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.

Signs, posters, and banners

A memo from Robin Parker; this is a reminder, not a direct response to any new events of which I’m aware:

As you may recall, last year, unknown persons entered academic buildings on multiple occasions to post racist, neo-Nazi, white supremacist signs in violation of University policy. Although no signs have been posted recently, we do want to remind you that unaffiliated third parties have no right to post signs in University academic buildings or elsewhere on our campuses. Signs, posters and banners may only be posted in accordance with University policy and divisional rules.

Physical Facilities staff will work diligently to promptly remove any signs posted in violation of University policy as part of regular building maintenance. If you find a sign posted in violation of University policy, please remove it and send it to me along with the date and a notation of the location where it was posted. My office will be working with the Miami University Police Department to continue to try to identify the person or persons responsible for posting these signs and to coordinate any University response. If you have ANY concerns about removing the fliers/signs, please contact my office.

As far as I am aware no buildings permit the open unregulated positing of fliers and signs. However, if your division does have a designated “open forum” space for faculty, staff, students/or student organizations to post signs (e.g., notices, fliers), you may not remove them based on the content or message conveyed. Divisions may, have polices that limit the amount of time that signs, posters and banners may be displayed (e.g., 2 days, one week). If your division does permit open posting, we encourage the division to review and uniformly enforce the divisional rules governing the length of time a sign, poster or banner may be displayed.

Divisions are, of course, not required to designate any area for the open posting of signs, posters and banners. As far as I am aware most divisions limit use of space to matters directly related to the educational mission of the University (e.g., departmental events, tutoring, sponsored lectures and student activities) and require permission from the dean’s or chair’s office to post a sign, poster or banners on divisionally and departmentally controlled spaces (e.g., bulletin boards).

If you have questions or need assistance in following University policy, please contact the Office of General Counsel at 529-6734. Thanks!

CAS award for diabetes research

CAS has issued a Call for Proposals for the Madalene and George Shetler Diabetes Research Award. This $3,500 research award is awarded bi-annually to CAS faculty who are conducting scientific or scholarly research pertaining to diabetes or illnesses related to diabetes. Please let me know if you are interested and I can provide format and submission details (due October 2).

Industry information interest group for grad students

Many of our grad students are interested in, or could benefit from, some exploration of non-academic career paths. To this end, J.P. Gonzales, a second-year student in the social area, writes:

Some folks in the department have expressed interest in continuing a group that was formed last semester by Kurt S., the Industry Info Group. The primary purpose of this group is to collect and disseminate information and resources (and to provide support for) students who may be interested in pursing non-academic career paths upon graduation. I would like to stress moving forward that this group is not intended to serve as a place to criticize or “bash” the traditional academic career path and those who may have their heart set on pursuing a traditional academic career post graduation. We seek to create a collaborative, supportive environment for students, regardless of their specific career objectives.

Contact J.P for more information, or use this link to schedule (When2Meet) if you are interested.

 

Diversity symposium and grad recruiting

There is an upcoming regional event that may be of interest to many: the 2017 Diversity Research Symposium (September 22-23) at Ball State University (Muncie, IN). In addition to workshops, speakers, posters, etc. at the symposium, the organizer also writes:

I would like to invite representatives from your graduate programs to participate in our networking sessions as exhibitors/recruiters. Undergraduate and MA level graduate students with strong interest in cultural diversity issues who are seeking graduate programs will be participating at these networking sessions.

This could be an excellent, relatively easy opportunity to speak with local students with graduate school intentions and allow us to recruit a more diverse pool as well. Those interested can contact me for more information or visit diversitysymposium.org. Registration closes September 8.