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Category: Opportunities

Published on Leave a comment on November Opportunities at CAT+FD

As November arrives, I want to acknowledge both the richness and the intensity of this time in our academic lives. As faculty, we are juggling advising appointments, planning final projects, responding to crises both small and large, and somehow still finding ways to support our students through their own unique challenges. This month, CAT+FD offers spaces designed specifically for this moment: quiet writing time, conversations about AI and pedagogy, opportunities for mindfulness, and collaborative problem-solving with colleagues who understand exactly what you're experiencing.

I also want to remind you that professional development isn't just another item on your to-do list. It's one of the most generous things you can do for yourself during a demanding season. Whether you drop in for twenty minutes of the AI session between classes, join your colleagues for writing or meditation, or simply show up to a brown bag to remember you're not alone in this work, these gatherings are here to support you.

For any event below, click on the link for more information. Some events require registration. You can find all of our upcoming events on the CAT+FD Calendar. If you want to learn about other ways to keep up with everything happening at CAT+FD, check out this post on the CAT Food Blog: CAT+FD Event Information, Served Up Your Way.

WEEKLY OPPORTUNITIES

  • Coffee & Chat, every Monday, 10:00-11:00: Faculty can spend some time with members of the CAT+FD staff in our Conference Room for refreshments and conversation.
  • Walking Club, every Tuesday & Thursday, 8:30-9:00: All members of the Xavier community are invited to gather outside the Fitness Center to get in some steps together.
  • Quarter of Quiet, every Wednesday, 2:00-2:15: Members of the Xavier community are welcome in the Chapel's Meditation Room for 15 minutes of unguided contemplation. 

NOVEMBER OPPORTUNITIES

  • Fall Faculty Writing Group Lunch, November 03 at 11:00 AM, Mellon Seminar Room
    Each Monday, the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gathers in the Mellon Seminar Room to dedicate one hour of sustained writing. During this time, each member works on their individual writing project in silent fellowship with other group members. This gentle accountability serves as an effective means of motivating faculty to maintain progress on their scholarly work without feeling as if there are competing priorities that should take precedence.
  • Advanced Zoom Workshop: Breakout Rooms & Enhanced Features, November 05 at 2:00 PM, Mellon Seminar Room
    This hands-on workshop is designed to help participants master Zoom's advanced meeting tools. This session will cover essential techniques for creating more interactive and engaging virtual sessions, including how to effectively use breakout rooms to facilitate small group discussions and collaborative work. This workshop is limited to members of the Office of Student Affairs in the College of Pharmacy.
  • SERG (Science Education Research Group), November 05 at 3:30 PM, NCF 568
    Join faculty from across disciplines for an informal discussion focused on teaching and learning. Each monthly SERG meeting provides an open space to share questions, concerns, and suggestions about pedagogy with colleagues in a supportive, multidisciplinary environment. Topics are participant-driven. Whether you're exploring new teaching methods, facing classroom challenges, or want to share successful strategies, all faculty are welcome. Registration is not required.
  • Faculty Portfolio Working Group, November 06 at 1:15 PM, Online
    Members of this year's Faculty Portfolio Working Group meet to discuss their monthly assignments and progress. This closed working group supports faculty in creating online portfolios that document the breadth of their academic work. Now in its third decade, the group evolved from the original 1994 Course Portfolio Working Group to its current focus on comprehensive faculty portfolios.
  • Fall Faculty Writing Group Lunch, November 10 at 11:00 AM, Mellon Seminar Room
    Each Monday, the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gathers in the Mellon Seminar Room to dedicate one hour of sustained writing. During this time, each member works on their individual writing project in silent fellowship with other group members. This gentle accountability serves as an effective means of motivating faculty to maintain progress on their scholarly work without feeling as if there are competing priorities that should take precedence.
  • Deep Dive: AI Drop-ins, November 11 at 1:15 PM, Mellon Seminar Room
    NOT another AI Roundtable! Unlike traditional workshops, this drop-in format is designed around your specific questions, challenges, and curiosities about AI. Come and go as your schedule allows during our two-hour window. Whether you have 20 minutes between classes or can stay for the full session, you'll find targeted support for your AI-related interests. This collaborative format allows for deeper, more personalized discussions than traditional workshop Q&As. Registration is preferred, but NOT required.
  • Part-time Faculty Brown Bag, November 11 at 3:00 PM, Online
    All part-time faculty are encouraged to attend this virtual meeting to discuss end-of-semester tasks and challenges. 
  • Fall Faculty Writing Group Lunch, November 17 at 11:00 AM, Mellon Seminar Room
    Each Monday, the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gathers in the Mellon Seminar Room to dedicate one hour of sustained writing. During this time, each member works on their individual writing project in silent fellowship with other group members. This gentle accountability serves as an effective means of motivating faculty to maintain progress on their scholarly work without feeling as if there are competing priorities that should take precedence.
  • Fall Faculty Book Club, November 17 at 5:00 PM, Mellon Seminar Room
    The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development hosts an annual Fall Faculty Book Club. This professional development initiative brings together a small cohort of faculty to read and discuss a carefully selected book focused on teaching, learning, and higher education pedagogy. For our 18th year, we are reading The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI by Tricia Bertram Gallant and David A. Rettinger.
  • Faculty Portfolio Working Group, November 18 at 11:00 AM, Online
    Members of this year's Faculty Portfolio Working Group meet to discuss their monthly assignments and progress. This closed working group supports faculty in creating online portfolios that document the breadth of their academic work. Now in its third decade, the group evolved from the original 1994 Course Portfolio Working Group to its current focus on comprehensive faculty portfolios.
  • End-of-Semester Mindfulness Check-in, November 19 at 1:00 PM, CAT+FD Conference Room
    Do you have a regular practice of meditation, contemplation, or something else that feeds your soul? If not, would you like to cultivate one? Mindfulness supports our teaching and learning as university professionals. It also promotes the success and well-being of students, and it makes all of us more effective instruments of Xavier’s mission. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome.
  • New Faculty Brown Bag, November 20 at 12:15 PM, Mellon Seminar Room
    This year's cohort of of first-year faculty will meet to discuss successes and challenged during their first semester teaching at Xavier and will learn about faculty updates and Interfolio. 
  • Fall Faculty Writing Group Lunch, November 24 at 11:00 AM, Mellon Seminar Room
    Each Monday, the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gathers in the Mellon Seminar Room to dedicate one hour of sustained writing. During this time, each member works on their individual writing project in silent fellowship with other group members. This gentle accountability serves as an effective means of motivating faculty to maintain progress on their scholarly work without feeling as if there are competing priorities that should take precedence.

OUTSIDE OPPORTUNITIES

CAT+FD is not a sponsor of any of the following. These links are provided to share additional professional development activities. 

  • 8th Annual Sparking Success Faculty Development Conference, Tulane University, January 7-8, 2026. Tulane University’s Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching (CELT) invites proposals for interactive breakout sessions for the 8th Annual Sparking Success to be held Thursday, January 8, 2026. Sparking Success encourages faculty, staff, and graduate and professional students to come together, build community, and find inspiration for enhancing our lives on campus.
  • AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success (CLASS 2026), Tucson, AZ, April 16-18, 2026.The theme for this year's AAC&U CLASS conference is "courageous care" in recognition "that transformative education emerges when institutions genuinely prioritize student and educator learning, well-being, belonging, and success." The conference takes place from April 16 to 18 and can be attended in person  or online.
  • 4th Annual Teaching and Learning with AI Conference, University of Central Florida, June 11-13, 2026. The call for proposals is now open for the 4th annual Teaching and Learning with AI: A Sharing Conference Between Educational Practitioners, hosted by the University of Central Florida. This in-person event will bring together instructors, higher education professionals, researchers, librarians, and policymakers to discuss best practices and the use of AI in classrooms and across campuses, colleges, and universities.
  • Brightspace D2L Academy. The D2L Academy is a version of Brightspace available to all members of the Brightspace Community where you'll find Premium (paid) content like Certificate and Subscription Training Courses, as well as FREE Courses, Downloads and Teaching Tools. The D2L Academy is also where you can connect with Brightspace Guided Training, and the Product Idea Exchange (PIE).

Published on Leave a comment on CAT+FD Event Information, Served Up Your Way

If you're like me, you live and die by your electronic calendar. I've got one calendar for my personal stuff, one for my work stuff, one for my daughter's school, and so on. Wouldn't it be nice if you could get all the faculty development opportunities from CAT+FD in your calendar too?

Well, you can. Keep in mind, this isn't the same as actually registering for any event, but it's pretty handy. All our CAT+FD events are stored in LibCal. (Many thanks to Xavier Library for sharing LibCal access.) So just head on over there and look for the iCal icon.

Don't be fooled, this isn't just for iCal users. It will work for Outlook, Google, and just about any app that supports the iCal format. Click the icon to reveal the super-secret link, but don't follow that link — just copy it. Then paste it into the appropriate field of your preferred calendar app.

For example, in Outlook, choose "Add calendar > Subscribe from web" to get there.

That should import all CAT+FD events into a discrete calendar that you can toggle on and off, to show or hide as you see fit. And the best part is, the calendar is updated automatically to reflect any changes.

Again, you haven't signed up for any of these events. If you want to attend, just visit our website to register. That's essential — and it's the only way to get the Zoom link for our hybrid events.

Not ready to go the calendar route? You might want to check out the portal. That's right, the good old Xavier portal at my.xula.edu now has CAT+FD event listings. They might be on your dashboard already, or hit the Events & Calendars tab. You can customize your view to show the calendars that are most relevant for you.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention our CAT+FD events newsletter. Don't forget to subscribe in order to receive updates in your inbox, approximately once per week.

Published on Leave a comment on Catholic Business Leader: Save the Date

Hey folks! Hope you're enjoying summer break and this record-breaking heat. Hopefully it will be a little cooler when this event rolls around in the fall. We're posting this in support of our faculty in the Division of Business, aiming to spread the word and get on calendars. Download the flyer in PDF.

The Catholic Business Leader: A New Orleans Symposium
Save the Date - September 29 through October 1, 2022
With Keynote Speaker, Cardinal Peter Turkson
Sponsored by Xavier University of Louisiana and Loyola University of New Orleans

Published on Leave a comment on Call for Papers: The Crucial Conversation

Tentative Title: The Crucial Conversation: Teaching Race and Racism in the Postsecondary Context
Editors: Drs. William T. Hoston, Laurette B. Foster, and Fred A. Bonner II
Abstract Length: 300 to 500 words.
Abstract Proposal Deadline: No later than April 16, 2021.

Objective:

This edited volume will explore the best practices for effective teaching and learning relevant to race and racism in the post-George Floyd era, where American universities and colleges are placing a greater emphasis on fostering educational contexts that address diversity, inclusion, belonging, and race relations. The emphasis on these constructs in our current societal climate, which has led institutions to pledge a commitment to addressing racial injustices, is the foundation for this book.

Call for Papers PDFDownload