National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)
National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)
Grand Valley State University has joined the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), a nationally recognized, independent organization providing online career development and mentoring resources. Our Institutional Membership begins May 1, 2020.
The subscription entitles ALL faculty, academic staff, post doc and graduate students access to tools to increase research and writing productivity and improve work-life balance. These tools include:
- The weekly Monday Motivator
- Monthly Core Curriculum Webinars
- Monthly Guest Expert and Multi-Week Course Trainings
- Access to the 14-Day Writing Challenge each semester
- Access to the Dissertation Success Curriculum for advanced graduate students
To access this resource, you need to register:
- Go to www.facultydiversity.org/join
- Under "Select Your Institution," choose "Grand Valley State University"
- Select "Activate my Membership"
- Complete the registration form using your GVSU email address
- Check your GVSU email account to find a confirmation/welcome email. Click "Activate Account" in the email.
Please contact Dana Munk ([email protected]) if you have questions or concerns.
NCFDD Spring/Summer 2021 Guest Expert Webinar Series
Click on the Guest Expert (facilitator) portrait to register for that specific webinar online.
Scroll down to see FULL descriptions of each webinar.
STRATEGIES FOR CENTERING INSTRUCTOR IDENTITY IN STEM EDUCATION
April 27, 2021
Facilitated by Tazin Daniels, PhD
EVERY SUMMER NEEDS A PLAN
May 13, 2021
Facilitated by Angelique Davis, JD
STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMICS MANAGING CAREERS AND CARETAKING DURING THE PANDEMIC (AND BEYOND...)
May 25, 2021
Facilitated by Lisa Wolf-Wendel, PhD
MOVING FROM RESISTANCE TO WRITING
June 10, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Naomi Levy, PhD
HOW TO BE A STRONG SPONSOR AND ADVOCATE FOR FACULTY
June 22, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Margaret Yacobucci, PhD
THE ART OF SAYING NO
July 8, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, PhD
SUPPORTING FACULTY DURING AND AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
July 20, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Leslie Gonzales, Ed.D.
21SS NCFDD Guest Expert Webinar Series
STRATEGIES FOR CENTERING INSTRUCTOR IDENTITY IN STEM
EDUCATION
April 27, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Tazin Daniels, PhD
In this webinar, we will talk about how to productively center and leverage your social identities in your role as a STEM instructor. We will unpack problematic assumptions about how identity aligns with authority and how you can build trust and community with your learners. You will also leave with strategies to overcome common challenges you might encounter when promoting equity and inclusion in the STEM classroom and beyond.
EVERY SUMMER NEEDS A PLAN
May 13, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Angelique Davis, JD
- Do you often start the summer with high hopes for your writing projects, but end disappointed by your actual productivity?
- Do you desperately want (or need) to write a lot this summer?
- Do you want to figure out how to be more productive AND enjoy your life this summer?
Join us for a hands-on planning webinar! We offer our planning webinar at the beginning of each term so that you can take time out of your schedule to identify your personal and professional goals for the summer, create a strategic plan to accomplish them, and identify the types of community, support, and accountability you need to make this your most productive and balanced summer ever! Get ready to create a work-plan for your summer that you can immediately share with your mentors.
STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMICS MANAGING CAREERS AND CARETAKING
DURING THE PANDEMIC (AND BEYOND...)
May 25, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Lisa Wolf-Wendel , PhD
This session focuses on the barriers and strategies that academics with caregiving responsibilities are using to survive academic careers and personal life during COVID. Academics who are caregivers have been particularly affected by the pandemic as the move to working from home, the shift to flexible teaching, and the isolation caused by the pandemic. This has been particularly acute for those with caregiving responsibilities – especially those with school aged and younger children and those taking care of elderly relatives. Based on interviews with faculty members who are in non-traditional family structures (i.e., single parents, LGBTQI* families, divorced and blended families, multigenerational families), this session will provide an understanding of why this has been so difficult, a discussion of how to manage the demands, and a discussion of personal and institutional strategies designed to help both in the immediate situation as well as with a longer term view.
Participant Outcomes:
- An understanding that you are not alone and that there are others who are experiencing similar concerns
- An opportunity to explore these issues for all caregivers with inclusion of those who are in single parent households, blended families, divorced parents, LGBTQI families
- Discussion of both short and long term implications of COVID-19 on caregivers
- Discussion of individual coping strategies as well as more systemic fixes for the problem (both short and long term)
MOVING FROM RESISTANCE TO WRITING
June 10, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Naomi Levy, PhD
- Have you been putting off your writing all year by promising yourself that summer is when you'll buckle down and get it done?
- Are you finding yourself continuing to procrastinate and avoid your writing even though summer has arrived?
- Have you ever wondered why it is that you really want to write, but just don't do it until there's a looming external deadline?
In this webinar, you will learn:
- What resistance is and why academic writers experience it in pursuit of work we want and need to complete.
- How to identify what's holding you back from writing and completing your ___________ (article, dissertation, book manuscript, grant proposal, etc...).
- The three most common types of writing funk and how to move around them.
- How to create the types community, support and accountability for your writing that will help you to ride through whatever type of writing funk you are currently experiencing.
Register for the Moving from Resistance to Writing webinar online.
HOW TO BE A STRONG SPONSOR AND ADVOCATE FOR FACULTY
June
22, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Margaret Yacobucci, PhD
More information coming soon!
Register for the How to be a Strong Sponsor and Advocate for Faculty webinar online.
THE ART OF SAYING NO
July 8, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, PhD
- Are you confused about when to say "yes" and "no" to other people's requests?
- Do you often say "yes" to requests without realizing the impact that response will have on your time and productivity?
- Do you find yourself feeling angry and resentful during the academic year because you've said "yes" too often?
You're not alone! Many faculty (pre and post-tenure) find it incredibly difficult to sort out when, why and how to say "NO."
In this webinar, you will learn:
- The biggest mistakes faculty make in responding to requests
- How to identify and disrupt problematic patterns
- Our favorite strategies that you can implement immediately so you can add "no" to your vocabulary
SUPPORTING FACULTY DURING AND AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
July 20, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Leslie Gonzales, Ed.D
More information coming soon!
Register for the Supporting Faculty During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic webinar online.
CULTIVATING YOUR NETWORK OF MENTORS, SPONSORS, AND
COLLABORATORS
August 12, 2021
2pm–3pm
Facilitated by Erin Furtak, PhD
- Do you have a reliable and strong network of mentors?
- Are you struggling to cultivate mentoring relationships?
- Do you know the difference between a mentor and a sponsor?
- Are you moving to a new stage of your career and wondering how to find new mentors and sponsors that are appropriate to the next level?
If so, join us for a webinar that will help you:
- Map your current mentoring network
- Identify your unmet needs
- Plan how to expand your existing network to meet your current needs
Register for the Cultivating Your Network of Mentors, Sponsors, and Collaborators online.
SUPPORTING TRANS* SCHOLARS
August 24, 2021
2pm
–3pm
Facilitated by D-L Stewart, PhD
More information coming soon!
Want to incorporate Race & Diversity topics into your course?
NCFDD Recorded Webinars & Courses Focused on Race and Diversity
Turning Chutes into Ladders for Women Faculty: A Roadmap to
Equity in Academia
Facilitated by Michelle Cardel, PhD
Originally held on January
26, 2021—recording available for viewing!
Gender inequities remain pervasive in academia. The COVID19 pandemic has only magnified these inequities. This webinar will focus on the barriers and facilitators to gender equity in academia and highlights actionable strategies for institutions to implement to improve gender equity.
Access the recorded Turning Chutes into Ladders for Women Faculty webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Bracing for and Embracing the Fall as a Blkademic
Facilitated by Della Mosely, PhD
Originally held on September
14, 2020—recording available for viewing!
Recognizing the unique vulnerabilities Black academics (Blkademics) are facing in the current sociopolitical and campus climate, this interactive webinar will provide attendees with practical strategies to help them as they begin the fall semester. By increasing awareness, reflecting on holistic wellness needs, and getting clear on the strategies that resonate on a personal level, Blkademics will better be able to brace for and potentially embrace the semester ahead after attending this NCFDD webinar. Grounded in counseling and prevention psychology, Black feminism, and solution-focused theories, this webinar will offer Blkademics empirically-grounded and culturally-relevant strategies for surviving and being well as an academic today.
Access the recorded Bracing for and Embracing the Fall as a Blkademic webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Developing Anti-Oppressive Communities: Supporting Black
Students and Mentees
Facilitated by Wanda Swan
Originally held on August 18,
2020—recording available for viewing!
This webinar will provide attendees with opportunities to identify and reflect on their privileges and biases and how these impact their ability to effectively serve as teachers and scholars. The presenter will discuss strategies for identifying and combating anti-Black racism in classrooms and research groups, how to most effectively support Black students and colleagues, and how to proactively contribute to diverse and inclusive campus communities, whether those be classrooms, research teams, labs, or committees. The presenter will also address how the unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn and the recent racist killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery impact black research assistants and postdocs and the role of faculty and PIs in supporting Black mentees during the present historical moment.
Access the recorded Developing Anti-Oppressive Communities webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
How to Challenge Race and Gender Bias in Student Evaluations
Facilitated by Bedelia Richards, PhD
Originally held on March
24, 2020—recording available for viewing!
Studies consistently show that student evaluations are biased against women faculty and faculty of color. Yet, higher education institutions continue to lean heavily on students’ evaluations of teaching for hiring and promotion decisions. This webinar is designed for faculty and administrators to better understand how student biases become transformed into institutional inequalities based on race and gender. The webinar provides administrators and faculty in leadership positions with a range of potential solutions for eliminating or minimizing the negative impacts of biased student evaluations. Recognizing that institutional change takes time, however, the webinar also provides strategies for empowering women faculty and faculty of color on how to advocate for themselves, particularly in situations where they are not being fully supported.
Access the recorded How to Challenge Race and Gender Bias in Student Evaluations webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Micro-Aggressions, Micro-Resistance, and Ally Development in
the Academy
Facilitated by Cynthia Ganote, Ph.D., Saint Mary’s College, Floyd
Cheung, Ph.D., Smith College, and Tasha Souza, Ph.D., Boise State
University
Originally held on April 7, 2016—recording available
for viewing!
We often discuss ways to lead difficult dialogues amongst our students, and even ways to serve as allies to students experiencing classroom-based micro-aggressions. However, what do we do when we witness colleagues who are the targets of micro-aggressions?
This webinar examines ways in which micro-aggressions particularly impact women, faculty and staff of color, and LGBTQ faculty and staff in our institutions. In response, we can practice forms of micro-resistance and ally behaviors when we see our colleagues targeted, or when we ourselves are targeted. This focus on empowerment allows us to take action in our local environments, thereby lessening the impact upon colleagues and ourselves when micro-aggressions occur.
Dr. Cynthia Ganote is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Saint Mary’s College of California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her research focuses on race, class, gender, and sexual inequalities; feminist methods (including grounded theory and feminist in-depth interviews); critical and feminist pedagogies; and on approaches to community-based research. Currently, she is writing a book entitled Diverse Faculty, Re-Shaping the Professoriate.
Dr. Floyd Cheung directs the Sherrerd Center for Teaching and Learning and teaches English language and literature and American studies at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is also a member of the Five College Asian/Pacific/American Studies Certificate Program, for which he served as the founding chair. He has edited books and published articles on Asian American literature from 1887 to the present.
Dr. Tasha Souza is the Associate Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning and Professor of Communication at Boise State University. Most recently, she was the Faculty Associate for Inclusive Excellence for Humboldt State University and a Fulbright scholar at the University of the West Indies in Barbados. She is a consultant on communication and pedagogy and has published in such areas as difficult dialogues in the classroom, discussion-based teaching, instructional communication, and intercultural conflict.
Access the recorded Micro-Aggressions, Micro-Resistance, and Ally Development in the Academy webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
(In)Civility in Academic Spaces
Facilitated by Adeline Koh, PhD
Originally held on March 23,
2016—recording available for viewing!
The topic of (in)civility in public academic spaces has become extremely important, particularly in the wake of the Steven Salaita case, in which Salaita was denied a job he had been hired before because of his anti-Israeli foreign policy tweets. How should junior academics plan to walk the difficult tightrope between participating ethically in public social media spaces, and simultaneous passing through the difficult challenges of the tenure track? In this webinar, Koh will analyze the landscape of public academic spaces through social media, the necessity of participating in these spaces, and caveats and strategies to keep in mind.
Access the recorded (In)Civility in Academic Spaces webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Addressing Incivility in the Classroom: Effective Strategies
for Faculty
Facilitated by Chavella Pittman, PhD
Originally held on
February 16, 2016—recording available for viewing!
Classroom incivility refers to any student behaviors that disrupt the learning environment. They can range from texting in class to outright intimidation or threats. Regardless of the severity of the classroom incivility, research suggests they are on the rise. Unfortunately, faculty may not be prepared to deal with them. This is particularly troubling for marginalized faculty who are more frequently the targets of student incivility.
In this webinar, you will learn about faculty’s experiences with student incivility, especially the experiences of faculty with marginalized identities (e.g. race, gender, sexual orientation). You will also learn about the potential consequences for faculty of unchecked classroom incivilities. Most importantly, this webinar will teach you strategies you can use - both inside and outside of the classroom - to address these problematic student behaviors.
Access the recorded Addressing Incivility in the Classroom webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Disability and Living/Working in the Academy
Facilitated by Stephanie Kerschbaum, PhD
Originally held on
January 26, 2015—recording available for viewing!
Living and working with a disability in academia is a common occurrence, particularly given the ways that academia itself is an environment that can exacerbate or bring out disabling conditions in many people. In this workshop, Stephanie L. Kerschbaum will suggest ways that academic environments can become more hospitable towards disability as well as how academics can work interdependently to enact accessible moves and procedures. Specific topics discussed will include legal obligations and expectations around accommodation and why these are important but insufficient for enacting broad accessibility, the ways that “universal design” might apply to academic environments, and means for cultivating communication around access.
Access the recorded Disability and Living/Working in the Academy webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Presumed Incompetent: Race, Gender, and Class in Academia
Facilitated by Carmen Gonzalez, JD
Originally held on August
5, 2013—recording available for viewing!
- How do race and gender stereotypes affect perceptions of competence in the academic workplace?
- Why do academics from the working class feel pressure to "pass" as middle or upper class?
- Why should the growing corporatization of academia be of particular concern to women of color?
What can be done to increase the hiring, tenure, promotion, retention and inclusion of women of color and other underrepresented groups?
Despite academia's professed commitment to meritocracy and diversity, female faculty of color continue to be underrepresented in the nation's colleges and universities. The problem is particularly glaring because thirty percent of the nation's students are of color, and the next generation will be majority minority.
This workshop examines the obstacles that female faculty of color encounter on the road to tenure and beyond, and provides strategies that can be used by women of color, by allies, and by academic leaders to address institutionalized bias and to create a more equitable and inclusive campus environment.
Access the recorded Presumed Incompetent: Race, Gender and Class in Academia webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Successful Strategies for Faculty Diversity: Valuing Faculty
Work that Promotes Equity
Facilitated by Sheila O’Rourke, JD
Originally held on
February 26, 2013—recording available for viewing!
For those of us who care about diversity in higher education - faculty, administrators, diversity officers and advocates - increasing diversity among our faculty is one of our greatest challenges. This workshop explores effective strategies for promoting faculty diversity with a focus on rewarding faculty for teaching, conducting research and making service contributions that promote the institutional commitment to equity and diversity. Topics include:
- Valuing contributions to diversity in faculty searches and hiring
- Recognizing diversity work in faculty merit and promotion reviews
- Allocating resources to create incentives for diversity work
- Using data strategically to make the case for faculty diversity
The session refers to new policies and program at the University of California as case examples, and explores how each strategy can be adapted for colleges and universities, large and small; public and private. The session addresses legal issues that impact faculty diversity programs and provides guidelines for avoiding legal challenges to effective diversity efforts.
Access the recorded Successful Strategies for Faculty Diversity webinar online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Cultivating Compassion & Collectivism: A Multi-Week Course
to Facilitate Health from Racial Trauma
Facilitated by Della Mosley, PhD
Originally held on February
10, 2021—recording available for viewing!
Racial trauma has many academics oscillating between fight, flight, and freeze responses. We are fighting on committees and in our classrooms, debating how or if we should stay in harmful environments, and finding ourselves stuck as we hold our own and our community's pain. In this two-part workshop series, Dr. Della will describe the connection between trauma, healing, compassion, and collectivism. She will also introduce and guide participants through practices that help cultivate compassion and collectivism as a means to help facilitate healing from racial trauma.
This multi-week course includes 3 one-hour recording webinars.
Access the recorded Cultivating Compassion & Collectivism webinars online with your NCFDD institutional membership. Haven’t activated your NCFDD institutional membership yet? Visit our Inclusive Excellence webpage for information on how to activate this FREE and superb membership.
Past NCFDD Guest Expert Webinars
Fall 2020 NCFDD Guest Expert Webinars

DR. DELLA MOSLEY
Bracing for and Embracing the Fall as a Blkademic
September 15

DR. BRANDY SIMULA
Building and Leading Successful Research Teams
September 22

DR. ROSEMARIE ROBERTS
How to Engage in Healthy Conflict
October 8

DR. PAULINE MAKI
Women's Brain Health at Midlife- What Does Menopause Have to Do With It?
October 27

DR. CARLITA FAVERO
How to Manage Stress, Rejection, & the Haters in Your Midst
November 12

DR. KERRYANN O'MEARA
Developing a Career as a Community Engaged Scholar
November 24
20F NCFDD Webinar Calendar
Recognizing the unique vulnerabilities Black academics (Blkademics) are facing in the current sociopolitical and campus climate, this interactive webinar will provide attendees with practical strategies to help them as they begin the fall semester. By increasing awareness, reflecting on holistic wellness needs, and getting clear on the strategies that resonate on a personal level, Blkademics will better be able to brace for and potentially embrace the semester ahead after attending this NCFDD webinar. Grounded in counseling and prevention psychology, Black feminism, and solution-focused theories, this webinar will offer Blkademics empirically-grounded and culturally-relevant strategies for surviving and being well as an academic today.
Did you miss this one? No problem—there's a recording you can access!
- Are you wondering how to build your research group or lab to be a productive, happy working environment?
- Do you have an existing research team and are feeling overwhelmed trying to manage the work of the team?
- Do you wish there was a way to help your research team work better together?
This webinar will provide attendees with skills for developing a
productive and successful research team, group, or lab, managing the
work of the team, and creating a collaborative and inclusive culture
across research team members. Appropriate for researchers leading
teams ranging from 1-2 undergraduate assistants to
large, geographically disperse teams consisting of research assistants
and professional staff,
the webinar will provide an overview of
the work involved in running research teams from hiring to project
completion. The webinar will discuss concrete, practical issues such
as creating and assigning work tasks as well as conceptual and ethical
issues related to dealing with conflict. Participants will leave the
webinar having identified the core values that guide their ideal
research team, determined the general and technical skills members of
their research team need to be successful, and developed their
vision for what their own successful research team will accomplish and
how its culture will guide the core work of the team.
Did you miss this one? No problem—there's a recording you can access!
- Do you often feel drained by departmental drama?
- Do you feel unclear how to handle conflicts that arise in your department?
- Are you unsure when, where, and how to manage conflict with people
who will be
voting on your tenure?
Academics are notoriously conflict avoidant and the inability to manage conflict can result in negative physical, emotional, and relational consequences for tenure-track faculty. So why not learn early in your career to master the SKILL of healthy conflict so that you can effectively manage conflicts as they arise and avoid carrying around all of the negative energy, anger and resentment in your mind and body. In this webinar, you will learn:
- How conflict-management is an essential part of thriving in the Academy.
- How to decide when to push-back and when to pull back in the face of conflict.
- The difference between healthy and unhealthy conflict.
- How to get clear about the role that power plays in resolving
departmental
conflicts. - Ten tips for engaging in healthy conflict.
Did you miss this one? No problem—there's a recording you can access!
Dr. Pauline M. Maki is Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She also serves as Senior Director of Research at the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender. Dr. Maki received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Institute on Aging. For the past 25 years, she has led a program of NIH-funded research on women, cognition, mood and dementia, with a particular focus on the menopause. She uses multiple methods including clinical trials of hormonal and non-hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms, cohort studies of the natural history of cognition and brain function across the menopausal transition, and neuroimaging studies.
Did you miss this one? No problem—there's a recording you can access!
- Are you stressed?
- Do you feel devastated when your articles and/or grant proposals get rejected?
- Is the pressure of publishing/funding your work making you sick?
If any of this sounds familiar and you have difficulty managing the negative energy and rejection in your environment, please join us to learn:
- The impact that stress and negativity can have if they are not managed
- Identify the most common areas of stress in academic life
- Concrete strategies for managing the physical, emotional, and
attitudinal effects
of stress
Did you miss this one? No problem—there's a recording you can access!
Drawing on studies of exemplar, highly impactful engaged scholars, Dr. O'Meara shares examples of high impact community engaged scholarship and strategies adopted by engaged scholars to succeed in reward systems that are not yet fully inclusive of this work. We consider ways in which projects with community partners might be designed to document expertise or knowledge drawn on, impact, and significance.
Did you miss this one? No problem—there's a recording you can access!
Watch the recorded webinar with Dr. Kerryann O'Meara