Announcements and News

Universal Design for Learning Consultants 
This spring, the CLTL is joining forces with Student Academic Services to develop a consultancy program pairing folks on campus who have undergone training in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) with colleagues who wish to adopt UDL practices in their own course design and practice. Faculty who participate will have the opportunity for an individual consultation (60-90 minutes) with a fellow staff/faculty member trained in Universal Design for Learning. If you think you would benefit from this kind of tailored individual pedagogical support, please email Beck Krefting, who will connect you with a UDL consultant. We will do everything we can to accommodate requests, but there are a limited number of consultancies (first come, first served). This program is funded in part by a grant from the New York State Department of Education. 

New Faculty Learning Community 
The New Faculty Learning Community (NFLC) kicked off the spring semester with lunch in the dining hall last week. There will be more moments to connect, learn, and celebrate in the coming weeks. For a schedule of these events, please visit the CLTL Learning Communities page.

Announcing the Summer 2024 Open Education Publishing Institute  
The Graduate Center (GC) of the City University of New York has announced it summer 2024 Open Education Publishing Institute: Collaborative Knowledge and Social Justice and is calling for participants. The institute is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities grant program and is hosted by GC Digital Initiatives and the GC Teaching and Learning Center. 

Support for AI in Higher Education 
You are likely thinking about how AI will impact teaching in higher education; for instance, what does an AI statement on your syllabus look like? CLTL and LEDS have teamed up to create a page of sample syllabus statements supplied by your colleagues across campus. Don’t forget that Skidmore is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), through which you have FREE access to many excellent professional development tools. You may utilize this and more with a free individual membership account by visiting the NCFDD website, selecting our institution, and creating and activating a new membership. Check out forthcoming webinars on AI in academia, one on teaching challenges and opportunities and a panel on discussing current challenges for faculty.

LGBTQIA+ Resources 
Last spring, the CLTL Team worked with Phoenix Goldenberg ’25, president of Skidmore Pride Alliance, to develop instructional materials for students, staff, and faculty on how to be an ally to LGBTQIA+ folks. Goldenberg took the lead and interviewed students and faculty across departments and programs to design materials (e.g., questionnaires for the classroom, a list of appropriate terminology, best practices for making LGBTQIA+ folks feel a sense of belonging on campus, web resources, and a fun video featuring our students).  

Student Support Services 
In addition to the in-person services provided by the Counseling Center — Skidmore provides teletherapy services offered through BetterMynd. Students have up to 12 sessions of teletherapy per academic year. In addition, students will be able to access up to three group skill-building workshops per year. The Student Assessment and Intervention Group (SAIG) remains a resource to share non-emergency concerns about your students (e.g., attendance). You may find the SAIG form here. 

The Weller Room and Lending Library (LIB 212)
This space devoted to CLTL events is also available for (quiet) workspace each weekday morning from 9 a.m. to noon. Folks participating in the Scholarly/Creative Endeavors (SCE) work groups are especially encouraged to use this space before meeting for lunch. The space is stocked with coffee, tea, condiments, cleaning supplies, and paper products. All faculty have swipe access to the space; if you are participating in SCE work groups and you do not have access, you may contact Darlene LeBaron to activate your ID. If you wish to reserve the space for events that advance the CLTL mission, you may submit a request online here. The Weller Room also has a lending library with relevant texts on critical pedagogical studies, navigating higher education, DEIJAB in the classroom, and universal design for learning pedagogies. To use the lending library:  

1. Select the book you want from our wonderful selection. 
2. Fill out the form here. 
3. Enjoy your read and return to Weller Room(LIB 212) when finished! 

Funding for new Black Studies courses 
We are pleased to announce that due to the generous support of the Mellon Foundation — for a three-year grant: Africana Studies and the Humanities at Skidmore: Transnational Explorations in Social Justice — we are able to offer stipends of $1,000 to faculty who successfully create courses cross-listed with the Black Studies Program (BST). Note that in order to be compensated, you need to submit a Guidelines Form to the BST Advisory Board by Nov. 1, 2024, as well as a proposal to Curriculum Committee (CC) by Dec. 15, 2024. Stipends cannot be distributed for courses already counting toward the Black studies minor; however, they could include existing courses with significant revisions. For additional support in developing a course for BST, consider joining one of the Racial Justice Learning Communities offered each semester and piloting the course for the Racial Justice Teaching Challenge. For additional information, please contact the co-PIs, Professor and Director of Black Studies Winston Grady-Willis and Professor of American Studies and CLTL Director Beck Krefting.