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Faculty Development Day Fall 2024

Date: November 6, 2024
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: Serota Hall, Long Island campus
Old Westbury, NY

New York Tech faculty and staff are invited to attend the Fall 2024 Faculty Development Day: Cultivating Wellness and Respectful Dialogue in Higher Education on November 6, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ET), at our Long Island campus, Mollie Rogers Auditorium, Serota Hall.

We welcome Associate Professor Mays Imad, Ph.D., Connecticut College, who will offer a keynote address on the critical role of teaching through discomfort and challenging traditional agreements and assumptions in higher education. Professor Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., will join Imad in conversation to extend and deepen the discussion of these topics. Register now.

NOTE: Morning events are for New York faculty and staff only. NYITCOM-Arkansas faculty and staff will join us for the keynote presentation and are welcome to attend the afternoon breakout sessions via streaming. All events are Eastern Time (ET).

Register

Please register by October 23.

Agenda

9 – 10:45 a.m.

Registration and Light Breakfast

9:45 – 10:30 a.m.

Breakout Sessions

  • Live Each Day Mindfully, with Anu Raj, Psy.D., Assistant Professor, College of Osteopathic Medicine
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    Mindfulness enhances awareness of the present moment, leading to reduced stress, improved emotional regulation, and better focus. Discover the principles of mindfulness and gain practical skills in mindful walking and eating, along with essential tips for achieving a healthy balance in your daily life.

  • Eating Healthy in Record Time, with Mindy Haar, Ph.D., Clinical Professor and Department Chair, School of Health Professions
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    Eating well does not need to be overly time-consuming or expensive. This session will include a brief introduction to evidence-based nutrition recommendations and demos of quick, easy-to-prepare meals and snacks.

  • Using the Chakra System for Wellness, with Linda Schneider, Ph.D., RN, HN-BC, Assistant Professor, School of Health Professions
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    This interactive session introduces several Eastern non-invasive healing modalities for well-being. Tap into what resonates with you for your own self-care practice.

  • The Healing Path: Integrating Physical Activity and Reflection, with Hallie Zwibel, D.O. M.P.H., FAAFP, FACOFP, Assistant Dean of Clinical Operations and Associate Professor, College of Osteopathic Medicine
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    Join us for a walk through the Healing Path and a conversation about integrating physical activity with reflective practices. This immersive experience fosters well-being and mindful reflection amidst nature, enhancing both personal and teaching effectiveness.

10:45 – 11 a.m.

Opening Remarks

11 a.m. – noon

Keynote

Learning Through Discomfort: Transforming Educational Spaces for Intellectual and Emotional Growth, with Mays Imad, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Connecticut College

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This presentation will explore the pedagogy of discomfort, emphasizing the importance of learning through challenging traditional norms and embracing disagreement in higher education. Well discuss how educational spaces can foster understanding and growth by viewing discomfort as an opportunity. The session will encourage the community to support not only intellectual development but also the emotional and spiritual growth of students. By doing so, we highlight the link between the health of our educational environments and the broader well-being of society.

The keynote speech will be followed by a conversation with Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Humanities.

Noon – 1:30 p.m.

Lunch and Raffles

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

  • Reparative Humanism in Higher Education: Examining and Recasting Agreements that Govern Teaching and Learning, with Mays Imad, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Connecticut College
    Read More

    The well-being of the entire academic community, including faculty, is essential for achieving a truly inclusive and nurturing educational environment. This session will explore the intricate relationship between trauma, burnout, healing, and our collective human experience. Reparative humanism, a philosophical approach dedicated to mending the human condition through the adoption of humanistic principles, will be at the heart of our conversation.

  • Centering Students and Sustaining Community in Uncertain Times, with Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., Professor and Department Chair, College of Arts & Sciences
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    This interactive session will involve conversation and resource-sharing to foster classroom communities that respect diversity in identities, perspectives, experiences, and viewpoints, particularly in uncertain or challenging times.

  • Facilitating Challenging Conversations, with Fikayo Odugbemi, M.A., Faculty Development Specialist, Center for Teaching & Learning and Evette Allen Moore, Ph.D., Assistant Dean, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    Read More

    Participants will collaboratively develop strategies to design inclusive learning environments that promote the respectful sharing and exploration of diverse perspectives. To provide a concrete context for this work, participants will engage in a case study analysis drawn from a chapter of J.K. Chukwu’s The Unfortunates.

  • Live Each Day Mindfully, with Beatrice Figueroa, M.A., Online Program & Design Manager, Academic Affairs
    Read More

    Mindfulness enhances awareness of the present moment leading to reduced stress, improved emotional regulation, and better focus. Explore the principles of mindfulness and its practice through a brief engagement of meditation, physical movement, and intentional breathing.

  • Adding Movement and Wellness to Our Everyday Lives, with Alexander Rothstein, M.S., CSCS, CEP, Instructor, School of Health Professions
    Read More

    Discover ways to incorporate exercise and mobility in the office, at your desk, or at home, with the use of stretch straps. Each participant will receive a set of stretch straps to keep.

3 – 4 p.m.

Faculty & Student Reception

Join your colleagues and New York Tech students for an engaging afternoon of connection and celebration. Enjoy the donut wall and hot cider while you socialize!

Both faculty and staff are invited, but because this event falls on a workday, staff members planning to participate must confirm attendance with their supervisor before registration.

Some of the breakout sessions include light stretching and activity, so dress comfortably. Wearing your New York Tech gear and/or colors is even better! Lunch is included, and a reception will follow.

Register

Please register by October 23.

Support our students

Please bring a non-perishable food donation for the Grizzly Cupboard, New York Tech’s food and resource pantry, and/or new or gently used clothing or accessory donation for our new Tech Threads professional closet. Items will be collected when you sign in at the event. Everyone who donates will be entered into a special raffle.

About the Keynote Presenters

Mays Imad, Ph.D.

Mays Imad, Ph.D., began her academic journey at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she pursued philosophy and minored in chemistry. She earned a doctoral degree in cellular and clinical neurobiology, with a minor in biomedical sciences, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona’s Department of Neuroscience, she joined Pima Community College (PCC), teaching a variety of biology-related subjects. During her tenure at PCC, she founded their Teaching and Learning Center (TLC).

Currently an associate professor at Connecticut College, Imad is interested in understanding the social determinants of student well-being and success and conducts research on equity pedagogy. Her work reflects a deep commitment to equity and justice in and through education. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to pay close attention to intergenerational trauma and to prioritize healing and well-being. She is a Gardner Institute Fellow, AAC&U Senior STEM Fellow, Mind and Life Institute Fellow, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ).

Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D.

Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in English from the CUNY Graduate Center and has taught college literature and writing since 1996. As a scholar, Griffiths focuses on African-American literature in addition to the interdisciplinary field of trauma studies, specifically in relation to gender, race, and justice. Her publications include two monographs: Traumatic Possessions: The Body and Memory in African American Women’s Writing and Performance (U of Virginia P, 2010) and At Risk: Black Youth and the Creative Imperative in the Post Civil Rights Era (UP of Mississippi, 2023). She currently serves as chair of the Department of Humanities, which includes advising the Civic Engagement, Medical Humanities, and Equity and Innovation minors.

Details

Date:
November 6, 2024
Time:
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Event Category:
Event Tags:

Venue

Mollie Rogers Auditorium
Serota Hall, Long Island campus
Old Westbury, NY

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