Calling All Project-Based Learning Faculty -

Join our Summer 2023 Excelerate Program Team!

 

Help your students succeed in the classroom and beyond, by collaborating with the Innovation Academy’s Excelerate summer program! Excelerate aims to support first-generation, underrepresented, and first-year students in excelling at the challenges of higher education.

 

Excelerate courses provide a great way to share your passion and excitement for your subject matter while building opportunities for students to gain valuable, applicable skills. Impact the lives of your students for years to come by creating an unforgettable classroom experience!

 

 

As part of Excelerate, you will:

• Lead an engaging summer GE class with an embedded collaborative project.
• Design a hands-on project with an external partner.
• Provide exciting, real-world project experiences that apply course content and teach workplace skills.

 

Past participating faculty and students have had wonderful experiences throughout their time with Excelerate:

“As an instructor, I think we have an expert mindset where we don’t see where the students are starting from. It is a great opportunity to put ourselves back in their shoes… I teach through projects because that is how we learn.”

“By understanding the process in the university setting, we can better help our students prepare for industry.”

“It is a great idea to participate in projects through the university and with other students, we really learn together.”

"As an undergrad, this was an amazing opportunity to network and get [the] advice I needed as I continue in my major. Every single one of the professors were welcoming and helpful and I feel more prepared than ever to continue in my major."

 

For more information or to speak about joining the Excelerate program faculty team, contact Amanda Diaz at [email protected]. For more information on the Excelerate program, visit: https://www.uvu.edu/excelerate/

 

 

 

Research Institute at the Women’s Success Center

Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill Endowed Fellowship (BBSEF)

The Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill Endowed Fellowship aims to support women scholars and their collaborators, scholars of any gender who mentor women students, and scholars of any gender whose work focuses on women. The BBSEF provides up to $10,000 in scholarship funding to selected applicants. The next BBSEF proposal cycle opens in January 2024.

Congrats to the outgoing and incoming BBSEF fellows!

2022-2023 Fellows                      Dr. Britt Wyatt & Dr. Josh Premo                College of Science Gendered Science Identity Shifts: When Does One Become a Scientist?

2023-2024 Fellows                                      Dr. Rachel Bi & Dr. Chong Meng                                      Woodbury School of Business         The Gender Pay Gap in FinTech: An Analysis of Women’s Compensation in the Industry

 

RI@WSC Scholarship Spotlight

Math Girls Rock!

 

Violeta Vasilevska and Carolyn Hamilton recently published their manuscript titled Mentoring Female Undergraduates in Research-Centered Outreach, which details the components and impact of Math Girls Rock!, a year-long two-tiered mathematics mentoring program. The program prepares female undergraduate mentors to facilitate high school girls’ engagement in challenging mathematics concepts through a dynamic after-school program. As reported by Vasilevska and Hamilton, the program “aims to encourage female high school students to take more mathematics and STEM classes.” This helps students build their resumes and develop sought-after skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration, among others!

Read the full article here:

Violeta Vasilevska & Carolyn Hamilton (2022): Mentoring Female Undergraduates in Research-Centered Outreach, PRIMUS, DOI: 10.1080/10511970.2022.2059728

 

Join us at this upcoming event! Open to women faculty and all allies.

Grab a Bite, Experience Belonging: A Connection Building Lunch

Thursday, November 16th, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Mix and mingle with colleagues during lunch. Deepen relationships with faculty around campus and learn about their work.

Register Here: https://bit.ly/RIWSC_fall23lunch

Policy Highlight

Policy 635 Faculty Rights and Professional Responsibilities

There are several rights that faculty members have that are laid out in Policy 635 Faculty Rights and Professional Responsibilities. For instance, “faculty members have the right to due process commensurate with their faculty appointment—as set forth in Policy 648 and other applicable university policies including Policy 648—in any disciplinary matter. This includes a right to be heard, a right to decision and review by impartial persons or bodies, and a right to adequate notice.” (4.4.6)

“[F]aculty, staff, administrators, and students have a right to privacy in their dealings with the University . . .” to the degree permitted by law and university policy. They have “the right to expect that certain records of their association with the University are treated as confidential.” With that right comes the restriction that “[f]aculty members do not access, use, or disclose private or confidential information unless permitted by applicable law or university policy.” Similarly, faculty members are to “store and dispose of records containing private or confidential information, including those stored electronically, in accordance with law and university policy.” (4.4.7)

Additionally, “[f]aculty members have a right to fair notice of any required trainings in advance of the deadline. Fair notice must be in writing (email is acceptable) and at least 60 calendar days in advance of the deadline, excluding holidays, off-contract periods (e.g., summers), and university-approved leaves of absence (other than vacation, personal, and consulting leave).” (4.4.8.1)

Another right faculty members are entitled to is “full freedom in research and creative works and in the publication, display, and exhibition of the results, subject to the acceptable performance of their other academic duties and compliance with state and federal regulations and university policy.” (4.6.3)

When it comes to workplace conflict, “[f]aculty members have the right to no cost, formal or informal conflict resolution or consultation services or training through university Faculty Relations services when attempting to resolve workplace conflicts.” (4.8.1.1)

Finally, “[f]aculty members have the right and responsibility to participate in the governance of the University in accordance with Utah law, Utah Board of [Higher Education] policies, and university policies.” (4.9.1) As such, faculty has “the right to vote on faculty appointments, promotions, and tenure, and to vote for representatives to college and university representative bodies[,]” as appropriate according

to their rank and status. (4.9.4) Along with that right comes the right “to elect and/or recall their department chair by majority vote” as stated in Policy 644 Appointment and Responsibilities of Department Chairs. (5.3.1)

As the title implies, along with these rights come responsibilities. Watch for our next Policy Highlight for a summary of some of the responsibilities that are important to be familiar with.