Since semesters are busy, then summers, weekends, or other breaks from teaching are often the ideal time when faculty can make progress on their scholarship and reinvigorate their passion for the profession. CELT offers various retreats and summer institutes for faculty to have dedicated time in a comfortable setting to recharge as educators.

Check back regularly for confirmed dates and updated descriptions as they may change.

Faculty Write Away! Retreat 

Has your scholarship been sidelined by the daily demands of teaching this year during the pandemic? Do you want to research and write over Spring Break? The literature on faculty development shows that having a dedicated space for writing, and being around colleagues who are also committed to research and writing, can help faculty get their work done.

For two consecutive days during Spring Break, VSU faculty can participate in the Faculty Write Away! Retreat at CELT. The entire building is reserved for VSU faculty to "get away" from their offices or homes so they can have a quiet and comfortable space to convene, research, and write together.

Write Away Retreat Spring 2019

Faculty can use a desktop computer in CELT or bring their laptop, tablet, or pen to research, write, and share goals, struggles, and accomplishments with fellow faculty. Individual and collaborative work spaces are available. Participants receive complimentary lunch along with light beverages and snacks throughout the two days of the retreat. Come one day or two days, whichever suits your schedule and needs.

Dr. Jamie Landau (Professor of Communication Arts and Director of CELT) facilitates the Faculty Write Away! Retreat at CELT. Here is the retreat daily schedule that will be repeated this year:

  • 9 a.m.: Everyone meets for coffee, light breakfast snacks, and goal sharing.
  • 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Individual research and writing time.
  • 12:30–1:30 p.m.: Everyone reconvenes for lunch together and conversation.
  • 1:30–3:30 p.m.: Opportunities to convene in writing groups for feedback and problem-solving, receive one-on-one mentoring, or return to individual writing.
  • 3:30–4 p.m.: Everyone reconvenes to report progress, celebrate accomplishments, and plan for the next day’s work or action steps after retreat.

If participants need to step out for any reason during one day of the retreat or cannot make both days, then that’s fine, too. However, research on faculty writing retreats reveals that building community with colleagues is key to having a productive scholarly agenda.

CELT Faculty Write Away! Retreat will be held on Monday, March 11 and Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Faculty can register in VSU's Employee Training Portal.

 

Faculty Renewal Retreat

“Teaching is a vocation that requires constant renewal of mind, and heart, and spirit...”  ~ Parker Palmer, Ph.D. and author of Courage to Teach (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998) 

Reflect… Reframe… Renew is the theme of this summer faculty development retreat.  

  • Are you feeling burnt out from the pandemic or stuck in your career in some way?  
  • Maybe you’re wondering what’s next after promotion or tenure? 
  • Is your passion for teaching fading and in need of rejuvenation?  
  • Are you interested in learning contemplative practices that recenter the personal/internal self to better navigate the professional/external world? 
  • Do you long for community with colleagues? 

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you are not alone. This retreat is for you! 

During the two-day Faculty Renewal Retreat over the summer at CELT, midcareer and advanced career stage faculty from across colleges have the unique opportunity to reflect on, reframe, and renew themselves in community with colleagues at VSU. Highlights include mapping of goals for the next stage of one’s life and career, identifying teaching strengths, leadership development, contemplative practices for combating burnout at work, and affirmation from students (see schedule below). Complimentary drinks, breakfast treats, and lunch are provided each day of the two-day retreat. Participants will also receive free copies of books and a journal to use during the retreat, and which will help them implement renewed goals this summer and next academic year. A follow-up gathering with a guest speaker will occur during the following semester and/or there is a possibility to join a CELT faculty learning community just for this cohort. 

Eligibility and Expression of Interest Form: 

Interested full-time faculty who have worked at VSU for seven or more years (whether you’re an instructor, lecturer, senior lecturer, associate professor, or full professor) should sign-up by filling out online this brief “expression of interest” form. The deadline to fill out the form is TBD. Space is limited to 15 faculty. Notices of acceptance will be announced within a week, and those faculty will be automatically registered for the retreat in VSU’s employee training portal.   

 Objectives of the Retreat:

  • Rediscover and appraise our strengths and capacities as teachers 
  • Recognize and demonstrate contemplative practices that combat burnout at work
  • Compare and contrast the layers within oneself and the self in community  
  • Increase faculty sense of self and belonging to reinvigorate, empower, and persevere through midcareer, achieve the next promotion, become a leader, and/or to leave a legacy on campus after retirement  
  • Build relationships and community among midcareer and advanced career stage faculty that bridges disciplines, departments, and colleges at VSU 

The CELT Faculty Renewal Retreat aligns with VSU’s Strategic Planning Goal 1.5 to retain quality faculty and staff.

Dr. Jamie Landau (Professor of Communication Arts and Director of CELT) will facilitate the Faculty Renewal Retreat with assistance from a CELT Intern and CELT’s Administrative Coordinator. 

Retreat Schedule: 

Day 1:  

9-9:15 a.m.   

Coffee, Comfort, and Collegiality: Enjoy coffee, tea, and breakfast treats, chat with colleagues, and engage in a contemplative practice together to relax at the workplace.      

9:15-10:30 a.m.  

Why Are You Here? Why We’re Here. We’re Not Alone: “I’ve taught at VSU for a long time. I got promoted. I have tenure. I’m exhausted from work. I’m burned out from the pandemic. I’m not sure what’s next for my career.” Discussion activity about what brings us to the retreat and review of research on common experiences of post-tenure, midcareer, and advanced career stage faculty in the context of national data as well as current events locally and in higher education (before and since the pandemic). 

10:30-11:45 a.m.  

Mapping Me: Drawing on psychology and sociology, such as words of wisdom from Parker Palmer, rediscover the layers of who you are and return to the heart of your inner teacher.   

12-1 p.m.  

Lunch Together: Enjoy a healthy catered lunch while getting to know everyone. 

1-2:30 p.m.  

Renewal Role Models: Be inspired by award-winning teachers at VSU who reinvigorated their vocation and watch an interview with Parker Palmer to identify their “seeds of vocation.”    

2:30-3 p.m.  

Choose Your Own Adventure: Join a refreshing nature walk outdoors with colleagues or take a contemplative break with oneself.  

3-4 p.m.  

You Are Your Own Role Model: Continue to fill out the map of who you are by unveiling more layers of your identity and sketching a mission for mentoring and leadership at VSU.  

4-4:30 p.m.   

Reflection on First Day of Retreat: ExpHess “ah-ha” moments so far and lingering questions.  

Day 2: 

9-9:30 a.m.   

Coffee, Comfort, and Collegiality: Enjoy coffee, tea, and breakfast treats, chat with colleagues, and engage in a contemplative practice together to reframe the workplace.  

9:30-11:45 a.m.   

Re-Mapping Me: Go through a guided visualization to see how other people perceive you. Reconsider and rechart how a view of self in community is empowering for the next stage of your life and career.  

12-1 p.m. 

Lunch Together: Enjoy a healthy catered lunch while getting to know someone new. 

1-2:30 p.m.  

Student Show and Tell along with Self-Gratitude: Share stories and affirmation artifacts from our students. Then engage in reflective writing and group gratitude for our gifts as teachers.  

2:30-3 p.m.  

Choose Your Own Adventure: Settle into a circle of silence to listen and speak our truths as faculty or take a contemplative break with oneself. 

3-4:30 p.m. 

Next Action Steps for Myself and in Community: Individual reflection on the retreat and articulate renewed personal/internal and professional/external goals. Then collectively imagine and take action to implement goals this summer onward in community with faculty at VSU.  

 

Check back for future dates of this retreat. Faculty whom receive notices of acceptance will be automatically registered in VSU's Employee Training Portal.

 

Online Teaching Certificate Retreat

Following the launch of the CELT-eLearning Online Teaching Certificate in Fall 2022, 14 faculty have the opportunity to participate in an Online Teaching Certificate Retreat in-person at the Center for eLearning. Participants will complete 10 out of 24 total course hours required for CELT's Online Teaching Certificate.

Bryan FitzGerald, CELT-eLearning’s Training Specialist, facilitates this retreat.

List of Certificate Courses/Hours Completed at the Retreat:
Creating Content for Online Classes (3 hours)
Web Tools for Online Teaching (2 hours)
Effective Online Teaching (3 hours)
Experiential Learning for Online Classes (2 hours)

 

Objectives of Retreat:

  • Make original content using BlazeVIEW integrated technology tools
  • Appraise digital applications for their potential utility in an online class
  • Assess best practices in online course facilitation
  • Sketch the outline of an experiential learning course activity for an online class

Here is the retreat schedule:

Day 1: 
9-9:30 a.m.: Welcome and Retreat Overview
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Creating Content for Online Classes
12:30–1:30 p.m.: Catered Lunch
1:30–3:30 p.m.: Web Tools for Online Teaching

Day 2: 
9 a.m.–12 p.m.: Effective Online Teaching
12–1 p.m.: Catered Lunch
1–3 p.m.: Experiential Learning for Online Classes
3–3:30 p.m.: Wrapping Up and Next Steps

Participants in the retreat will be provided with a copy of Flower Darby and James Lang's best selling book, Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes. Participants will be able to keep this book at the conclusion of the retreat to use as a reference for future online course development.

 

Online Teaching Certificate Retreat will be held on May 15 & 16, 2024. Faculty can register in VSU's Employee Training Portal.

 

Blazer Summer Research Institute (BSRI) Faculty Development Retreat 

This Blazer Summer Research Institute (BSRI) Faculty Development Retreat is facilitated by Dr. Jamie Landau (CELT Director). The entire event is virtual. For more info about the BSRI, see the website for the Blazer Summer Research Institute.

Here is the retreat schedule: 

Day 1

  • 10-10:30 a.m.:  Entry Ticket Day 1: Community building by sharing motivations, teaching philosophies, accomplishments, and what we hope to learn from this retreat
  • 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.: High-Impact Practices (HIPs): 8 key elements of HIPs, HIPs compared to LIPs, and analysis of our BSRI projects for examples. 
  • 12-1 p.m. Lunch break on your own
  • 1-2:40 p.m. Show and Tell: Defining undergraduate research and creative inquiry, and illustrating how our BSRI projects fit that definition.         
  • 2:40-3 p.m.: Exit Ticket Day 1: Reflection on what we learned and remaining questions.

Day 2

  • 10-10:15 a.m.: Entry Ticket Day 2: Predicting five facts that we already know about mentoring undergraduate research and creative inquiry.   
  • 10:15-12 p.m.:10 Best Practices for Mentoring Undergraduate Research: Literature review and application to our BSRI projects in breakout groups to present later.
  • 12-1 p.m. Lunch break on your own
  • 1-2:30 p.m. Peer Presentations: Key successes, counter-arguments, connections between ideas, new lines of inquiry, and/or remaining obstacles to overcome.  
  • 2:30-3 p.m.: Exit Ticket Day 2: BSRI goal-setting and post-retreat action steps.

Check back for future dates of this retreat.

Gateways to Completion (G2C) Faculty Development Retreat

In partnership with the John Gardner Institute and the University System of Georgia, VSU faculty are working hard to improve student academic performance and retention in highly-enrolled core courses with historically high rates of Ds, Fs, withdrawals, and incompletes grades (DFWI). Specifically, VSU is focusing on gateway courses in the subjects of history, English, biology, chemistry, and mathematics.

The G2C initiative included a two-day summer retreat at CELT, giving faculty an opportunity to think and reflect with their colleagues about what had worked so far to improve student learning and to discover together additional innovative teaching strategies to implement. Some outcomes of the G2C Faculty Development Retreat included describing and identifying strategies for faculty engagement with course innovation, sketching and finalizing a G2C core curriculum and assessment plan, and critically reflecting on and practicing implementation. 

G2C

Dr. Shani "Sha" Wilfred (Professor of Criminal Justice, G2C Liaison, and Chair of VSU GTC Steering Committee), Dr. Theresa Grove (Professor of Biology, Associate Dean of th College of Science and Mathematics, and G2C Liaison) and Dr. Jamie Landau (Professor of Communication Arts and Director of CELT) co-facilitated the G2C Faculty Development Retreat at CELT. Here was the retreat schedule during Summer 2019:

Day 1

  • 9-9:15 a.m.: Coffee, light breakfast treats, and overview of schedule and learning outcomes for retreat.
  • 9:15-11:15 a.m.: Strategies for faculty engagement with course innovation.
  • 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m.: Catered lunch outside on porch or in lounge downstairs.
  • 12–2:30 p.m.: Sketch G2C core curriculum and assessment plan.
  • 2:30–2:45 p.m.: Brief afternoon break.
  • 2:45-3 p.m.: Goal-setting for next day.

Day 2

  • 9-9:15 a.m.: Coffee, light breakfast treats, and getting settled for day.
  • 9:15-11:15 a.m.: Continue sketching and finalize G2C core curriculum and assessment plan.
  • 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m.: Catered lunch outside on porch or in lounge downstairs.
  • 12–1:15 p.m.:  Practice persuasion and implementation of plan..
  • 1:15–1:30 p.m.: Brief afternoon break.
  • 1:30-3 p.m.: Critical reflection and post-retreat G2C action steps.

When this retreat was offered, faculty from history, English, biology, chemistry, and mathematics were invited to participate.

Check back for future dates of the retreat.