Meet new 2021–22 faculty in AS&E: We welcome everyone to an exciting academic year. Meet the extraordinary cohort of new faculty joining Arts, Sciences & Engineering. Their accomplishments in research and teaching are already truly impressive, and they join a vibrant University community of dedicated scholars and teachers who are transforming the lives of students and expanding their research fields.
Coming soon: Sloan Performing Arts Center
The 30,000-square-foot Sloan Performing Arts Center had its soft opening at the end of August, adding a much-anticipated new building to the River Campus in time for the fall semester. The building will be fully functional by the end of the calendar year. The Sloan Center is made possible thanks to the generosity of University Life Trustee Thomas Sloan ’65, ’67 (MS) and Linda Sloan ’67 and other lead donors. Learn more about the Sloan Center.
Creating a mindful classroom: The mission of the Mindful University Project is to create a culture of mindfulness for a campus ever better. To do so, their efforts focus significantly on equipping faculty and staff with knowledge and tangible tools on how to utilize mindfulness throughout their day, as well as help them respond to the mental health needs of their students with more ease and efficacy. With this, the initiative is continuing to offer workshops centered on supporting student mental health. In the fall, they will be leading the Identifying and Recognizing Students in Distress, Supporting Students’ Mental Health during COVID, and Trauma-Informed Pedagogies workshops. Sign up for their monthly newsletter to stay informed on the workshop dates as well as informed about our new workshops coming in the spring, such as Mindful Leadership. In addition, are you interested in bringing mindfulness to your team? The project is now offering an expanded menu of workshops that your department can request! You can find our list of workshops here. Such workshops include: Mindful 101, Creating a Mindful Classroom, Self-Compassion Breaks, the mindful workday, and more.
Professional development sessions—Creating an Anti-Racist Campus, Advanced Antiracism training; Creating a Queer-Inclusive AS&E: The Office of the Dean for Diversity, the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center, and the David T. Kearns Center have created a professional development series for faculty, graduate students, and staff. This includes Creating an Anti-Racist Campus (for those who did not attend last year, or attended only one or two sessions); Advanced Anti-Racism training; and a new offering, Creating a Queer-Inclusive AS&E. All past participants in the anti-racism training are invited to a working session on action plans. Descriptions of each session can be found here. Please contact Amanda Johnson with any questions.
Apply for a Course Development Grant: Consider applying for one of several course development grants that support instructors in the development of AS&E courses. AS&E’s course development grants all have a common annual deadline, coming up on November 15. Faculty interested in the following programs should submit a proposal by that deadline:
- Teaching Innovation Grant,
- Community-Engaged Course Development Grant,
- Meliora Seminars Course Development Grant (Mellon Humanities Grant),
- Humanities for Life Course Development Grant (Mellon Humanities Grant), or
- Career Curriculum Course Development Grant (Greene Center)
Learn about all available grants and how to apply here.
WUN Research Development Fund 2021—Mobilizing for a Sustainable Future: The 2021 round of the World Universities Network (WUN) Research Development Fund is now open. In its 13th year, the fund provides researchers at member universities with grants of up to £10,000 (nearly $14,000) to foster research collaborations across the network. Each member institution is permitted to lead two proposals per year but can collaborate on as many as desired. Faculty members interested in leading a proposal effort should contact the University WUN coordinator, Ruth Levenkron, for more information. Applications are due Friday, October 22. Additional information may be found on the Global Engagement website.
Updates from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions: After restarting campus tours this summer, Admissions continues to offer both in-person tours as well as virtual information sessions and workshops for prospective students and their families. This October will also see the return of on-campus Research Rochester (October 16 and November 13) open house programs as well as virtual Research Rochester events (October 11 and November 15). While Admissions is planning in-person Research Rochester events this fall, they will continue to monitor University and State COVID-19 directives related to off-campus visitors in advance of these in-person admissions events.
Greene Center Careers Unfiltered Podcast: The Greene Center is excited to share that their podcast, Careers Unfiltered, released an all-new series this past summer featuring Rochester faculty members. This six-episode series is available to listen to on a variety of platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Guests include Stephanie Ashenfelder, Greg Gdowski, Pablo Sierra, Allen Topolski, Danielle Presgraves, and Joanna Scott. With over 50 episodes of career conversations with alumni, students, staff, and now faculty – there’s something for everyone! Anyone interested in becoming a future guest for Careers Unfiltered should fill out this form.
Attending events with Wilson Commons: Planning to attend Club Rochester, Hartnett Gallery receptions, or any other programs hosted by Wilson Commons Student Activities (WCSA)? If you are attending an event hosted by WCSA, all guests will need to check in using their Personal QR Code. This unique-to-you code can be found in the CampusGroups app. Download the app to your mobile device, log in using your UR Active Directory information, and select University of Rochester. Tap the square in the upper right corner and show that code to the Event Team when you arrive. Tip: Screenshot your QR code so you have it ready. Need help? This short video shows where to locate your Personal QR Code. Event staff will be available to assist you when checking in.
