A Word From the VP
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you all had a wonderful winter break, the planned one, and the unexpected additional “snow days” of last week. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen snow in Tallahassee. I enjoyed watching kids and families playing in the snow. Of course, for those of you teaching this semester, there is a price to be paid for those unexpected days off, making up for missed classes. I know most of you have experience with this, given the number of hurricanes that come through town, but if you are new to FSU and would like some help with providing students with well-designed make up assignments, please contact the Center for Advancement of Teaching for assistance.
In this issue of Faculty Matters, we announce the faculty members who were awarded sabbaticals and professional development leaves. The proposals submitted by these faculty members reflect the impressive work our faculty are doing. My thanks to the faculty members who served on the selection committees. Your service is much appreciated. This issue also includes information about upcoming events and application information for faculty awards.
This time last spring we launched the 2024 Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey. I want to thank all who completed the survey. Beginning in 2015, we have administered the COACHE survey every 3 years. This survey allows us to compare faculty satisfaction at FSU to faculty at peer institutions as well as to FSU’s findings over time. The results of the 2024 survey are on the FDA website.
I am happy to report that satisfaction of our faculty was among the best of the universities in a national cohort of universities that participated in the 2024 COACHE survey. Given the times we are living in, this is welcome news. I was also pleased to see that faculty satisfaction with mentoring has improved substantially. In 2018, our COACHE results showed FSU faculty, especially associate professors, expressed dissatisfaction with mentoring. In response to those findings, we gathered additional information from our faculty and designed interventions aimed at improving mentoring. This is a good example of how the COACHE survey data can be used to improve faculty work life.
In contrast to improvements in faculty views on mentoring, there was little improvement in faculty satisfaction with interdisciplinary work. My team and I are doing a deeper dive into the data to better understand the challenges faculty engaged in interdisciplinary work experience. This semester I will hold several faculty forums to present what we’ve learned from the survey and to solicit your feedback and ideas about ways to facilitate interdisciplinary work at FSU. I hope you’ll join us in these discussions.
I wish you all a happy and productive semester!
Best,
Janet Kistner
Professor of Psychology
Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement
Faculty Support
Faculty Writing Accountability
Yes, this helps. Yes, we are still meeting. Every weekday morning from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. you have an opportunity to join other FSU faculty and write in solidarity. We meet virtually; we put our daily goal in the chat; we write; we leave as we need. During the session we cheer each other on and provide an amazing camaraderie as we simply write together. It is like seeing other people at the gym...or the right person at the board meeting. You feel validated, part of something, not so isolated. Come join our community and jump start that lagging project, finish that lingering one, or start something completely new. The scheduled writing rhythm is a powerful thing. Register here to get the zoom link.
Fulbright Scholar Application Information Session
On Friday, May 9, 11:00 a.m. - noon, FDA will host an information session on applying for a Fulbright Scholar or Fulbright Distinguished Chair award. We will preview the Fulbright catalog of available awards, discuss the lynchpin traits sought by reviewers, identify available application supports, discuss FSU procedures and best practices, and strategize how to select the host country and timing of your award. This information will be applicable if you plan to apply this cycle (September 2025 deadline for 2026-27 award) or later. Register here.
Humanities Fellowships Application Information Session
On Friday, February 28, 11:30 – 12:30 in 201 Westcott, FDA will host an information session on three major Humanities fellowship opportunities: the NEH Fellowship, the ACLS Fellowship, and the NHC Residential Fellowship. Plan to attend to learn if your work is a good match for these recognitions and the process for application at FSU. Register here.
Before FSU’s event, a free online information session will be held for the NEH Fellowship on February 19, 2025, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A recording will be provided. The webinar introduces the program, describes the application process and eligibility criteria, and offers application writing suggestions. It consists of a 45-minute presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. Close captions are provided. Registration link here.
Individual Career Ten-Year Plan
It is important and fun to talk about the future – where do you want to be in ten years? What will it take to get there? To schedule a time for an individual consultation to plan your best career path, email Peggy Wright-Cleveland and Sonja Carter at facultyrecognition@fsu.edu.
Best Practices for Award Nomination – Colleague and Staff Support
FSU provides training in best practices and support to faculty and staff working on award nominations. If you would like to learn more, email Peggy Wright-Cleveland and Sonja Carter at facultyrecognition@fsu.edu.
Faculty Celebrations
Faculty Sabbaticals Awarded
Congratulations to all FSU faculty earning sabbatical leave this academic year. We wish you a restorative, energizing, and productive time of growth.
Professional Development Leave Awarded
Congratulations to all FSU faculty and staff earning professional development leave this academic year. We wish you an invigorating time of growth and refocus.
FSU Authors Day Annual Celebration
The Office of Faculty Development and Advancement and FSU Libraries are hosting the annual FSU Author’s Day reception on Thursday, March 6, 2025 from 4-6pm. This program annually honors faculty and staff that have recently published a book. Please plan to join us in the beautiful Beth Moor Lounge to congratulate the authors and peruse FSU scholarship in book form.
If you are a faculty or staff member who has published a book in the last year, Jan 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024, please either update your FEAS profile or reach out to Brew Schoonover at dschoonover@fsu.edu to be sure your book is included in FSU Author’s Day.
Nominations are Open for the Ralph Stair Prize in Innovative Education
Inaugurated in 2013, the Ralph Stair Prize in Innovative Education is awarded biennially to an individual or collaborative team at FSU who has developed innovative education approaches that demonstrate the potential of having great impact nationally and internationally. "Innovative educational approaches" include but are not limited to the following: textbooks, Internet sites, distance learning approaches, online delivery of course materials and content, instructor materials, student materials, uses of technology to enhance learning and evaluation of learning.
This award is open to all FSU faculty, instructors, lecturers, adjuncts, and others involved in teaching and the development of educational materials.
Nominations are due February 27, 2025. Click here for full nomination instructions.
Nuts and Bolts
Promotion Workshops
T’is the season! Faculty Promotion and/or Tenure Workshops will be offered this spring. If you are going up for promotion, make sure to attend one of these sessions to learn about all the technical and procedural details.
The FSU Community
FSU Milton Carothers Faculty Lecture Series Continues
The Milton Carothers Faculty Lecture Series is the oldest continuously running lecture series on campus. In it, we highlight FSU faculty work. Come join us and learn what your colleagues across campus are doing.
Lectures take place in the Bradley Reading Room at FSU's Strozier Library. All are welcome! You may bring your own lunch, or pre-register for lunch provided courtesy of FSU's Office of Research. RSVPs are required for the provided lunch. mation, College of Communication and Information)
SPRING SPEAKERS AND DATES
Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Andrew Epstein (Professor and Chair of English, College of Arts and Sciences) and Tana Jean Welch (Associate Professor of Medical Humanities, College of Medicine)
Crossover Event with the Festival of the Creative Arts!
Tuesday, April 15, 2025, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Mia Lustria (Professor, School of Information, College of Communication and Information) and Zhe He (Professor, School of Information, College of Communication and Information)
Faculty Senate
As you have heard, the January meeting of the Faculty Senate has been cancelled and all agenda items have been moved to the February meeting. You may, as always, access all Senate materials here.
FDA Faculty Fellows
The Office of Faculty Development & Advancement launched the Faculty Fellows program in the 2021-22 academic year. Each year, faculty fellows work closely with the VP for Faculty Development and Advancement on initiatives focused on enhancing faculty success. This year we are excited to be working with Dr. Lara Perez-Felkner and Dr. Annika Culver as they explore strategies for strengthening faculty mentorship, satisfaction, and retention.
Dr. Lara Perez-Felkner is an FDA Faculty Fellow for 2024-25. Dr. Perez-Felkner is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in FSU’s Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
In Fall 2024, Dr. Perez-Felkner began her term as FDA Faculty Fellow assessing and evaluating faculty patterns at FSU and nationally concerning family leave policies, mentoring, and inclusive excellence. Initiatives included collaborative development and completion of a benchmarking analysis of family leave policies at AAU and Top 25 Public institutions as well as development and completion of the first full draft of an institutional award for FSU with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Perez-Felkner will focus her Faculty Fellow work in Spring 2025 on Family Leave Policy development and continued COACHE data review.
Dr. Annika A. Culver is an FDA Faculty Fellow for 2024-25. Dr. Culver is a Professor of East Asian History in the Department of History in FSU’s College of Arts & Sciences.
Dr. Culver is researching how universities provide support for caregivers. She first compared FSU with 23 peer institutions from the IPEDS 2023 data report and with AAU institutions. Then, she studied websites focused on caregiving and leave, to see the available support. Dr. Culver discovered support ranged from lactation rooms throughout campuses to contingency care for children, older adults, and even pets! At the same time, she avidly collected studies, articles, and digital sites on caregiving, including from the Surgeon General’s office by Vivek H. Murthy and interviewed academic leaders and faculty at FSU.
In Spring 2025, Dr. Culver will collaborate with FSU colleagues to host a Carothers Luncheon and Faculty Round-Table Discussion on Caregiving in the Claude Pepper Center Broad Auditorium (March 4, 12-1:30 p.m.) She will guide the production of a new FSU webpage: Caregiving Hub, set to preview in April, and she will learn more about opportunities at FSU for administrators to collaborate with professors.