CfT First Friday: September 2026 Edition

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Events Calendar

CfT maintains an Events Calendar exclusively for faculty development sessions and opportunities. We will continue to update it as programming dates are finalized. Bookmark the page and be sure to check back periodically during the semester or consider subscribing to the calendar (scroll to the bottom of the calendar page for the ‘Subscribe to calendar’ button).

If you have an event for the calendar, please email Victoria Russell with your event name, date, time, and location. We recommend forwarding your information a minimum of two weeks in advance of your event.

CfT Consultations

Tired of the same old, same old when it comes to your classes? Looking for new ideas or to brainstorm strategies when things aren’t going to plan? Book a consultation with the Center for Teaching! 30-minute virtual or in-person consultations are available Monday through Friday. We can work with individuals, small groups, or entire departments.

If you need more than 30 minutes for a consultation, please email Victoria Russell (vrussel3@umw.edu) to schedule a day and time to meet.

What’s an A? Exploring Alternative Grading

CfT is launching a new learning community to explore different grading models appropriate for college classrooms, including current research findings. We will evaluate the pros and cons of grading models in different contexts in order to draft an assignment using an alternative grading structure. Join this learning community if:

  • You are new to alternative grading and want to learn more
  • You have read a bit and talked to people using alternative grading models, but are not sure how to get started
  • You are frustrated by ‘point debates’ and requests for extra credit
  • You are concerned about the authenticity of student work and are seeking ideas to revise assignments 

In Fall 2026, monthly in-person and Zoom meetings will be used to discuss and evaluate alternative grading models. Spring 2027 meetings will be set up as workshops/labs to draft and receive feedback on assignments using alternative grading frameworks. Participants can opt in to one or both semesters, depending on their needs and background with alternative grading. Recordings and resources will be shared via a Canvas site for participants.  All participants receive a copy of Grading for Growth (Clark & Talbert, 2023).

If you are interested in joining the What’s an A learning community, please complete the CfT 2026-2027 Program Registration Form by Friday, September 18th. CfT will follow up with registered participants the week of September 21st with fall meeting dates.

Reserve Your Spring 2027 No Time to Read Book Club Selection!

CfT is pausing the No Time to Read Book Club during Fall 2026 to establish a new book rotation. Going forward, we will vote for and order spring books during the fall semester and then select fall books in the spring before folks go off contract (giving you all summer to read!). We hope this encourages more people to join us and gives everyone a chance to do even a bit of reading for the discussions.

After our poll during Preweek of possible books for Spring 2027 and the battle that ensued, we have decided to go with TWO books next semester. Our selections are below:

CfT will run discussions for both books in Spring 2027 and you are welcome to join meetups for one or both selections. CfT will purchase one book for any faculty or staff members interested in joining the online or in-person spring discussions.

If you would like a copy of either Pedagogy of Kindness OR Snafu EDU, please complete the CfT 2026-2027 Program Registration Form no later than Wednesday, September 30th. Books will be ordered October 1st; extra copies will not ordered.

It’s Time to NEST!

Networks Exploring Strategies in Teaching (NEST) are small communities of faculty dedicated to reflecting upon and improving their teaching practices. We do this through monthly open discussions with cohort members and non-evaluative observations and reflections.

Fall Semester: Observe & Reflect

The first semester is focused on what we want to learn from one another’s teaching with the opportunity to connect with colleagues across disciplines. We will conduct our non-evaluative observations, debrief our experiences, and explore new instructional strategies together.

Spring Semester: Redesign & Collaborate

During our final fall meeting, we will use our observations and ideas to set goals for the spring. The spring semester will forgo the observations in favor of informal conversations focused on some kind of redesign of an activity, lecture, assignment, etc. 

Fall Meeting Schedule

All meetings take place at 12:00 PM.

  • Wednesday, October 7: Cohort Dialogue & Debrief
  • Wednesday, November 11: Cohort Dialogue & Debrief
  • Wednesday, December 12: Goal-Setting for Spring

Please email Elizabeth (ejohnso6@umw.edu) with your interest or any questions you might have.

New Faculty Cohort Meetings

New full-time faculty are reminded about monthly cohort meetings for the fall semester:

  • Monday, September 21st
  • Monday, October 26th
  • Monday, November 30th

All meetings start at 4:00 pm in Seacobeck 105. Our fall guests are invited and confirmed–everyone is looking forward to meeting you all!

Office for Undergraduate Research

Betsy Lewis, Director (elewis@umw.edu)

Fall grant funding and programming are underway

The deadline for fall undergraduate research grants was September 1st . Funding for spring will be due January 19. These grants provide funds to purchase supplies and for travel to conduct or present research. Here is a list of meetings and other announcements for September:

  • Tuesday, September 15: Deadline for submissions to 2026 Network for Undergraduate Research in Virginia Conference, Radford University, October 15. Submit abstracts of less than 750 words and a statement of support from a faculty member to: https://tinyurl.com/NURVa2026. If your student is accepted to the NURVa conference please let Betsy Lewis know. We will cover the student and faculty mentor $30 registration fee, and will work to get them there, either arranging a university van, or pay for mileage.
  • Tuesday, September 15: Faculty Advisory Board Meeting, 5:00pm RCC Space, Simpson Library. This board only meets once a semester. If you are interested in providing your guidance and support to the Office of Undergraduate Research, please join us! If you prefer a Zoom option contact Betsy Lewis for the Zoom link.
  • Wednesday, September 16: Research Student Ambassadors Interest Meeting, 4:00pm, RCC Space, Simpson Library. Please share this opportunity with your research students and encourage them to get involved. Research Student Ambassadors help support our Admissions events, symposia, and provide valuable input on programming.

Upcoming opportunities

  • Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) Virtual Undergraduate Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity Conference (URSCA) November 7, 2026. Contact Betsy Lewis if interested (elewis@umw.edu). The RCC will cover the nominal registration fee.
  • COPLAC Metamorphosis. Submit student research papers or creative products to Betsy Lewis (elewis@umw.edu) by November 16, 2026.

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Did you know that two of our mathematics students recently presented their research at the Mathematical Association of America’s 2026 Mathfest in Boston, MA and that both students won awards?! Read about their work on our Beyond the Classroom Blog.

Got a great student research or creative project story you would like to share? Just fill out this brief form, upload a couple of photos, and see your students featured on the Beyond the Classroom Blog!

Faculty Development Opportunities with Campus Partners

Braver Campus Conversations Faculty Learning Community

The Center for Community Engagement and the Office of Community Relations and Compliance will be initiating a faculty learning community in September focused on using a civil discourse model in the classroom called Braver Campus Conversations. We will be working with the College Debates & Discourse Alliance on this initiative. This initiative is supported by an external grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund and faculty will be compensated for their participation. More information and how to apply are in the learning community description and call for participation.

UMW Center for Humanities 5×5 Grants

The 5 X 5 program is designed to encourage faculty and staff from across the university to collaborate on themes or topics of relevance to humanistic inquiry. These projects can include a set of readings, an activity, or just an idea that could lead to future research (panels, grant teams, research labs, webinars, mentoring, community engagement work, etc.). Find out more at the Center for Humanities Incubator Grants website.

Until Next Time…

We were happy so many of you stopped by the CfT table during PD Day and hope that your semesters are off to a great start! We will be back with the next installment of the First Friday post on Friday, October 2nd.

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