This semester’s Faculty Development Day, held on January 24, provided the opportunity for faculty to come together as a community, and it gave them the chance to learn about new tools, strategies, and approaches that can help support student success and enrich the overall educational experience here at John Jay. “How do we enhance learning?” asked Provost Yi Li during a Q&A session. “Our students today are very different from the students of yesterday, and the students of tomorrow. The way we teach them must change. You are the people who will make those changes happen. I have the deepest appreciation for what you do, day in, and out.”
The day’s sessions highlighted inclusivity, diversity, experiential learning, and online teaching practices. One of the most anticipated sessions was Introducing the John Jay Justice eReader Project. The Justice eReader is a collection of open and library-licensed texts and materials that will be available for free to all students and teachers. The goal, said Raymond Patton, Ph.D., Director of General Partnerships and General Education, is to, “cultivate an intellectual community of teaching and learning around justice, in a forum that teachers can use in the classroom and students can access for free.” The Justice eReader will include a selection of core texts that introduce readers to concepts, experiences, and ideas regarding justice, along with a database of contemporary and historical texts, and valuable teaching materials. Calling the Justice eReader a “living document,” María Julia Rossi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, hopes that the entire John Jay community gets involved in the eReader’s evolution.
Faculty Development Day was sponsored and supported by the Teaching and Learning Center. And, it was the tireless efforts of the Center's Director, Gina Foster, that made the day’s events possible. We spoke with several faculty members to find out what they hoped to learn and gain from this semester’s Faculty Development Day.
Dara N. Byrne
Associate Provost for Undergraduate Retention & Dean of Undergraduate Studies
“Faculty development day is critical because faculty at this College have a commitment to continuous improvement. The day offers us the opportunity to convene as teacher-scholars around the issues that are core to effectiveness in-and outside the classroom. There is no better way to kick off each semester with colleagues sharing lessons learned and best practices for success.”
Allison Pease
Associate to the Provost for Faculty and Professor of English
“I am really excited to see everybody here. They’re all trying to make themselves ready for the semester and to become better teachers. That’s what this day is all about. I’m also excited for the debut of the Justice eReader. Unique to John Jay, the Justice eReader will hopefully be used across our courses, so that all students are introduced to a similar body of knowledge when thinking about justice.”
Matthew Perry
Associate Professor of History
“I am part of the editorial board on the new Justice eReader project. It is such a useful project for both instructors and students. I also joined a session on online teaching. Today is all about expanding your skillset. Since I plan to conduct hybrid classes, where part of the teaching takes place in the classroom and the other part is online, it’s important for me to learn new techniques that will help improve my online teaching skills.”
Elizabeth Nisbet
Assistant Professor of Public Management
“I like to come to Faculty Development Day to get new ideas for the classroom and see how to construct different exercises and structured learning. I enjoy connecting with faculty across departments. It stimulates new thinking about how we can do our work and gives me the chance to connect with a lot of people I don’t normally get to see.”
Denise Thompson
Assistant Professor of Public Management
“I come to every Faculty Development Day because I think there is so much to learn in order to improve your teaching style and syllabi, and just your approach to teaching in general. These are things that help make the learning experience stronger, so I try not to miss it.”
Robin Davis
Emerging Technologies and Online Learning Librarian
“Faculty Development Day is important for a lot of cross disciplinarian and interdisciplinary discussions about how we can best serve our students, getting on board with shared goals of student success. I learn a lot from my colleagues and appreciate the chance to really dig deep on how we can achieve student success.”
Stephen C. Russell
Assistant Professor of Ancient History
“I’m excited about the e-reader project. I teach a course called ‘Justice in Western Traditions’ and I make students buy a textbook. I hope this free alternative will have a depth of resources that are available to students.”
Maria D’Agostino
Associate Professor of Public Management
“I wanted to see how I could incorporate the e-reader in my class. It would be great to assign my students readings that are available for free on the eReader instead of having them purchase books.”
More scenes from the event:
