Friday, October 16, 2020

submitted by krajewsk@augsburg.edu

This fall Augsburg has received a grant from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) to provide technology resources to students in need with a particular focus on “students who are identified as Indigenous or a Person of Color, need accessible services, and/or are PELL eligible.” We have used the past few weeks to give priority access to such students. Now we’re moving into the phase where all students can check out this technology.

At the Library circulation desk you will find

– COWIN E7 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones (especially good for students with sensory needs or Zooming in a noisy environment)
– WACOM One Pen Tablets (used in math and sciences for equations and diagrams or Art for digital sketching)

Both items have a semester-long checkout period. We have limited quantities of each. No reservations required. These are available as first-come first-checkout items now.

submitted by gocmen@augsburg.edu

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Luiza Dreasher (Mastering Cultural Difference) offers practical concepts and strategies to keep in mind when communicating across differences.

https://forumworkplaceinclusion.org/articles/p46/

submitted by mayper@augsburg.edu

The Education Department (Dr. Audrey Lensmire) and the Information Technology Department (Scott Krajewski) are the recipients of two new grants from the State of Minnesota which total $250,000. The Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) grant awards will address equity in education and technology and remote learning needs among students of color, Indigenous students, and those who are disabled or low-income.

Lensmire’s GEER grant will provide direct aid to teacher candidates who have a need to defray unexpected costs posed by the pandemic during their student teaching semester and coursework. Krajewski’s GEER grant will ensure that students receive the hardware and software required for meeting course learning objectives, and will provide captioning on instructional video recordings in order to make them more accessible.

The grant awards will result in students and faculty being able to weather changes to their plans for learning and teaching a bit more smoothly. We owe thanks to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education for administering the competitive selection process this summer. We also wish to thank Dr. Lauren Causey for her skillful guidance in creating two high quality GEER proposals.

The GEER grant program is a redistribution of federal CARES Act funds.

Grants and Sponsored Programs

submitted by kipper@augsburg.edu

Dr. Bruce Benson from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy will present on pharmacy careers and admissions on Thursday, October 22 from 1- 2 pm via Zoom.

Zoom link

submitted by maherk@augsburg.edu

With changes to our course delivery methods, how do we know that our methods are resonating with students? Don’t wait until the end of the semester to find out what is working (and what can be improved). We will present pre-prepared templates in multiple formats to fit your needs. We will also discuss what feedback faculty have heard so far, and how they have responded to student comments.

In case you missed the workshop, a recording is linked below and posted on the CTL page: https://inside.augsburg.edu/ctl/.

Mid-Semester Evaluation Workshop Recording (can only be viewed with an Augsburg email address)

submitted by maherk@augsburg.edu

The E-Learning team is hosting a Google Drive Basic and Advanced Workshop to help you understand and adapt to this new modality and find ways to incorporate it into your pedagogy! The Basic Workshop will be held on the 27th of October from 3 pm – 4 pm, and the Advanced Workshop will be held on the 4th of November from 3 pm – 4 pm.

Basic Workshop: Tuesday, October 27, 3 pm – 4 pm

Advanced Workshop: Wednesday, November 4, 3 pm – 4 pm

Google Drive Workshop Zoom Information (can only be viewed with an Augsburg email address)

submitted by maherk@augsburg.edu

As we approach mid-semester, remember that in order for course totals to calculate correctly, it is very important to enter 0’s for work students have not completed. Moodle only aggregates “non-empty” grades. This means a blank in the gradebook will be ignored in the calculations–giving students an overly optimistic sense of their total. See the link below for instructions on how to quickly enter 0’s for graded items. If you would like help with your Moodle gradebook, the E-Learning team is ready to assist you. Please contact your LFC or Bonnie Tensen for help with this.

Adding Zeros in Gradebook

submitted by maherk@augsburg.edu

This year, EDTalks will be pre-recorded and have a community “premiere” on Zoom hosted by CTL at 3:10pm on days when there is a faculty meeting. These premieres will end no later than 3:30pm to allow plenty of time to log into the Faculty Zoom meeting early. After the premier, the recording will be posted on the CTL website, along with any resources (if applicable).

Wellness, Balance and Boundaries in Higher Education
Join Lyz Wendland, Assistant Professor of Art & Design as she discusses wellness, balance and boundaries inside and outside of the classroom, sharing activities practiced in her teaching.

Premieres at 3:10 pm on Wednesday, October 21.
(The recording will be available on the CTL page the following day.)

EDTalks Zoom Information (can only be viewed with an Augsburg email address)

submitted by maherk@augsburg.edu

Fridays | “Fellowship Fridays” | 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm, ZOOM

CTL is joining Bridget Robinson-Riegler, Psychology Professor and member of Faculty Senate, to bring you Fellowship Fridays support sessions. All faculty members and teaching staff are invited to gather and share their experiences with teaching, learning, and advising in this strange new world. – we’ll trade ideas, advice, highs, lows, successes, and failures – or maybe we’ll just plain old vent. Most importantly, we will attempt to inoculate ourselves against one of the more insidious side effects of this pandemic – isolation. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, or pour a glass of wine, and Zoom in to support your fellow instructors and work through this challenging time together.

Fellowship Fridays ZOOM Information (This doc is only accessible with an Augsburg email address.)

submitted by tengwalm@augsburg.edu

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a fully-funded eight to ten week language and cultural immersion program abroad in which students receive eight credits of intensive language instruction in less-commonly taught languages, as well as structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains. CLS is part of a US State Department initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages critical to national security and economic prosperity. There are fifteen languages that applicants can select from. Alumni of the program also receive one year of non-competitive eligibility (NCE) status when applying for federal government jobs.
The CLS Program seeks participants with diverse interests, and from a wide range of fields of study and career paths. Competitive applicants will need to be able to illustrate a commitment to language learning, a very strong academic record and potential to succeed in a rigorous academic setting, and ability to adapt to an intensive program and challenging cultural environment. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
Languages with no previous study required:
Azerbaijani
Bangla
Hindi
Indonesian
Persian
Punjabi
Swahili
Turkish
Urdu

Languages with one year prior study required:
Arabic
Korean
Portuguese
Russian

Languages with two years prior study required:
Chinese
Japanese

The URGO office provides advising and application support for CLS. Please contact urgo@augsburg.edu (reference CLS) to set up an appointment before October 23rd.

CLS Website

submitted by tengwalm@augsburg.edu

Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institutes is an intensive seven-week summer program that focuses on preparing students for careers as policy professionals, public administrators and other leadership roles in public service. Selected participants spend the summer at one of five participating universities (University of Minnesota, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, or University of Michigan) where they take courses, learn from top leaders in the field and build their professional skills. Students must have junior or senior status and be planning to graduate between December 2021 and August 2022. To be competitive for this opportunity, students should have a 3.5 GPA or above. There is no cost to attend and participants receive a stipend. Contact URGO at urgo@augsburg.edu and reference your interest in PPIA before October 15th to set up a meeting to learn more.

PPIA Eligibility and Benefits

submitted by tengwalm@augsburg.edu

URGO is hosting a group advising session for new prehealth students. This is an opportunity to gain a broad overview of several health professions, become better aware of what schools seek in competitive applicants, and learn more about upcoming events and available resources. This session will be held on Friday, October 16 at 2 pm via Zoom.

Email urgo@augsburg.edu for the Zoom invitation and link.