Viji

It’s soooo good. Thanks for putting it for all to think about.

Advice | Sometimes We Resist AI for Good Reasons Why higher ed needs to listen to the contrarians in setting policies on using tools like ChatGPT in faculty work.

My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂

3 Questions for Springfield College’s Chris Hakala A conversation with the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship.

Great response by Chris to the question “What argument would you make to university leaders that continued investment in their CTLs is strategic and necessary?”

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

Google search with schools advertising their appearance in Selingo’s book. Elon, Loyola, TCNJ, St. Olaf, Augustana

Really curious if schools will see a Selingo bump after his book comes out.

Yes, similar!

Flexible classroom space utilizing 5 stations for spark shops

Example sparkshop on GenAI

Slide with sparkshop logistics being shared with participants

Sparkshop instructions with stations indicated on a projected map of the classroom

Really creative use of a flexible space classroom for a teaching workshop with new faculty. The concept of “sparkshops” with 15-min sessions in designated areas that are of interest to faculty. They could attend 3 in the time allotted. Excellent post lunch activity. #CFE #FacultyFoundations

Joanna was inspired by a fantastic spring keynote from Angela Byars-Winston who recommended the deck. Sublime!

Joanna Foland sharing the rest deck in front a slide about the deck

At our Center for Faculty Excellence retreat today, Joanna Foland designed a fun and restorative ice breaker with the Rest Deck by #NapMinistry Tricia Hersey. In awe of the creativity of this team and kudos, Joanna!

Copy of snafu edu on my red metal desk in my office

I’m enjoying newly published book season!!! What’s on my desk now? It’s @geekypedagogy.bsky.social Snafu Edu. The book is rich with practical suggestions and skillful integration of teaching and learning scholarship. Congratulations, Jessamyn!

My academic job offer was rescinded. I’ll keep going—but U.S. researchers are running out of road Despite an uncertain future, this postdoc will “keep doing the science I love while I still have a bench”

A beautifully written piece on a terrible time

www.science.org/content/arti...

The Leadership Skills Scientists Need Right Now Jen Heemstra, chair of the chemistry department at Wash U. in St. Louis and author of a forthcoming book on leadership for scientists, has some advice for navigating the Trump administration’s sweepin...

Great leadership insights by @jenheemstra.bsky.social in here.

“Navigating turbulence requires constant course correction. We need people who can strategize, communicate and lead with empathy.”

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

🤚🏾

Copy of One classroom at a time on my desk in my office

Excited to see this one out! I got to read an advance copy and it is a great read. Kudos @dgooblar.bsky.social!

Thank you, Peter!

Cover of Katie’s book called A light in the tower

Day 2 at the new job & someone I work with handed me this book that her whole team read and asked me to please read it because “it’s amazing!”

@katiepryal.bsky.social you have huge fans here at the Center for Faculty Excellence! (I didn’t let on that we met in a CFE summer writing group years ago!)

Photo of me on a sofa in my office

Photo of my door cracked with sofa and rug in background

So yeah, today was a very, very good day. Honored to be a part of this special place on campus. Visit me any time in Wilson, my door’s open!

Me at my colorful orange desk!

When I met with the person I report to today I loved what she said: my job will be to care for the Center.
I know that by caring for the Center, I will be caring for my colleagues and everyone they support.

Photo of colorful bouquet on table with a card. Colors are pink and orange shades

Now, my love of faculty development for teaching, mentorship and leadership will be formally a role here at my favorite university. I received a warm team welcome and flowers in all my favorite colors. 💗

Image of me in front of a sign that lists everyone’s name and office number in the center

Today I started day 1 leading what we now call the Center for Faculty Excellence. While I knew early on that I loved teaching, what I hadn’t known is that I really love helping people learn — especially those who influence countless others in their classrooms, research spaces, and leadership roles.

Photo of Wilson library building

In 1997 I was freshly admitted to graduate school and assigned to TA a course. I marched myself to Wilson Library to the Center for Teaching and Learning determined to use every resource I could to improve…

I had so much fun with this one! Thanks for the invite @derekbruff.bsky.social!

Me in heart glasses wearing a giant hand signal for hook em and a large longhorn necklace

I oscillate wildly between being incredibly worried about the state of world affairs and mundane things like being excited to be at my kid’s college orientation trying to imagine normalcy. Thanks for the reprieve today @utaustin.bsky.social

Opinion | Senator Padilla: This Is How an Administration Acts When It’s Afraid (Gift Article) If this is how the administration treats a senator on camera, imagine what it could do to you.

“America’s promise doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because throughout our history ordinary people have called out our country’s contradictions and called on the government to live up to the principles of equality established at our founding.”

“while reading “Next to Heaven,” I sometimes thought I could feel individual cells in my body trying to die”

Ouch.

Opinion | My University Values Football More Than Education At the University of Colorado at Boulder, athletics gets all the attention — and funding.

Teachers like me are the trained professionals & content specialists whose primary role at the university is to develop citizens, leaders, & human beings who can empathize…and imagine a better tomorrow. My question is: Has the university forgotten its purpose?

Juneteenth is a day of celebration but is also sobering. Too often, we believe that the long arc of history bends towards justice itself.  
 
But WE bend the arc of history. It is up to us to recommit ourselves to fight inequality and ensure justice for all.  
 
Happy Juneteenth, North Carolina!

ONE STATE o NORTH GREAT SE State of Narth Caralina JOSH STEIN GOVERNOR JUNETEENTH 2025 BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, Juneteenth is recognized as National Independence Day and has been celebrated annually since June 19, 1866, to mark the abolition of sanctioned slavery in the United States; and WHEREAS, Juneteenth is about freedom, liberation, and celebration; it is a holiday for North Carolinians to acknowledge our history and the sacrifices that were made for freedom; and WHEREAS, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the rebellious areas would be thenceforward and forever free, changing the nature of the Civil War; and WHEREAS, in addition to freeing enslaved people held in Confederate States, the Emancipation Proclamation enabled the enlistment of African Americans in the Union Army as U.S. Colored Troops; and WHEREAS, it took almost three more years of conflict and loss to win the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in December 1865 to officially end slavery in the United States; and WHEREAS, the news of freedom disseminated gradually throughout the nation; on June 19, 1865, two months after the official surrender of the Confederacy at Appomattox, Union Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3 announcing freedom to some of the last enslaved people in the United States; and WHEREAS, in 2026, America will celebrate the 250* anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence marking the freedom of the United States, though not all Americans were truly free; and WHEREAS, despite more than 150 years passing since the abolition of slavery, there remain economic, institutional, and social barriers for Black people in America; and WHEREAS, on this anniversary each year, organizations and individuals throughout North Carolina an…

WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina encourages people to observe Juneteenth as an opportunity to reflect, rejoice,
and work together toward a brighter future as we continue to address racial injustices in our society today…
@joshsteinnc.bsky.social

The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after Presi...

Happy Juneteenth! nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...

25% off with code UNIVERSITY when ordered through Tertulia.

Hi! Today's the last day to take advantage of 25% off my book if you use the code UNIVERSITY and order through Tertulia. Official release is under 2 weeks away, at which point you'll hear much less about this. Good all around! tertulia.com/book/the-car...

Minute 16. What delightful watch.

“It is possible to move discomfort into joy.”