Center for Faculty Excellence

Work Sprint
2025-09-16 12:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
Do you need to set aside time to work on your research? Or do you have other work you need to complete? Perhaps completing a task for a research project, grading, recording/creating course content, reading? Would having some focused time to work on it help?
If so, sign-up to participate in the Work Sprint! A Work Sprint provides a focused block of time and supportive environment for you to commit to and have some level of accountability for accomplishing a task-specific goal.
Location
Work Sprints will be held via Zoom. Zoom information will be shared via Outlook calendar for those who are registered in the Research Productivity Program.
If you are not a registered participant in the Research Productivity Program, and would like to register for the Work Sprint please email the Center for Faculty Excellence at cfe@pnw.edu with your request.
Audience
All faculty are welcome to attend.

Sparkshop: First Impressions Matter: Designing a Homepage that Welcomes & Engages
2025-09-17 13:00 - 13:15
Sparkshops are 15 minute mini-workshops, facilitated by CFE staff. Sparkshops are meant to start exploration of a chosen topic with continued support from the CFE as requested.
Each Sparkshop provides:

An introduction or re-imagined approach to an evidence-based teaching practice, or productivity strategy
Potential reasons faculty or staff might incorporate the practice in their course(s) or work flow
Examples of how the practice can be implemented
Resources for further investigation of the practice

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPARKSHOPS
REGISTER FOR SPARKSHOP CONNECTION INFORMATION
You only need to register once for any one Sparkshop as the connection information is the same for all Sparkshops.
Attending three Sparkshops makes you eligible to receive the “Change One Thing” Certificate.
To earn the certificate, participants will:✔ Attend at least three Sparkshops.✔ Implement a small but impactful change in one of their courses.✔ Submit a brief reflection on the change and its anticipated or observed impact.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CHANGE ONE THING CERTIFICATE
Location
Virtual – provide your information for connection information.
Audience
All Faculty

Writing Retreat
2025-09-18 10:00 - 15:00
A Writing Retreat provides a focused block of time and supportive environment for you to commit to and have some level of accountability for accomplishing a research goal. There will be no planned programming, instead it will be a time for you to focus on your research/writing goals and hopefully be very productive! See below for participation format and location options.
Location
All sessions are virtual via Zoom. Link information will be sent through Outlook calendar appointments for participants registered in the Research Productivity Program. If you are not in the Research Productivity Program and would like to attend the Writing Retreat please contact the Center for Faculty Excellence via email at cfe@pnw.edu.
Audience
Open to all faculty.

The Gray Area: Faculty Dialogues on AI session
2025-09-19 13:00 - 14:00
REGISTER TO ATTEND A FACULTY DIALOGUES ON AI SESSION
Topic: AI Detection & the Pedagogy of Trust
Pre-Dialogue Readings:

Teaching Against AI
Detection of AI-generated Writing in Students’ Assignments: A Comparative Analysis of Some Tools’ Reliability

As generative AI becomes a common tool in academic writing, educators are grappling with how (and whether) to detect its use in student work. Join us as we explore the promises and pitfalls of AI detection tools, drawing on recent research and classroom approaches.
We’ll discuss the reliability of current detection technologies, consider their pedagogical implications, and reflect on whether building a culture of transparency and trust might be more effective than relying on surveillance. What does it mean to teach with AI or against it? What do you say?
Location
Virtual via Zoom. Register for connection information.
Audience
Meetings are open to all PNW faculty and staff.

Community of Practice: Enhancing Courses with Generative AI
2025-09-22 12:30 - 13:45
This meeting is for registered participants in the Fall 2025 offering of the Enhancing Courses with Generative AI Community of Practice (CoP). Facilitated by AI Faculty Fellow Dr. Mark Mabrito, Professor of English, this CoP provides participants with skills/ideas for incorporating GenAI in their courses.
Location
All meetings will be virtual on Mondays from 12:30-1:45 p.m. See below for dates:

Meeting 1, Sept 22, 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., virtual
Meeting 2, Oct 6, 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., virtual
Meeting 3, Oct 20, 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., virtual
Meeting 4, Nov 3, 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., virtual

Participants will receive an email communication and Outlook invitation with location information and Zoom link to join virtually.
Audience
Any Faculty or Instructor teaching a course in the Fall 2025 semester is eligible to apply to participate.

"Playing with AI" session
2025-09-25 09:30 - 10:30
REGISTER TO ATTEND
TOPIC: Use AI to Find Research
Overview: Learn how to use AI resources to find research. Consider how to introduce students to AI-enhanced research.
“Playing with AI” is a series of interactive virtual sessions designed to introduce faculty to innovative AI tools and applications that can enhance teaching and research practices. Led by AI Faculty Fellow Dr. Mark Mabrito, Professor of English, each session features hands-on exploration of AI tools, with guidance on how to effectively incorporate them into your academic work. These sessions provide a unique opportunity to experiment with cutting-edge technologies in a supportive, collaborative environment.
Location
Virtual via Zoom. Register for connection information.
Audience
Meetings are open to all PNW faculty and staff.

Fall 2025 Book Club - The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI (virtual)
2025-10-01 12:30 - 14:00
Participants in the Fall 2025 Book Club reading The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI will meet virtually to discuss the book. Participants should check their email/look for a calendar invite for virtual meeting information.
Location
Meetings will be offered virtually via Zoom (link sent via email) on the following Wednesdays from 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm:

October 1
October 22
November 12

Audience
Anyone registered for the Fall 2025 Book Club.
If you are interested in participating in future Book Clubs offered by the Center for Faculty Excellence, please check the Book Club webpage for new offerings.

Instructional Material ADA Readiness – Introduction Workshop
2025-11-03 12:00 - 13:00
Register to Attend
New federal regulations have updated existing requirements for web and digital accessibility in public institutions. In this introductory session, we will discuss the resources available to instructors, demonstrate digital accessibility tools, and take questions from attendees.
Location
Virtual via Zoom. Register for connection information.
Audience
Workshops are open to all PNW faculty and instructors.

Instructional Material ADA Readiness
2025-11-03 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-05 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-11-11 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-11-13 14:00 - 15:00
New federal regulations have updated existing requirements for web and digital accessibility in public institutions. In this introductory session, we will discuss the resources available to instructors, demonstrate digital accessibility tools, and take questions from attendees.
Times and registration links:

Monday, November 3, 1 to 2 p.m. EST: Zoom link for Nov 3
Wednesday, November 5, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST: Zoom link for Nov 5
Tuesday, November 11, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST: Zoom link for Nov 11
Thursday, November 13, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST: Zoom link for Nov 13

Faculty Research Board Coffee Hour: 'Deep Roots, New Growth: Restarting or Pivoting Your Research'
2025-11-05 12:00 - 13:00
Just as a tree draws strength from its roots to grow new branches, your prior research themes and methodologies may germinate new discoveries.
This session is designed for faculty who are looking to restart or pivot their research agenda—whether to reflect evolving interests, respond to shifting priorities or explore new directions. It invites you to reflect on your scholarly roots and envision new branches that align with your interests, advance your priorities and harness emerging winds of opportunity.
Facilitated by:

Meg Rincker, Professor of Political Science (CHESS)
Manisa Baker, Assistant Professor of Nursing (CON)
Jessica Ivy, Thomas Ray Crowel Professor of STEM Education (CHESS).

Co-Sponsored with Emily Hixon, Executive Director, PNW Center for Faculty Excellence; and Maja Marjanovic, PNW Director of Research and Sponsored Programs
The Faculty Research Board hosts monthly Research Coffee Hour events on a wide range of topics and with various facilitators and speakers. Please consider joining us at future Coffee Hours as well.
Location
Classroom Office Building (CLO) 192

Circuit - The Power of Peer Review: Enhancing Student Learning
2025-11-11 13:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-12 09:30 - 10:00
REGISTER TO ATTEND
Join us for a 30-minute online session exploring Circuit, Purdue’s centrally-supported peer review tool that streamlines and enriches the feedback process for both students and instructors. Circuit can be embedded into Brightspace to use with your already created assignments!
Location
Virtual via Zoom. Register for connection information.
Audience
Workshops are open to all PNW faculty and instructors.

Integrating AI Into Your Teaching
2026-01-21 13:00 - 14:00
REGISTER TO ATTEND
TOPIC: Kickoff Session – AI Literacy: Thinking with AI
AI Literacy? What is it? What do we want our students to experience with AI before they graduate?
In this presentation, participants will explore issues and concerns about how AI is leveraged in the workforce and higher education and consider how one might define and implement AI literacy in the classrooms. Dr. Mark Mabrito, AI Faculty Fellow, will present his model for “thinking with AI,” a framework for introducing students to generative AI, based on four scaffolded levels of critical thinking and engagement. Additionally, he will present brief examples of how the model can be practically leveraged in the classroom. In the discussion following the presentation, participants can collectively consider what “AI literacy” might look like in different disciplines.

“Integrating AI Into Your Teaching” is a series of interactive virtual sessions designed to introduce faculty to innovative AI tools and applications that can enhance teaching and research practices. Led by AI Faculty Fellow Dr. Mark Mabrito, Professor of English. These sessions provide a unique opportunity to explore cutting-edge technologies in a supportive, collaborative environment.
Location
Virtual via Zoom. Register for connection information.
Audience
Meetings are open to all PNW faculty and staff.

Midwest SoTL Conference Proposal Due Date
2026-01-23
You are invited to submit a proposal for the 2026 Midwest SoTL Conference, which will be held in person at Indiana University South Bend on Friday, April 10, 2026. The conference theme is The Human Element of Education and our keynote speaker will be Dr. Anne-Marie Womack, author of Inclusive College Classrooms.
The conference is accepting proposals that describe empirical studies of SoTL, theoretical discussions of SoTL, descriptions of best practice of teaching, and interactive workshops on implementing best practice. Proposals are due by 10:59 pm (CST) on Friday, January 23, 2026. See flyer or the conference website for details.
PNW faculty who are accepted to present at the conference will have their conference registration and mileage paid by the Center for Faculty Excellence.
See Midwest SoTL Conference website for more information.

Midwest SoTL Conference
2026-04-10
You are invited to attend the 2026 Midwest SoTL Conference, which will be held in person at Indiana University South Bend on April 10, 2026. The conference theme is The Human Element of Education and our keynote speaker will be Dr. Anne-Marie Womack, author of Inclusive College Classrooms.
LEARN MORE AND REGISTER TO ATTEND
PNW faculty who were accepted to present at the conference can have their conference registration and mileage paid by the Center for Faculty Excellence. Please contact cfe@pnw.edu for more information if you are presenting at the conference.
Location
Indiana University South Bend
Audience
Open to all faculty and instructors
