off meeting in mid-September. If you are interested in participating or have questions, please contact Valerie.

CTE seminar calendar posted

The Center for Teaching Excellence has not only retained its name for two years in a row now, but they have updated their calendar to reflect offerings for the CTE as well as some other partners. The calendar can be found here, and includes sessions on funding opportunities, service learning, study abroad, diversity, the new Title IX reporting requirements, and more; specialized topics such as Chinese names, Peer review of writing, or Teaching large classes; and systems and software such as Qualtrics.

I would encourage you all to check it out and think each of you might find something to contribute to your professional development.

Two requests from CAS and Admissions

From Ted Peters, Asst. Dean in CAS, regarding some need for faculty to help with recruitment efforts. First, they are looking for instructors willing to allow prospective students to attend a class. If you might consider allowing an occasional guest in your class, please enter it directly in the Google Sheet here. They are also looking for faculty willing to sit on panels during recruitment days; he writes:

The Office of Admissions is seeking one faculty representatives from each academic division to serve on panels for the following events this fall semester. Participants will be asked to respond to questions asked by students and/or admissions staff; there is nothing faculty need to prepare beforehand. Admissions will likely ask panelists to address two questions: 1) what’s special/unique about Miami?; and 2) What advice do you have for prospective students about being successful in this environment?

  • Sat. 9/9 @ 10:45AM (Admission Visit Center – Shriver; access via ground level in the rear)
    • Day of Champions: multi-cultural recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 10:45AM; will take the stage at 11:00AMand finish by 12:00PM
  • Fri. 10/6 @ 9:15AM (Wilks Theater- Armstrong Ctr)
    • Red Carpet Day: high ability student recruitment.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM.
  • Sat. 10/7 @ 9:15AM (FSB 1000)
    • Admission Preview Day: first-year recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM
  • Fri. 10/20 @ 9:15AM (Wilks Theater- Armstrong Ctr)
    • Red Carpet Day: high ability student recruitment.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM.
  • Sat. 11/4 @ 9:15AM (FSB 1000)
    • Admission Preview Day: first-year recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM
  • Sat. 11/11 @ 9:15AM (FSB 1000)
    • Admission Preview Day- first-year recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM

Please let Ted know directly if you are able to help out, have any questions, or have trouble accessing the form. These are some important and impactful recruitment efforts to continue to attract a strong and diverse incoming class.

Speakers sponsored by global, intercultural studies

From CAS, and specifically the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies and the Institute for Environmental Studies:

A Lecture/Dialogue entitled “Mass Migration in the Age of Environmental Devastation,” will be held on Thursday, September 12th at 5:00 pm in the Great Room (212 MacMillan) and will feature two invited speakers —  Reece Jones (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa) and Adrian Parr (University of Cincinnati).

Copyright, fair use, and copies for your classes

Please be mindful when considering material to copy and distribute in your courses. The office will not honor requests that seem to be in violation of copyright law. I hope you agree this sets the wrong example for the student workers who are often tasked with such work. Furthermore, I hope you are not knowingly in violation yourself. From Carla Myers, University Libraries:

In higher education, the fair use exemption found in 17 U.S.C Section 107 is one we can often look to when wishing to make and distribute copies of works to students. When making a fair use determination we must consider:
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Working through these four factors…
(1) If the course readings are used as part of course instruction and learning then the purpose of the use can be considered educational, which is good.
(2) If the resource being copied is a textbook then it’s scholarly in nature, which is also favored under the law.
(3) For the third factor, the course instructor needs to carefully consider how much of a work needs to be copied/reused to accomplish their purpose and only use that amount.
(4) For the fourth factor, the instructor needs to consider if the amount of the work they are copying is so much that students should instead be buying the work.

There are no specific rules for the amount that may be copied, although you may have heard rules-of-thumb such as 10% or one chapter. The main determination is whether the amount copied could reasonably substitute for the student purchasing the book/source.

CTE resources for difficult classroom dialogue

 

The CTE is extending support for all instructors who may encounter “hot-button issues,” especially in their discussion-based courses. They write:

Given recent events in Charlottesville and elsewhere in the US and around the world, those of you teaching courses focused on domestic and global political or cultural issues may experience some difficult and controversial classroom conversations or even encounter classroom incidents of incivility. Of course, the most important stance as a faculty member is to maintain a neutral tone that encourages a trusting learning environment and the respectful exchange of differing perspectives. However, in some cases, setting an unbiased and welcoming tone might not be enough. So, we wanted to provide you with a few resources that may help you and your students make the most of these challenging situations.

Lee Warren’s “Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom” as well as the University of Michigan’s Center for Teaching & Learning “Responding to Difficult Moments” webpage offer some thoughtful ways for converting hot button issues into productive teaching moments.

In addition, there are numerous programs and workshops focused on a wide array of teaching-related topics provided by the Center for Teaching Excellence as well as other centers and offices. The University will be hosting an Accessible Technology Symposium on October 12-13 and an Inclusion Symposium on October 13, both of which are designed to assist faculty in advancing an inclusive learning environment.

Please know that we and the CTE staff appreciate all that you do to promote student learning and stand ready to support you in the classroom.