Communities of Practice

Facilitator: Jennifer Griffiths

According to the PIT University Network (PIT-UN), Public Interest Technology is “the study and application of technology expertise to advance the public interest, generate public benefits, and promote the public good,” including the ethical, legal, policy, and societal dimensions of technological change. Many New York Tech colleagues are already doing work: embedding technology ethics in courses, programming, and mentoring; partnering with community organizations; teaching students to analyze how technology shapes public life; or designing research around questions of access, equity, and civic participation. This Community of Practice is an invitation to find one another, name what we share, and build together. We will explore the possibilities of our new membership in PIT-UN and active participation in the Public Interest Tech New York Regional Hub (PIT-NY) while developing the programming opportunities offered through Tech Talks: Promoting Civil Discourse at New York Institute of Technology, a 2026–2029 federal FIPSE grant that connects PIT themes to students’ capacity for constructive dialogue across political, cultural, and technological divides. Together, these resources create a rare opportunity to develop something sustained and integrated.

Facilitators: Donna Potts

This Community of Practice (CoP) brings together faculty and staff interested in designing and refining project-based learning (PBL) experiences aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will collaborate to translate global challenges, such as climate action, health equity, sustainable cities, and clean energy into interdisciplinary, student-driven projects that can be integrated into a variety of courses and programs. The CoP will provide space to share ideas, develop practical assignments, and build adaptable models that enhance student engagement, critical thinking, and real-world application.

Facilitator: fikayo odugbemi

Artificial Intelligence continues to disrupt academic spaces. As we ask how we use it, we also need to ask what it means for teaching and learning. This CoP creates a space for faculty and staff to slow down, think critically, and engage deeply with AI and its implications for teaching, learning, and academic life.

During our time together, we will read two carefully chosen books – The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism an anthology of essays interrogating the potential of good technology and Death of the Author, a science fiction book about androids and AI. We’ll move between philosophical and practical questions, interrogating assumptions, ethics, and applications to develop a critical framework to thoughtfully reimagine our teaching and assessment practices. As we continue to wrestle with the disruption of emerging technologies, this CoP provides the space for us to engage with it on our terms.

Facilitator: John Misak

AI changes every six minutes. Your syllabus does not need to.

This Community of Practice is for faculty who want to explore practical, thoughtful ways to use AI in teaching, research, course development, and the thousand small tasks that somehow become part of academic life. We’ll share useful workflows, experiment with prompting and context engineering, compare tools, develop classroom activities, talk through student AI use, and look at ways AI can assist with everything from Canvas content and feedback to research and routine administrative work.

This is not an AI fan club, and it is not the AI police. You do not need to be an expert, an enthusiast, or even particularly convinced yet. Bring something that worked, something that failed spectacularly, or something you simply want to figure out.

The goal is to build a faculty community around AI use that is practical, ethical, efficient, and grounded in human expertise. Ideally, we’ll save each other some time, learn from each other’s experiments, and make fewer mistakes separately.

Facilitator: John Zweck

This community of practice is based on the premise that having colleagues read, comment, reread and comment yet again on drafts of your proposal is essential for success in grant writing. Our group sessions will provide faculty preparing grant applications in AY 2026-2027 with a venue to obtain thoughtful feedback from colleagues. Participants will be invited to share drafts at any stage of development: from a research paper with the kernel of a new direction to a near-complete proposal to a resubmission. Through these living cases studies we will discuss how to tell a compelling story while writing to merit review criteria and clearly communicating to review panels.

Facilitator: fikayo odugbemi

When students are engaged, their motivation increases, their learning deepens, and their academic success improves. In this community of practice, faculty will explore strategies for creating inclusive classrooms where students meaningfully engage with course material and each other. Join us to discover and implement approaches that foster active participation, collaboration, and a sense of belonging for all students.

Facilitator: Robert Alexander

The “Student Research Engagement” Community of Practice brings together faculty interested in strengthening and sustaining student involvement in research and scholarship across disciplines. Through collaborative discussion, troubleshooting, and shared experimentation, participants will explore common challenges and work together to identify practical, scalable solutions. We will discuss onboarding, motivation, skill development, time constraints, mentorship structures, equitable access to opportunities, and more. This Community of Practice is designed as a space for honest conversation, resource sharing, and collective problem-solving. Participants will have opportunities to reflect on their own contexts, exchange strategies, and engage with emerging tools and approaches for building more effective and sustainable student research systems. Whether you want to involve students in scholarship for the first time or are looking to refine and expand your existing approaches, this group offers a supportive space to think strategically about research training, mentorship, and student success.

Facilitator: Alex Rothstein

This year, we will be taking all our lessons and producing a reflective practice that New York Tech faculty can adopt in their teaching work. 

First Designing for engagement community practice. This would be their 3^rd year in community together and this round they will be working on turning the work they have been doing into scholarship of teaching and learning

• Set personal goals and collaborate on a shared group goal.
• Commit to producing a final group product by the end of the academic year—examples include:
  • A revised assignment or syllabus
  • A poster presentation or manuscript draft
  • Evidence of improved teaching or student outcomes
• Engage actively in discussions, activities, and peer learning.

Participants are eligible to receive up to $500 in professional development support. These funds can be used for:

• Conference attendance
• Membership in a professional organization
• Registration for webinars or short courses
• Books or resources related to your area of interest

To receive funding, participants must:

• Attend all meetings (one absence per semester is permitted).
• Submit all required reflections.
• Submit an individual “deliverable” to the CoP facilitator before the final meeting.