Lakers Ready
Division of Academic Affairs
October 30, 2023
Lakers Ready is sent by the Office of the Provost
to faculty and staff within the Division of Academic Affairs
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In this issue of Lakers Ready
- Laker to Laker: Message from the Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Updates
- Engaged Scholarship
- Events
- Important Dates and Links
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Laker to Laker: Message from Ed Aboufadel, Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
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The Provost and I talk regularly about the time and effort that faculty invest in their work, and the issue of workload has been a frequent topic on the governance committees that I serve ex officio. What do we know today? The following report is a work-in-progress.
Over the summer, several associate deans helped the Office of the Provost collect and examine data that we have. For instance, comparing 2022-23 with 2018-19, a typical faculty member is teaching a similar number of students, and the average number of course preparations calculated for a faculty member over multiple years has, if anything, declined. Reassigned time, primarily for special service activities, has increased recently. We have data on the use of significant focus from 2018, when two-thirds of significant focus hours were for scholarship (and most of the rest for service), and we expect that an analysis for 2023 would be comparable. These tangibles are interesting, but we know from listening to faculty and conversations in governance committees that faculty fatigue is not always reflected in the data. We have heard repeatedly about the “hidden work” of faculty, notably the increasing level of emotional labor. This is work that isn’t easily documentable and is often overlooked in official evaluation processes. But it is important! Here are some examples, particularly from 2023: - The strengths and needs of our students are evolving, and the pandemic accelerated and magnified that change. Recognizing these changes and adjusting to them is labor intensive.
- Our students bring different or elevated needs to college, compared to the past, in domains such as time management, study habits, and mental health, to cite a few. Our faculty take very seriously the responsibility to help, but this can lead to burnout, particularly when not feeling equipped to handle these demands.
- The pandemic years have affected preparation of many of our students (particularly in high school).
- Faculty are developing new courses and programs for a new era and for new audiences. This includes more course modalities (online, hybrid, multiple delivery).
- Faculty are riding learning curves that come with the number and scope of changes to systems (e.g., multi-factor authentication, Zoom phones, Blackboard Ultra, Workday, institutional reorganizations).
- DSR accommodations have increased to 2845 students so far this semester vs. 1647 in March 2023, averaging 7-8 new intakes per day. Many accommodation requests are for periodic absences or extensions on assignments (which is not an accommodation that is provided), and nearly 5% of students are diagnosed with a mental health disability.
- With 839 regular (tenure-line) faculty this fall vs. 925 in fall 2018, there are fewer regular faculty to do their part of the service work to run the university. In some departments, affiliate faculty are being asked to help.
This list is, of course, incomplete, but the goal is to shine a little bit of sunshine on this hidden work and to validate what many of you feel. Thank you! Other than publicly recognizing these pressures on faculty time and effort, what else can we do? Last month, at the annual meetings for academic leaders, unit heads were asked to carefully review the recently submitted 2024 Faculty Workload Plans, examining the totality of work for reasonableness and equity. For teaching assignments, they were asked to look for opportunities to have fewer preparations per faculty member, while also paying attention to multiple course formats (e.g., online vs. hybrid). It is important to think about the capacity of the individuals and the department, and there may be some service expectations in departments that are no longer a priority.
Expect more to come on this issue.
Ed Aboufadel
Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
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Recording Now Available
Another timely and informative Quest Series event around Climate Resilience at GVSU: Scholarship, Stewardship, Leadership, took place last week on October 26. Visit the GVSU Quest Series webpage to watch the recording.
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University Assessment Committee UpdateWhile reporting to the University Assessment Committee remains paused until the fall semester of 2024, ALL other campus reporting continues. The UAC is busy updating requirements, guidance, and the reporting website (i.e., GVAssess). Programs should be engaged in planning around student-learning outcomes (student-centered outcomes for co-curricular programs). Assessment Plans are due May 1, 2024. UAC provides more details at this link and encourages programs to email UAC with any questions.
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End of Semester Reminders
LIFT student evaluation surveys will be available to students during the last two weeks of the semester. To encourage high responses rates, instructors are expected to set aside 15 minutes of class time for students to complete the surveys. More information about the LIFT system, including short videos that can be shown in class, can be found at www.gvsu.edu/lift. Please note that units that want to modify formative or open-ended items on the LIFT forms must have approval from the LIFT Management Committee before making changes.
Examination Week this semester is December 9-16. As outlined in Shared Governance Policies ( SG 3.04.F), instructors are expected to provide a culminating experience for each course during Examination Week. This experience should occur at the special time scheduled during Examination week, which can be found on the Registrar's site. (Any exceptions must be approved by the appropriate academic dean.) Final examinations should be given during the scheduled exam time unless that time is being used for another activity, such as presentations. By administering final examinations during Examination Week rather than the last week of classes, student are provided with the opportunity to better prepare, which will support student success. Additionally, the university counts class time during exam week as part of the contact hours for the course, and this is reported to our accreditors.
Commencement is scheduled December 9, at 3 p.m., Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. If you plan to attend and process, complete the RSVP form on the Commencement website to receive additional information and your parking permit.
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Congratulations to Dr. Kris Pachla, Dr. Bradford Dykes, Dr. Deborah Herrington, and Meghan Riley for successfully submitting a grant to the U.S. Department of Education. The five-year, $2.2 million dollar award will support the CLAS Voyage and help to close equity gaps by creating a student success dashboard, funding faculty to embed high-impact practices in their courses and seeding a fund to provide all CLAS students with multiple experiential learning opportunities like a first-year seminar.
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Honors Faculty Seminar Series
Join the Fall 2023 seminar series where Honors faculty share their scholarly projects. Seminar presentations last approximately 35-40 minutes followed by an open conversation. Cookies and coffee provided. Next seminar will be held November 9, 12 p.m., when Elizabeth Ganen of Modern Languages and Literatures presents "The song-and-dance Caribbean areíto: A 16th Century Context Reexamined." Click here to learn more.
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Important Dates and Links
Previously Shared Events
11/3 - Philosophical Reflections on ChatGPT - 3:00 p.m., BLL-110 Mackinac Hall, Allendale Campus
11/4 - Energizing Our Weekend Family Fun Event - 10:00 a.m., Allendale Campus
11/8 - Author Robin Wall Kimmerer - 11:15 a.m., Grand River Room, Kirkhof Center, Allendale Campus
11/8 - Teach-In - Pew Grand Rapids Campus
11/9 - Teach-In - Allendale Campus
11/9 - Climate Change Colloquium - 4:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
11/9-11/11 - Place-Based Education Conference - Pew Grand Rapids Campus
11/16 - Calm the Chaos: Honoring all Voices in Public Education - 6:00 p.m., Seidman Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
12/15 - Graduate School Citation Awards - 5:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Dates
11/1 - Faculty Awards Nominations Deadline
11/10 - Withdraw with a "W" Deadline
11/22-26 - Thanksgiving Recess
12/9 - Commencement - 3:00 p.m., Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids
12/9-16 - Exam week
Links
Lakers Ready - repository of this weekly newsletter and a link to submit content
Laker Family Network - repository of the monthly newsletter sent by the Division of Student Affairs to GVSU parents/supporters
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