Dear Faculty, Administrators and Staff,

Our first week of classes brought everyone back to the campus, from an enriching MLK Symposium filled with history and reflections to the fast walks around the campus with students running from class to class! I am sure we were all excited to see friends, colleagues, peers, and mentors again and to getting back into a routine that is both productive, fulfilling, and fun!

As you will read below, to advance our yearly goals of graduate, grants, and global, we welcomed some of our students (and other passers-by) to a cup of hot chocolate in Jubilee. It’s never too early to start preparing for graduate school, and never too early to start preparing for the summer, so please read about the next cycle of Summer Grants applications below and all the details (the deadline for the application is February 20). The Office of International Program is also preparing for an exciting summer of travel with an expanded website that we hope will facilitate more and more applications for faculty-led study abroad programs. Continue to drop-by OIP in Jubilee Hall to learn more about how you and your student can be part of the journey and our global quest.

See you around!

Katia

In honor of the 2023 National Day of Racial Healing, please join the University as we host keynote speaker Pastor Willie Francois III on January 27 at 10 a.m. The National Day of Racial Healing, which took place on January 17, is an annual event dedicated to charting a path toward racial equity using relationship-building, truth-telling, healing and solidarity. Hosted annually by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation [WKKF], the National Day of Racial Healing was established in 2017 by over 550 leaders from around the United States who believed collaboration and education was key to tackling racial issues. Called to empower people through transformative preaching, teaching, and organizing, Pastor Francois is the Senior Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Pleasantville. Pastor Francois is the author of Silencing White Noise: Six Practices to Overcome Our Inaction on Race. Please register for this free virtual event.

At the recommendation of the Strategic Plan implementation subcommittee on Experiential Learning (Goal 4.1), the Office of the Provost calls for nominations and applications from among the full-time faculty for a new position: Director of Experiential Learning. The Director of Experiential Learning will lead the expansion and promotion of Experiential Learning opportunities across the University. With administrative support, the Director will be responsible for meeting with academic programs to help create, implement, improve, and publicize academic experiential learning endeavors across the University. In these efforts, the Director will collaborate with the Center for Faculty Development, Office of International Programs, Office of Grants and Research Services, the Career Center, and members of the Colleges. The Director will report to the Interim Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Assessment, with whom they will draft a plan for a permanent Office of Experiential Learning.

This position will come with teaching release and a competitive stipend. Inquiries and/or nominations and applications, which should consist of a CV and cover letter highlighting qualifying experience and interest, should be sent to Dr. Jonathan Farina (jonathan.farina@shu.edu) by February 21, 2023 and should cc your department chairperson and dean.

Spring 2023 Mini-Series, February 13 - 17, 2023

As the University enters the third and final year of the implementation of its strategic plan, Harvest Our Treasures, members of the University Community will once again have an opportunity to receive updates on its progress and speak with members of the goal implementation teams. Throughout the week of February 13, goal-focused meetings will run each day, plus a session on Mission-related initiatives featuring status briefings and Q&A sessions with colleagues actively working on goal implementation. Additional information about the series including registration details will be shared later this week.

During the 5th Annual MLK Day Symposium, various first-year MLK Scholars prepared a presentation on the unique aspects and characteristics of Rev. Dr. King’s leadership style and how each leadership attribute was developed in the context of the civil rights movement. The leadership attributes ranged from how to use your voice effectively to listening to one’s followers and how to build allies. 

Dr. Kahlil Muhammad, Kennedy School, Harvard, delivered the keynote address. Dr. Muhammad is the Ford Foundation Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Kennedy. The Harvard Kennedy School, officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He directs the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project and is the former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. Dr. Muhammad watched the MLK Scholar presentation with great interest and spent time talking with them upon when they finished. He offered words of appreciation for their research and encouraged them in their future endeavors.

Read more about the event and student reflections.

University Libraries announces the fourth episode of its "Zet Forward" podcast series honoring authors associated with Seton Hall and an in-depth discussion of their published works. The latest episode features Dr. Ruth Tsuria who discusses the importance of studying Social Media, Feminism, and Religion.  Her new book, Digital Religion, Understanding Religious Practice in Digital Media, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2021), was co-written with colleague Dr. Heidi A. Campbell.

More podcats can be found here. Anything missing?  Please contact alan.delozier@shu.edu.

Seton Hall's new Study Abroad website has greatly expanded over the past year with new resources to make studying abroad more accessible. The new site features the Faculty Abroad Resource hub, which includes tips and best practices for Faculty Leaders as they operate their programs from Student Management Abroad to Essential Phone Apps. Starting next week other online faculty resources will be added to the Study Abroad website including New Faculty Programs and Pre-Departure Process pages as well as an After Program Wrap-Up hub so that faculty have all the information at their fingertips on how to make their future study abroad programs thrive!

Hot Chocolate and a Sweet Deal on Grad Programs

Dozens of students visited the first-floor atrium of Jubilee Hall to warm up with some free hot chocolate last week to learn about and register for the Pirate Priority discount on dual-degree and graduate programs at Seton Hall. Gathered outside the beautiful new Global Commons, members of the Office of Graduate Affairs, along with the Graduate Directors from several different Colleges, talked informally with students about their goals and the graduate programs that would best serve them. Undergraduate students in their third and fourth years of study often discover that they are interested in pursuing graduate degrees, because they have become immersed in more advanced coursework or because they have begun to discern their career objectives. Read the full story.

2023 University Research Council

We would like to announce the start of the 2023 University Research Council application cycle. The program guidelines and application will be available on the OGRS website and the University Research Council sub-page.  It is recommended that prospective applicants review the program guidelines prior to commencing their preparations (attached).  The application deadline for Summer 2023 is Monday, February 20, 2023, at noon. Awards are expected to be announced by late-April, 2023. Submissions must be emailed by the deadline to grantsoffice@shu.edu. View some helpful reminders.

Hanover Grants Calendar

Hanover produces a bimonthly Grants Calendar centered on certain funding interests. Today's calendar reviews upcoming grant opportunities focused on Interdisciplinary Research, covering a range of grant makers. Short-term targets with set deadlines are included alongside longer-term opportunities expected to occur across the next year and beyond. View the calendar.

Follow the CFD blog to find out about upcoming events and initiatives. We also welcome your suggestions for workshops, speakers, and other events.

The Teaching Conversations Series: Group Projects and Assignments
Feb 3, 10 - 10:45 a.m., in Teams

Diversity Reading Group
February 16, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m., in Teams
After Whiteness; An Education in Belonging - Willie James Jennings

SHU Meditates
Thursdays, 12:30 - 1 p.m., 1/26 through 5/4

Taking Microsoft Teams to the Next Level
Thursday, January 26, 2023, 12 - 1 p.m.
This virtual workshop will provide strategies to optimize Microsoft Teams in your course.  Learn how to promote collaboration via forms, polls, and to-do lists, and maximize student engagement by adding videos, documents, spreadsheets and presentations to your channels.

Register for the Microsoft Teams workshop.

Low-Lift, High-Impact Teaching Strategies
Monday, January 30, 2023, 2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
Following the Office of the Provost’s Impact Talks on digital transformation, faculty are invited to a workshop led by Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist, Todd Taylor, PhD. This workshop helps instructors across disciplines transform their teaching through easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions that enable students to leverage Adobe Creative Cloud in their coursework.

Learn more and register for the faculty workshop.

The Next Impact Talks Presents: Digital Transformation: Closing the Digital Gap in Higher Education, Monday, January 30, 2023, 12 - 1:30 p.m.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted many facets of higher education. Colleges and universities are being called upon to rethink the traditional way of doing business and rapidly adopt and implement new practices that align with today’s technology-enabled and driven world.

Register to attend the Office of the Provost’s upcoming Impact Talk, to be held in person on Monday, January 30, 2023. Join a panel of industry experts as they discuss the critical importance of digital transformation in higher education, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Teacher, Adjunct Faculty of the Year and Service-Learning Awards

For full-time faculty, Deans shall determine college Teachers and Adjuncts of the Year and report this designation to the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Assessment. Deans are encouraged to invite nominations from departments as appropriate and may decide to set a pre-deadline for these nominations. For adjunct faculty, we invite full-time faculty colleagues to submit nominations. Deadline:  January 31, 2023

We are excited for the first time to formally recognize faculty for Excellence in Service Learning with an award modeled after the Uniservitae Service-Learning Experiences in Catholic Higher Education Award. For more information about the award, click here. Deadline:  January 31, 2023