We talk a lot, in higher education, about the massive changes we are currently undergoing.  But what does it mean for us when we say that enrollments are shifting, that knowledge production is being radically altered, that the classrooms we teach in are quite different from the ones we were learners in?  CPHS faculty member Shankar Munusamy will be leading us in a four-part conversation on the book The Great Upheaval: Higher Education’s Past, Present, and Uncertain Future. We’ll meet to discuss on Thursdays ,March 2, 9, 23, and 30, from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Howard Hall, Room 210.  Please register so we can plan to see you and get you a copy of the book.

Of course, one of the upheavals we’ve been talking most about, lately, comes from the disruptive technologies related to Artificial Intelligence. A good group of faculty and staff are working to develop some April and May opportunities—workshops on AI in the classroom and in assessment practices, as well as conversations about more existential aspects of the technology and what it’s proliferation means for our students and ourselves. On the way to those workshops, there are some terrific opportunities to engage.  

Drake’s Comparison Project is hosting Luther College Professor of Religion Gereon Kopf, who will be presenting a talk titled “Trans-humanism, AI, and Memory: Zen Buddhist Ruminations on Digital Immortalities.” You needn’t register; the event is free and open to the public, Thursday, Feb. 23, 7–8:30 p.m., Cowles Library Reading Room.  The next week, at The Varsity Cinema, Drake faculty member Chris Porter (associate professor of mathematics and director of our Artificial Intelligence program) will be presenting a pre-film talk “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Our Lives,” just prior to a viewing of After Yang.  You can purchase tickets for this event on the cinema’s website, the talk and film will be Feb. 28, starting at 6:30 p.m.  It is exciting to share that this talk part of a series supported by an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant for “Science on Screen,” which was awarded as a result of work done by Cowles library faculty member Dan Chibnall, and community member Bed Godar. The program, according to Dan, pairs science and sci-fi films with notable local experts—and I’m excited that later this spring Professor Jerrid Kruse (SOE) will present a talk prior to a screening of the classic movie Wall-E.

Drake faculty members Chris Porter and Martin Roth (Philosophy) have been collaborating to bring two exciting panel discussions on AI to campus. Save the dates now for March 7, 4–5:30 p.m. and April 20, 4–5:30.  These will be held in Sussman Theater; the first will examine the impact of AI large language models; the second will consider text to image generation.

Finally, if you’ve read this far, you deserve some music. I was listening to Sleigh Bells the other day, heard Riot Rhythm and had the impulse to check out the video—it’s an oldie—and it has fears of AI woven through it.  We might all have differing views on the impact of AI on our lives and careers—but tell me, who doesn’t love mid-2000s noise pop?

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Deputy Provost 2:10 (two articles with a read time of 10 minutes) is a communication series by Deputy Provost Renée Cramer sharing important scholarship, teaching, and development opportunities.

The Office of the Deputy Provost has restricted and endowed funds available to help support faculty research, faculty enrichment, and project-based hiring of undergraduate assistants.  The deputy provost’s office also administers the process by which university-wide professorships are named – such as the Troyer Research Professorship, as well as the Madeline Levitt Mentor and Teacher of the Year awards.

Drake Research Grants are intended to support research and creative activity that is not already funded by other sources, to jumpstart proposals for external grant seeking and to provide supplemental funds to ongoing projects, as necessary.  Drake Research Grants offer up to $3,000 per project to underwrite the direct cost of faculty conducting advanced research or creative activity, including expenses like: travel, materials, services, and student research assistants.  Applications for these grants are accepted on a rolling basis; an interdisciplinary group of Drake faculty, in consultation with the deputy provost, make determinations on these proposals.

Faculty Development and Enrichment grant proposals are also accepted on a rolling basis; determinations are made at the discretion of the deputy provost.  These grants are available to support a variety of development and enrichment activities related to teaching, professional development, leadership development and collaboration.  We prioritize funding that benefits teaching and pedagogy, involves community partners, or engages faculty in developing skills and capacities.

Drake Undergraduate Student Assistantships facilitate departmental and faculty-led hiring of undergraduate student assistants.  These paid student assistants receive mentorship from faculty, while contributing in significant ways to departmental and faculty projects.  These assistantships are funded through matching funds – half comes from your department or college/school, the other half is provided by Student Financial Aid.  Applications for these assistantships are due to your college/school Dean by March 18; the deans will rank these applications and forward them to the deputy provost for collaborative determination (with Student Financial Aid) of funding.

Finally, please begin thinking of nominating your colleagues for our distinguished university-wide research, teaching and mentoring awards: the Troyer Research Fellowship, the Madelyn M. Levitt Teacher of the Year Award, and the Madelyn M. Levitt Mentor of the Year Award.  The deadline for nominations for the Teacher and Mentor Award, as well as for applications for the Troyer Award is Friday, February 17.

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Deputy Provost 2:10 (two articles with a read time of 10 minutes) is a communication series by Deputy Provost Renée Cramer sharing important scholarship, teaching, and development opportunities.

Last spring, nearly everywhere I turned in higher education journalism, I saw articles about The Great Faculty Disengagement. Spurred by this piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education, scholars from a wide range of disciplines and university-types chimed in, openly sharing about high levels of burnout, stress, frustration and uncertainty.  Coming so close on the heels of the radical transitions necessitated by the height of the global pandemic, these testimonies made sense to me – and they confirmed what I was seeing in my friends and colleagues (and feeling for myself, even though I was not in the classroom last year): high levels of exhaustion, feelings of hopelessness, and a reluctance to engage.

This year, I’ve seen fewer of these types of pieces.  Even Chronicle coverage with headlines about how junior faculty are “leaning out,” is really about the ways that faculty are taking care of themselves, in order to continue to provide an excellent education for their students; and I appreciate that, a year out from the earlier reporting, we have pieces that look at structural inequality around workload and burnout.  This shift in reporting, coupled with increased participation in development opportunities my office is sponsoring, and the kinds of hallway and Painted Street conversations I’m having – makes me think that attitudes about our work seem to have leveled out.  They are, perhaps, even improving.  From my office in Howard Hall, I see a renewed energy and vibrancy around student learning, and heightened collegiality.

Have we, indeed, begun to ‘re-engage?’

If we have – if things related to work are returning to manageable – how can faculty and staff continue to adjust, and to adjust in ways that foster our well-being and thriving?

I rather stridently do not believe in work-life balance. In fact, I think work-life balance is a myth that only makes those of us who are juggling multiple responsibilities (Caregiving! Teaching! Needs of self! Research and Creative Activity! Committee work! What else?!) feel worse about our inability to juggle them all well.  So I almost hesitate to share this set of resources from THE Campus, because they do talk about how to strike and hold this balance – they also, usefully, discuss the various ways we can approach our work and non-work life wholeheartedly, integrally, and intentionally.  I especially appreciate the ideas around sequencing and prioritizing in the piece by Professor Lucas Lixinski from University of New South Whales, and the one by Prof. Stephen Harmon (Georgia Tech) about how his hobbies make him a better scholar – even though they’re unrelated to his academic work.

It’s in this spirit – the spirit of giving us time to talk about our teaching, breathe a little bit, think about our work, and share about our lives – that I host much of the faculty development that I do.  So, please start to plan ahead and endeavor to join us – in March and April we’ll be discussing The Great Upheaval on Thursday afternoons, and Air and Light and Time and Space on Friday mornings.  We can use that time to problem solve and brainstorm, share and celebrate.  And, if we haven’t re-engaged, if things don’t feel any more manageable – we can talk about that, too!

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Deputy Provost 2:10 (two articles with a read time of 10 minutes) is a communication series by Deputy Provost Renée Cramer sharing important scholarship, teaching, and development opportunities.