Power Onward Conference

Conference Opening

10:30-10:45

On the Other Side: PNW

10:45-12

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!
Room Location: DSAC Great Hall

Panel discussion with PNW faculty, staff, and students to examine the impacts of COVID on the PNW community and discuss how PNW can emerge from the pandemic even stronger.

Luncheon

12-1

Boxed lunches will be provided to those who register here to enjoy the outdoor Westville campus

Keynote Address: Roaring Ahead Together: Embracing Our Students’ Potential

1:15-2:30

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!
Room Location: DSAC Great Hall

Join us as we listen to Tia Brown McNair, Author of Becoming A Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success as she addresses how we can come together to encourage our students’ potential.

Welcome Back Reception

2:30-4

Room Location: DSAC Entrance Way

Join us for libations and appetizers as we come together to celebrate the start of the new academic year.

Creating a Virtual Station Rotation

9-9:50 

Meeting Link
Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by College of Nursing-Assistant Professor Julia Rogers

Bring your laptop! Combining face-to-face instruction with synchronous learning can be achieved through the creation of virtual station rotations. This pedagogical method allows students to be interactive on multiple platforms. The professor breaks the class up into smaller groups and each group works within a station for a specified amount of time and then rotates to the next station. The professor is able to monitor the progress by entering the breakout rooms, monitoring the shared Google document, and answering questions on the interactive padlet. This instructional method is interactive and resembles work stations that would be set up in a face-to-face environment.

Collaboration with Microsoft Teams

9-9:25 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Joe Coates and Susan Anderson

At the beginning of March 2020, we faced many issues with remote work, schedules, meeting, drive access, VPN usage, chats, etc. We began using Microsoft Teams in order to collaborate on documents, organize our storage, and all but stop using any drives at PNW. We are moving towards all cloud based collaboration, meetings, and scheduling, using Teams. This is just a brief overview for what any department can do with Teams.

Not Getting Your Point Across in Email?

9:30-9:55 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Richard Gambrell

Let’s share stories illustrating how miscommunication costs time and money (and more), and, then discuss ways to communicate more effectively when using mediated communication with today’s workforce.

Building Engaging Online Spaces at PNW to Support Student Success

9-9:50  

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Jorge Lopez and Rose Haite

This session will highlight how faculty and staff can support students holistically. Participants will learn how the Career Center and TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) have collaborated to meet students where they are. The Online Career Center’s (OCC) Badging pilot program with expanded TRIO content provide an online space to build supportive relationships and develop students professionally and academically.

Not Your Mother’s Sustainability

10-10:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Roundtable Discussion by Rachel Krcmarich

This Roundtable discussion will introduce or expand participants’ knowledge of modern sustainability concepts and rating systems, such as the Triple Bottom Line and AASHE STARS. Understanding the breadth and scope of sustainability will allow attendees to participate in a visioning exercise to discover our shared values for Sustainable PNW.

Trauma: How to Help a Student When You’re Going Through It Yourself

10-10:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Ryan Parsons-Rozycki and Kenneth Jackson

“Post Pandemic” should be considered a “post-vention year.” Even if enrollment numbers are down, a higher percentage of students will likely be seeking mental health services. The middle of a pandemic does not seem like the time to limit access to mental health resources. It is forecast that a pandemic of mental illness with high rates of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and complicated grief will occur. Discussion of how to recognize students exhibiting mental health concerns and how to make appropriate referrals.

Students with Disabilities and using Respondus with AI Monitoring

10-10:25 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Roundtable Discussion by Anthony Marszalek

DAC staff will discuss the disadvantages that the AI monitoring feature of Respondus Lockdown Browser may cause when utilized to monitor students with disabilities. 

Syllabus Quiz as a Predictor of Students’ Success

10:30-10:55 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Hubert Izienicki

Existing research indicates that helping struggling students early on in the semester improves their chances of doing well in the course. However, identifying potentially struggling students early on in the semester is challenging. During the proposes session, I will report my finding from a study of the syllabus quizzes and their relationship to the final grade. Based on the analysis of 439 students in the Introduction to Sociology courses, I find that the syllabus quiz is a powerful early predictor of students’ overall success in the course. In each class, the students are required to complete a syllabus quiz within the first week of the semester. The quiz tests students’ familiarly with the syllabus’ content (e.g., what’s the required text, how many exams there are during the semester, when the office hours are held). The students can retake the quiz as many times as they need until they reach the desired scored (i.e., maximum score). Based on the regression analysis of students’ quiz scores and their final grades in the course, the students who did not obtain the maximum score on the syllabus quiz are more likely to struggle in the course and earn a lower final grade than their student counterparts who obtained a maximum score on the syllabus quiz. My findings provide evidence that a syllabus quiz is a powerful early predictor of students’ success and can be used to identify students in need as early as the first week of the semester. It is also a relatively easy pedagogical technique for catching struggling students that an instructor can apply directly in their classroom.

Innovating Through Chaos

11-11:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Jason Williams

The last 18 months have been a time of mass disruption. From how we do business, to how we learn, to how we conduct everyday activities; there is no denying that our world changed significantly in a relatively short period of time. One silver lining during this pandemic has been the rebirth of creativity, and the chance to harness it. The best leaders see opportunity and take action to help their organizations succeed. Despite the ongoing challenges around us, now is the time to embrace innovation and focus on opportunities that will work in the current and future conditions.

Bringing It Back: Virtual Communication Strategies to Bring Back to Face-to-Face Classes

11-11:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Heather Bowers

“How do I interact with my students, help my students, get to know my students when we aren’t meeting in person?” This was a question many faculty were asking during virtual classes, whether in asynchronous or synchronous format. Faculty had to find new ways of thinking and communicating to promote connection and interaction with students. With classes returning to face-to-face formats, a great opportunity exists to combine virtual communication strategies with the previously used in-person techniques. Brightspace has many features to promote student connection and engagement to supplement in-person interactions.

Mindfulness: Key to Total Wellbeing

11-11:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Workshop by Kendra Gardin

Mindfulness has become a bit of a buzzword recently. But what exactly is it? How do you do it? And why? Come to this workshop to learn all about this highly effective stress management technique that can be applied to many areas of your life. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in several mindfulness exercises during the session.

Lunch

12-12:50

Communicating with Our Students through Banner Communication Management (BCM)

1-1:50 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Tech Demonstration by Kathy Norman

Learn about Banner Communication Management(BCM) that allows you to send targeted one-off emails to students or schedule reoccurring email “campaigns” to inform and engage our PNW students.

Academic Integrity: Past, Present, Future

1-1:50 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Roundtable Discussion by Amanda Kratovil and Mary Morrow

This RoundTable Discussion will bring together faculty from different disciplines to discuss their views, concerns, triumphs, and tribulations of academic integrity before, during, and as we emerge from the COVD pandemic. This discussion will provide faculty with practical things they can do to promote student success while upholding academic integrity. Small groups and/or break out rooms will be used to encourage participants to reflect and share how, prior to the pandemic, they assessed their students’ learning, concerns they had about academic integrity, and ways they promoted academic integrity. Participants will then reflect on how the learning environment and their concerns about academic integrity has changed since the pandemic. There will be a focus on sharing ideas for achieving academic integrity in the online environment. Then participants will brainstorm ideas about our post-pandemic academic setting. Again, the focus will be on practical ideas to promote academic integrity for educators in a variety of disciplines and settings. Participants are encouraged to bring the academic integrity statement from their syllabus, if applicable, to share and discuss with the group.

Mental Health Checkup

1-1:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Workshop by Kendra Gardin

Mental Health Check Up, presented by New Avenues, PNW’s Employee Assistance Provider This informational session will challenge common stigma associated with mental health and encourage participants to check-in on their mental health by exploring signs and symptoms of the 4 top mental health concerns: depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide risk. Participants will learn both techniques of self-care to strengthen their own mental health, as well as ways of responding and supporting those they care about who may be struggling.

Emotions that Lead to Stagnancy (and How to Get Unstuck)

1:30-1:55 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Workshop by Nathan Elizalde

We all like feeling joyful and at peace. But those feelings can make stagnant your growth. Big aspirations are bound to stir up unpleasant emotions. Namely, fear, concern and uncertainty. In this presentation, you’ll learn to be okay with those feelings as the host of your best performance — and pick up some tips to beat them.

The Physiological and Psychological Benefits of Meditation

2-2:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by John Durocher

Over the past 5 years I have been conducting research on the benefits of meditation. We have data to suggest significant benefits from a single meditation session, and data from an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) from before and during COVID-19. This session will provide an overview of our research results, include a brief meditation session, and an overview of the common questionnaires that we utilize. Handouts will be provided.

DAC Assistive Technology

2-2:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Anthony Marszalek

The DAC will describe some of the Assistive Technologies and Software that faculty or staff may see students with disabilities utilize at PNW.

Microsoft Lists: A Tool to Keep You on Track

2-2:25 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Technology Demonstration by Manisa Baker

Microsoft offers a variety of applications that can be used in Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Lists is an application that can help keep you and your teams on track. Learn about the functionality of Microsoft Lists and how it can keep you and your teams organized.

Reaching Students in Time: Early Warning Systems at PNW

2-2:50

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Karen Stachyra

We’re all familiar with the notion of “It Takes a Village” to raise a child…the same is true for helping students persist through graduation at PNW. We all have a role to play! This session will overview the coordinated efforts between faculty, advisors and other support staff to identify students in need of extra support and provide them with the resources they need to be successful.

Using Google Jamboard to Increase Interactivity in Online Classes

3-3:25 

Meeting Link

Technology Demonstration by David Pratt

This session introduces you to the Google Jamboard. This interactive tool has helped me increase interactivity during online virtual zoom meetings. This online “board” is a great solution to conduct group work or assessment of individuals online. A demonstration of the tool and examples of how it can be used will be shared.

Roundtable Discussion with MaPCHAT

3-3:25 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!
Room Location: Coming Soon!

Roundtable Discussion by Rachel Krcmarich

Join your MaPSAC members as they share how they keep the PNW community strong, supported you during COVID, and are here to assist you in Fall 2021 and beyond. Interact with MaPSAC members through a Q & A session to voice your concerns, development goals, and support needs. Help us build community and engage our peers post-pandemic.

Reading/Research Log as a Teaching Tool

3:30-3:55 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Workshop by Liz Bryant

1.Have participants practice the art of reading, writing , and thinking in a short activity and identify how our “practices” of thinking work with writing.
2. Review how the acts of reading and writing foster thinking. Include a few scholarly sources that explain this.
3. Use the DERL, double entry research log, to show a student example of how it supports students to read, write, and think.
4. Finally review the ease of reading, responding to, and gracing DERLs.
5. Distribute examples of these documents.

Online Tools that Assist Student Learning in Introductory Physics

3:30-3:55 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Robert Kramer

A description of the various techniques developed to increase student learning, involvement, and interest will be discussed. An overview of how the in person class structure was modified to accommodate online learning will be presented. One important aspect was increasing student participation, involvement, and conceptual understanding on an ongoing basis. Methods to enhance this aspect were developed over the 3 semesters of remote learning. An over view of how this effort evolved over time will be provided as well as plans on how this can be utilized for in person learning in the future.

Breakfast Grab & Go and Resource Fair

8:30-9:50 

SULB Concourses

Grab some breakfast and coffee while you walk around the information displays to learn more about PNW offices and services. Representatives from units across campus will be on hand to share information and talk more about what they do.

Academic Testing in the PNW Testing Services Centers

10-10:25 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Jan Gonzalez

This informational session will highlight services and facilities available at Hammond and Westville for academic testing. Participants will learn about the nefarious means individuals use to “game” exams, and how use of the PNW Testing Centers can help both faculty and students. We’ll discuss why on-campus proctored testing is important and how you can request exams at the testing centers.

Using RegisterBlast to Schedule and Submit Academic Exams

10:30-10:55 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Technology Demonstration by Jan Gonzalez

The PNW Testing Centers use RegisterBlast as an exam scheduling tool, both for faculty to submit exams, and for students to schedule their in-person exams at our centers. This session will highlight how faculty can use the Professor Module of RegisterBlast to easily request exam dates and submit their exams, whether online or paper-based. As exams are submitted, students can schedule dates and times to test in-person at the Hammond or Westville testing centers.

Re-Ignite Your Health

10:30-11:20 

Meeting Link
Room Location: Coming Soon!

Workshop by Kendra Gardin

Re-Ignite Your Health, presented by Franciscan Health. Join us for a two part session on how to get your nutrition and fitness back on track. Power Up Your Nutrition Plan will help you establish and maintain nutrition goals, and discover useful strategies and tools that will foster the development of healthy eating habits. Power Up Your Fitness Routine will involve completing a quick readiness assessment to understand how ready you are to make changes and identify your powerful “why”. You will learn how to get started, how to establish a routine, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Strength in Numbers: Building Community and Connections through PNW Alumni

10-10:50

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Ashley Gerodimos

67,000 PNW Alumni and counting… how can you utilize the PNW alumni base to help strengthen your unit goals and improve the student experience? This session will help familiarize you with the PNW Alumni Community and the services that the Alumni Engagement Office can provide to your unit. Including, how to directly contact alumni from your program or unit, current alumni initiatives and other alumni engagement opportunities. The session will also cover how to strengthen alumni engagement, using the network you already have, as well as, building your network with the future in mind.

The Faculty Evaluation Cycle

10-10:50 

Room Location: NILS 208

Information Session by Rachel Clapp-Smith

This informational session will overview the components of the faculty evaluation cycle, including the guidelines and timeline for Faculty Annual Review, the Teaching Portfolio, and the Promotion & Tenure process. Suggestions for utilizing Interfolio to streamline your workflow will be shared.

Supporting PNW Students

11-11:50 

Room Location: NILS 208

Information Session by: Colin Fewer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs & Dean of Students; Emily Hixon; Kenneth Jackson, Executive Director, Counseling Center; Debra Wysong, Director, Disability Access Center

In this interactive session, you’ll learn more about PNW students and the challenges they may face due to the pandemic and other factors. An overview of resources and services to support PNW students will be shared, and you’ll have an opportunity to strategize with colleagues about how we can best support students and promote their success.

Career Champions: How YOU Can Join Us in Increasing Retention Efforts

11-11:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Katelyn Caragher and Zachary Jones

We’ve watched students’ struggles range from deciding a major to dropping out of college. Our goal is to engage students as soon as freshman year and overcome the “sophomore slump” by connecting them to a career they are passionate about, which ultimately increases retention rates at PNW. We’re ready to take the PNW experience to the next level by embedding career and self-development into the college student journey. Help us help your students showcase skills they’re learning from you.

Those That Stay the Same During a Transition End Up Losing: Redesigning an Asynchronous Online Course to Deepen Connection, Belongingness, and Student Success

11-11:50 

Room Location: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Lori Feldman

In this session we won’t talk about the technical details of how to use tools – OIT is great for this – rather we’ll talk about using the right tools at the right time for specific purposes. Explore how to engage and keep students on track to successfully complete the class, build connections with and between students, enable students to see the professor as a valuable part of their learning process rather than just a name, and encourage anonymous feedback that all can see and respond to. We’ll present data and talk about outcomes from several perspectives.

Lunch

12-12:50

Strategies to Prevent Cheating

12-12:25 

Meeting Link

Roundtable Discussion by Professor of Mathematics Nicolae Tarfulea

Academic dishonesty has been around since before anyone can remember. And even though this is a problem with seemingly no solution in sight, there are some ideas to help instructors in this direction. This informal roundtable discussion is about anti-cheating design and teaching strategies. The participants will talk about their experiences and propose/learn effective strategies to prevent cheating on exams, homework, and other assignments.

Promoting Academic Integrity During Remote Online Testing

12:30-12:55 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Amanda Kratovil and Heather Bowers

Do you give quizzes or exams on BrightSpace? Are you interested in learning some ways to reduce cheating when students are taking online exams remotely? Join this Information Session where we will share techniques and settings in BrightSpace to help ensure the integrity of your quiz or exam. Faculty will learn how to use Lockdown Browser, release conditions, alter submission views, and various other strategies that can reduce cheating when faculty use remote online testing.

Understanding Teams: Research-Based Best Practices for Student Teams in the Classroom

1-1:50 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Jane Thomas

Discussion of research findings regarding diversity, interdependence and other team-based processes (conflict, cohesion, etc.) and how to use this information to best approach student-based teams in the classroom. Participants will leave the session with research-based recommendations for using teams in their classes.

Open Educational Resources (OER): What They Are, Why They Matter and How the Library Can Help

1-1:50 

Meeting Link: Coming Soon!

Information Session by Sammy Chapman

This will be a panel discussion of Open Educational Resources and affordable instructional materials. The session will present information on OER defining the concept, explaining why OER is important to students, and how OER can increase student success. How OER can be used in the classroom will discussed. Examples of OER materials and how find OER materials for your class. Ways to utilize existing library resources to create reading lists and affordable instructional materials for your classroom