Faculty Success Newsletter

Welcome to our January 2025 Newsletter!

This month, we are celebrating the third anniversary of Faculty Friday, the Marketo newsletter universally adored by Academic Affairs faculty and staff.*

Faculty Friday came about when the CFETI team (then known as CFD + eCampus) decided to improve our communication game and gather our news and programming updates in one place. If you鈥檙e not taking the time to scroll all the way through these newsletters, then you are missing out! Now is a great time to connect with our team, especially if you find yourself feeling more weary than excited about the prospect of a new semester.

Whether you鈥檙e seeking fresh ideas for the classroom, exploring new directions in your career, or simply looking for collegial connections, CFETI is here to support you at every turn. Here鈥檚 a sampling of upcoming opportunities:

Meet with an Instructional Designer: Teaching a brand new class? Need to update an assignment? Looking to increase student engagement in your course? Our team of instructional designers has the expertise that can help you to take your pedagogical skills to the next level.

Navigate Generative AI More Effectively: Whether you are looking to clarify your AI-use policy for students, want to make your assignments more AI-resistant, or enable students to engage AI ethically, we have you covered.

Engage with Our 91猎奇 Lecturer Community: Whether you are a brand new or continuing lecturer, we invite you to join our Lecturer Lunch & Learns and Let鈥檚 Talk Teaching Series. We are especially looking forward to our first-ever Equitable Teaching Lecturer Retreat! Please see the flyers below for more details and registration information.

Traverse the Tenure-Line Faculty Life Cycle: Are you a pre-tenure professor engaging in Mini Review this semester? Looking for RSCA accountability? Perhaps you are interested in exploring leadership or ready to consider retirement? Again, we have many sessions and spaces that can offer you connection and support.

As we launch Spring 2025, I find myself reflecting on what legal scholar Derrick Bell writes in his book Ethical Ambition: 鈥淗owever self-sufficient we may fancy ourselves, we exist only in relation鈥攖o our friends, family, and life partners; to those we teach and mentor; to our coworkers, neighbors, strangers, and even . . . to forces we cannot fully conceive of, let alone define. In many ways, we are our relationships.鈥� Take a moment to check out the information below and discover the relationships, connections, and resources that can help you thrive this semester!

Sincerely,

Magdalena L. Barrera

Vice Provost for Faculty Success

* Statement has not been subjected to peer-review.

Updates from the Center for Faculty
Excellence and Teaching Innovation

In collaboration with Adobe, the Center for Faculty Excellence and Teaching Innovation is hosting a hybrid event for faculty and staff to discover and discuss topics that impact curricular activities and best practices in the use of Adobe Creative Cloud. The 2025 event will take place on March 6th from 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Join for as many or as few sessions as your schedule permits.

and register to reserve your spot.

91猎奇 has an institutional membership to the Online Learning Consortium. As a member, you have access to a variety of resources. To get started, create your own /Profile. This ensures member benefits are available to you.

Sign up to receive (weekly newsletter), which highlights what is new in the world of online learning and education.
Explore the and check out free resources available to you (download Playbooks from our : Communities of Practice in Higher Education or Supporting Online Adjunct Faculty Across Institutional Roles); sign up to watch (live or recordings); explore the .

This Spring, CFETI is offering a professional development course for faculty entitled . Consider applying if you鈥檙e interested in:

Creating more purposeful interactions in your courses (in-person, online or hybrid)
Redesigning your current activities/assignments
Viewing successful sample interactive activities using a variety of tools such as: Poll Everywhere, Adobe Express, Panopto, Lucid and Hypothesis.

This 10-12 hour course is self-paced and asynchronous except for the one in-person kick off session on February 10th. In order to receive a $500 stipend, all course work must be completed within Spring 2025. Applications are due February 3rd. Space is limited.

To apply and find out more information:

The institute focuses on both cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (AR/VR/MR) technologies, aiming to enrich pedagogical approaches and create engaging learning opportunities. This program is designed to empower faculty to explore and integrate AI, XR, or a combination of both, into their teaching practices.

Participants will collaborate with AI and XR specialists to develop a range of learning experiences, from AI-driven educational practices to immersive XR learning activities and innovative AI+XR integrated applications. The series of workshops, hands-on activities, and comprehensive resources provided will equip faculty to incorporate a variety of strategies 鈥� whether AI-enhanced, XR-based, or a synergistic combination 鈥� into their curriculum.

For full details of the program's offerings, please review the complete program description. Interested in joining the 2025 cohort?

Applications are due February 3rd.

Hypothesis, an excellent social annotation tool integrated into Canvas, now offers automatic grading! Review or if you'd like to still manually grade, see

Please note, if you select auto-grading, you will need to manually sync the grades to the Canvas gradebook.

If you need additional information, please contact us at the Center for Faculty Excellence and Teaching Innovation (CFETI).

January

20: Campus closed

21-22: Pre-instruction activities

21: , 10:00 - 11:00 am

21: , 1:00 - 4:00 pm

21: , 2:00 - 3:00 pm

21: , 3:30 - 4:40 pm

21: RTP: College-level recommendations sent to candidates

22: , 9:30 - 10:30 am

22: , 10:00 - 11:00 am

23: First day of instruction

24: RTP: Late-Add period closes

24: Post-Tenure Review: deadline to submit request to postpone PTR

27: , 2:00 - 3:00 pm

28: , 12:00 - 1:15 pm

28: . 1:00 - 2:00 pm

28: , 3:30 - 4:30 pm

29: , 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

31: , 10:00 - 11:00 am

31: Lecturer Annual Evaluations: packets due

February

7: Mini Review: Packets due

7: , 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

7: , 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

10: , 12:00 - 1:15 pm

11: , 9:30 - 10:30 am

11: , 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

11: : Navigating 91猎奇 as a Lecturer, 12:00 - 1:15 pm

11: , 2:30 - 3:00 pm

12: , 2:00 - 3:00 pm

19: , 10:00 - 11:00 am

20: , 10:30 - 11:30 am

20: , 2:00 - 3:00 pm

21: Sabbaticals: Final Decisions Sent to Applicant

24: : Establishing Inclusivity & Belonging, 12:00 - 1:15pm

26: , 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

28: Lecturer Annual Evaluations: Department-level recommendations sent to candidates

March

5: , 3:00 - 4:00 pm

7: Post-Tenure Review: packets due

10: Range Elevation: Final decisions released to candidates

12: , 3:00 - 3:30 pm

13: , 2:00 - 3:00 pm

17: Mini Review: Department-level recommendations sent to candidates

17: Cumulative Evaluations: Packets due

17: . 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

17: : Evaluations: Making eFaculty Work for You, 12:00 - 1:15pm

19: , 10:30 - 11:30 am

21: , 10:00 - 11:00 am

21: , 1:30 - 2:30 pm

24: , 3:00 - 4:00 pm

25: : Assessment & Evaluation Strategies, 12:00 - 1:15pm

25: , 1:00 - 2:00 pm

31: Campus closed

Have you ever faced unfocused, disengaged students? What can

you do to reset academically adrift students on a course for improved learning?

鈥淟ook candidly at your project. Is it a stepping stone, and completion will be allow you to move ahead? Or is it an obstacle that prevents you from moving forward?鈥�

: How to select committee work that brings you some measure of satisfaction.

Do you have a story, highlight, reading, or tip that you would like to share in this newsletter?
Please reach out anytime to .

Contact Us

Magdalena L. Barrera, Ph.D.

Vice Provost for

| 408-924-2405

Center for Faculty Excellence and Teaching Innovation

cfeti@sjsu.edu | 408-924-2600

Jennifer Redd, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Teaching Innovation

408-924-2734