Faculty Affairs Newsletter
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Upcoming Award Opportunities for UMKC Faculty
Faculty are invited to apply for the following awards. For a complete list of award opportunities and accompanying links, visit the CAFE website awards’ calendar.
November
The Funding for Excellence (FFE) Program
FFE is an institutionally-funded grant program to support the highest level of research, scholarship and creative endeavors by UMKC faculty. FFE grants are awarded once a year, on a competitive basis, by a decision of the UMKC Research Advisory Council.
C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship
The C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship Award recognizes a University of Missouri System faculty member who demonstrates commitment, dedication and effectiveness in advancing the land-grant mission through extension, international education and agricultural economics programs. The fellowship is presented to a faculty member who personifies the creativity, vision and leadership exhibited by the late Dr. C. Brice Ratchford, president emeritus of the University of Missouri System and dean of cooperative extension.
The Thomas Jefferson Award
The Thomas Jefferson Award recognizes faculty who rise above excellence and demonstrate clear distinction in teaching, research, writing, creative activities and service to the University of Missouri System and humankind.
March
Curators’ Distinguished Professorships and Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professorships
A Curators’ Distinguished Professorship is the highest and most prestigious academic rank awarded by the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri. It is awarded to a select few “outstanding scholars with established reputations.” Each Curators’ Distinguished Professor becomes a “resource of the entire University and should be expected to contribute to the entire University through such activities as giving lectures on other campuses and engaging in teaching and research across divisional lines.”
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University Writing and Reading Board (UWRB) Faculty Learning Community
Application Open Now!
Learn together with the UWRB Faculty Learning Community on
Threshold Concepts in the Teaching of Writing
What are threshold concepts? Threshold concepts are a set of essential skills for mastering a discipline/major and for adopting the worldview of the profession. Threshold concepts can be a useful framework for teaching writing across disciplines.
This faculty learning community (FLC) will focus on (1) how and why faculty write differently in their disciplines and (2) how to articulate and apply threshold concepts in writing studies and one’s own discipline. This FLC is open to all writing intensive faculty, faculty who teach writing, and faculty interested in teaching a writing intensive version of their course.
The FLC will meet on Wednesdays, 1 PM - 2:30 PM beginning January 26 to February 23. The first 5 sessions will be weekly meetings on theory and reflection.
Between March 9 and May 4, the FLC will meet biweekly on Wednesdays, 1 PM - 2:30 PM. The schedule gives faculty time to focus on revising syllabi and any other teaching materials based on the reflections and theories discussed earlier in the semester.
Faculty participants receive a stipend of $500 on completion of the program.
This FLC may meet in-person or on Zoom based on which option the majority of applicants choose in their application.
Please apply by January 14, 2022.
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Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning (ITEL) Microcredential Participants
“Learning so many ways to improve the classroom environment by what we put out there as educators was exciting, humbling and a driving force to assist me to become a better educator holistically.” -- Mary Bautista
The ACUE Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning microcredential course helped faculty to develop a deeper understanding of implicit bias, microaggressions, stereotype threat and imposter phenomenon in an effort to continuously improve their ability to create the inclusive and equitable learning environments that ensure every student has the opportunities necessary to succeed. In this five-module microcredential course, instructors gain proven strategies to create a more equitable and just learning environment.
Congratulations to the following faculty who completed the ITEL microcredential this semester.
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Ishfaq Ahmed
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Baek-Young Choi
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Michael Makara
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Alicia Tolbert
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Rachael Allen
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Karen Gorton
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Bart Patenaude
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Dana Tucker
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Jenifer Allsworth
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Brian Hare
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Gary Mosby
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Leslie Watkins
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Eileen Amari-Vaught
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Jamie Hatchette
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Carol Schmer
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Alan Weber
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Roya Azimzadeh
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Lauren Hays
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Mahbube Siddiki
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Laura Weiss
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Kristen Ball
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Margaret Kincaid
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Lakshmy Sivaratnam
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Larry Wigger
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Mary Bautista
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Carol Knight
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Julie Sutton
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Latoya Woods
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Joyce Chang
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OneHE Pilot Program Faculty Needed!
OneHE is an online learning platform and community for faculty in higher education, created to support faculty in developing their teaching in their own way. OneHE works with experts in teaching and learning from across the globe to provide practical and engaging microlearning that will help faculty better engage students and maximize their success.
The University of Missouri is partnering with OneHE to give access to all faculty to course resources and the global community of educators. Once a member, faculty can access the platform anytime, including all content across the platform.
OneHe recognizes that faculty are short on time and need practical approaches that they can incorporate into their teaching right away. OneHE’s approach is that faculty can discover something new in 20 minutes and receive guidance from a global community of experts.
To start this process and ensure maximum engagement, the UM system plans to roll out this offer to faculty in stages. The University will recruit a core number of faculty to pilot OneHE. Faculty will use the platform, engage with the content and consider how it can best meet the needs of our faculty.
Interested faculty should email Molly Mead by November 22, 2021. UMKC is limited to five participants in this exciting program. Enroll today!
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Seeking Adjunct Faculty: We Want to Hear from You!
A few weeks ago, CAFE Faculty fellows sent a survey to all faculty to gather input to help
guide and prioritize the resources and programs that CAFE will offer. We received a solid
response rate from all faculty groups except adjuncts.
Our adjuncts play a valuable role on our campus, and we want to hear their voices. We are
asking faculty, Chairs, and staff to forward the survey link below to adjuncts and to
encourage them to complete the survey. It should take only a few minutes, and it could
provide valuable information about forms of support that CAFE can provide for them.
Link to the survey: https://redcap.link/cafeinput
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Increase Course Evaluation Response Rates
End of semester course evaluations via the RooEval system can have low response rates. Automated messages are sent from RooEval to students reminding them to complete end of semester evaluations but that is not always enough to get students to follow through. Here are a couple quick ideas for boosting the response rate in your course(s):
- Take time in class to allow students to complete the course evaluation. Students can access RooEval on a phone or mobile device, so access to the evaluation should be easy. Remember to leave the classroom while students are filling out the evaluation.
- Place an announcement in your Canvas course site which requests that students complete an evaluation and provide a link to the RooEval system for them to click on. A sample announcement is listed on the CAFE RooEval webpage.
- With online classes, you can send reminder emails to students about filling out the RooEval. Sample email templates can be found on the CAFE RooEval webpage.
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Roos Rock!
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our talented faculty
UMKC faculty, researchers and staff were awarded more than $2 million in grants in October 2021.
Congratulations to….
Faculty, do you have more good news to share? Your FAN Team wants to know! Email news of your recent (since August 2021) awards, grants, major publications, and promotions to: meadmo@umkc.edu.
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A new column where we talk about disability and share our thoughts on what we need access to as professors, researchers and colleagues. If you have an idea or topic that you would like us to talk about, please send an email to edwardsmatt@umkc.edu.
Back on Campus
Matthew Edwards
I often think about who I am and how people perceive me. Maybe we all do.
I do this more now that I find myself back on campus, and teaching face-to-face after just over a year working strictly from home during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. I objected to teaching online for a long time. I thought the classroom was irreplaceable, the student-teacher connections impossible to replicate. But when I moved online and began hosting live, synchronous Zoom classes, I was surprised at how easy it was to adapt. What surprised me most was how seamlessly my classroom was integrated into my private life.
Class starts in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Get ready for the camera. Quiet down. Back to the wall. Deep breath. Tuck in the shirt. Fix the hair. Done. Start meeting.
In the Zoom classroom, technology makes everything seem so simple: our faces are fixed on the screen with our names underneath—creating what looks to be an equal playing field, where each participant is able to access resources and class materials in a way very different from the on campus classroom, very efficient, well thought out. As host, I too quickly found myself in control. I eagerly invited my students to attend, alertly letting them into the room, and giving them permission to speak when they requested. However, it was also easy to recognize online platforms magnified the diverse situations of my students. Not everyone had a work space, not everyone had a computer, many did not have a solid internet connection. Access to technology does highlight the inequities of systemic racism and gender and sexuality-based discrimination, that is true. But as a person with low vision, who identifies as blind, I welcomed the chance to have control over my classroom, to use my adaptive technology at will in order to see who was present, and engage fully with the same multimedia presentations I am hesitant to use while in person. I had everything I needed to teach at a high level. I quickly realized how online instruction could become a necessary and acceptable accommodation for many disabled folks, while at the same time representing a limit that perpetuates inequity and injustice for our students.
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CAFE Faculty Fellows in the Research and Creativity Pillar
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Meet CAFE fellow Dr. Rebecca Best, Associate Professor in Political Science
FAN: Why did you want to be a CAFE fellow? What are you excited about?
Rebecca B: I was attracted to the CAFE fellows program by the opportunity to be part of a team of people shaping University initiatives that provide new opportunities to faculty and improve faculty experience and productivity. I’m excited to help develop the grant writing course that Dr. Alexis Petri is piloting this year and in which I’m also a participant. Many UMKC faculty members are already being awarded large and small grants – but with this short course, many more could develop new proposals, increase their success rates, and expand the role that grants play in their research and teaching. Another initiative I’m eager to develop will provide training and resources to help faculty across disciplines communicate their research findings to a broader audience, including policy makers, practitioners, students and the general public. While faculty primarily share research findings through journal articles and academic press books, academic blogs, podcasts and media interviews are increasingly available and significant in their potential to increase the awareness and impact of research. This new initiative will help faculty to take full advantage of these outlets.
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Meet Dr. Yong Zeng, Professor in Mathematics and Statistics
FAN: Why did you want to be a CAFE fellow? What are you excited about?
Yong Z: I joined UMKC in Fall 1999 after obtaining my Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and am currently a Professor in Mathematics and Statistics. Looking back, I have received support throughout my career, but I also received crucial support at critical times of career growth, which enabled me to catch opportunities, unleash potential, and achieve excellence. For example, with backing from UMKC, I was able to serve as a Rotating Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) for two terms and just returned to UMKC in Fall 2021. I am grateful for this opportunity and excited to give back to UMKC and share my knowledge and experience with faculty.
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The Advantages of Publishing in Academic Blogs
Dr. Rebecca Best, CAFE Fellow
Maybe you’re working toward tenure or the next promotion, maybe you’re interested in finding new research collaborators, or maybe you just want to get more traction for your research and communicate it to a broader audience. If any of this describes you, academic blogging might be a solution. Don’t have time to manage a blog on top of everything else? Me neither! But we don’t have to manage our own blogs (I don’t) and blogging doesn’t need to take much time. This post tackles the why and the how of academic blogging.
Why publish in academic blogs?
For most (all?) of us, academic blog posts are not part of our formal criteria for tenure and promotion or annual review. But they will increase the impact of your academic publications and contribute to your recognition as a prominent scholar in your field. For example, political science analysis published in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog has been cited in Supreme Court decisions, and many academic blog posts appear on undergraduate course syllabi[1] as accessible introductions to academic work. These short, fast turn-around publications are also a great way to road test a new coauthoring partnership or stake your claim in a field of study. Academic blog posts are also widely shared on twitter and other social media, contributing to interest in the author’s relevant journal articles. Beside all this, academic blog posts are quick and fun to write – and to read.
[1] Source: the author’s own course syllabi.
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Have something to share in the Faculty Affairs Newsletter? Email Molly Mead with your brief text and an (optional) photo.
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University of Missouri-Kansas City | Kansas City, MO 64110 | (816) 235-1107
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