Author: Jane Bise

2024 Election Resources for Faculty

The 2024 U.S. presidential elections are just under three weeks away, and you may be thinking about your role as a professor and how best to support students during this time.

There’s no universal solution to approaching election-related issues in class. Context plays a vital role, with considerations like the courses you’re teaching, the dynamics of your class, and your own teaching style all coming into play. However, we know from experience that students often look to faculty members when circumstances outside of the classroom may be affecting the classroom experience. Research suggests that students generally appreciate when professors address major local and global events rather than remain silent (Houston & DiPietro, 2007).

That being said, your approach to the upcoming elections doesn’t have to take the shape of a traditional in-class discussion. What’s more, you don’t have to wait until after the elections to acknowledge the current context. In fact, interactions and conversations after the elections will likely be much more productive if you prepare for them beforehand.

Keeping these things in mind, I’m sending along some suggestions and resources you might wish to explore.

To prepare your students for the coming weeks:

  • Encourage students to exercise their rights at the polls. The CCE offers an excellent voting guide to help students navigate this topic.
  • Foster community and acknowledge your students’ experiences. If you haven’t already done so, establishing community guidelines or agreements can pave the way for constructive conversations and give you a tool when you encounter tense moments in class.
  • Express care and share resources. Even if your course content doesn’t directly relate to the elections or you’re not comfortable discussing the topic in any depth, you might acknowledge that students may be experiencing strong emotions and express care and concern for their well-being. Consider directing them campus resources like CAPS.
  • Make space for reflection. Before or immediately after the elections, you could devote some class time to reflection even without facilitating a discussion. This might include written exercises, deep breathing, meditation, or a brief period of silence to honor the emotions some students may be experiencing.
  • Encourage your students to participate in campus events that focus on discussing differences and navigating diverse perspectives. The Sharp Viewpoint Series and the Learning Together Series are two examples; the CCE also has multiple events for students related to the 2024 Elections.

If you feel ready to discuss the elections with your students before or afterward:

  • Come to our upcoming Hub Talk with Professors Janice Craft and Dan Palazzolo on Dialogue Across Difference in the Classroom on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 12:00-1:00pm. They will each discuss how they are incorporating what they learned at the Citizens & Scholars Faculty Institute into their teaching this fall.
  • Give students advance notice. Some might not be prepared to engage yet or feel exhausted by discussions in other classes. If appropriate, consider allowing students the option to sit out of discussions if they’re not ready to participate.
  • Lean on resources. Check out the resources below, and if you’d like to discuss your thoughts or strategize with someone, please feel free to reach out to our staff for a one-on-one consultation—we’re here to support you before and after the elections…and beyond.

Finally, you may be processing your own feelings during this period as you carry the emotional weight of supporting your students. If you find yourself needing support, you could explore the resources available on HR’s Employee Well-Being site.

Please read on for additional offerings.

Resources

For those facilitating discussions on the elections, you might explore some or all of the following:

Offerings from the Faculty Hub and Others

Tipsheets:

Events:

Piecing It Together

We’ve reached the month of Halloween, pumpkin spice, and slightly cooler weather, so we thought it was time for a new puzzle! We hope to see you all gathered around the touchdown table, piecing together our October-themed puzzle when you need a break between class or meetings. Also, since our birding expeditions were so popular, we decided it would be fun to explore other parts of campus we might not normally take time to visit. Keep reading to learn about our upcoming visit to the costume shop at Modlin, a Hub Talk, and more!

Gather Feedback and Keep Writing

It’s hard to believe that it is almost October. Now is a great time to start thinking about getting midterm feedback from your students. Here are some tips on Gathering Student Feedback, so you can make any changes needed to enhance student learning for the second half of the semester. You may also want to consider a Facilitated Course Assessment provided by the Faculty Hub as an alternative to a self-administered anonymous feedback form. Learn more about Facilitated Course Assessments here.

Keep reading to learn about more opportunities this fall.

Many Things To Celebrate

We hope your semester is off to a great start. At the beginning of this academic year, we here at the Faculty Hub have three things to celebrate: the fifth anniversary of the Faculty Hub, the third anniversary of the grand opening of the Faculty Hub space, and the first week for our new colleagues, Technology Consultant Ryan Cales, and Post-Baccalaureate Fellow for Inclusive Pedagogy and the Humanities Gabriel Matthews.

Learn more about them and some of our upcoming fall offerings here.

Take Charge of Your Summer!

Summer is here, and you may have some big plans for your scholarship and creative work. We hope we can help you along the way through our summer writing groups, retreats, resources, writing consultants, one-on-one coaching and consultations, and a book proposal group. Keep reading to learn more, and be sure to scroll all the way down to see what question Andrew is wrestling with in his blog this month.

Faculty Hub May Daze

As you finish up these busy days of April and May, we invite you to end your semester on a high note with programming to help you reflect on the academic year and prepare for a fruitful summer. Our reinvigorating May Daze Schedule is below. Read on for more detailed information. If you want to finish grading or get a jump start on writing before May Daze begins, please join us for our Writing and Grading Retreat on Tuesday, April 30, and/or Wednesday, May 1, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Please see the full schedule here. Note that we have rescheduled two events on Monday, May 13, to avoid conflicts with other campus events that day. The updated schedule is below. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we hope you can join us!

Summer Research Prep Day – Monday, May 13

Fresh Perspectives

Spring brings abundant flowers, fuzzy goslings, longer days, and a chance to look at things a bit differently as we emerge from our winter cocoons. In that spirit of spring, we invite you to explore the upcoming April offerings at the Faculty Hub. Learn from other faculty at the Celebration of Teaching. Consider a new opportunity like the Inclusive Pedagogy Partnership Program (IP3). Think ahead to the effect the 2024 elections will have on your classroom. Get inspired (or at least do some grading) at one of our upcoming Writing and Grading Retreats. Explore various AI topics at one of the three AI talks on campus this month, including one this afternoon on AI & Ethics. And if you check out Andrew’s blog, you *might* get to see a photo of him at a Weezer show in 2001.

Keep reading to learn more.

Halfway There

As we near the midpoint of the semester, we hope all is going well. Midterm can be a good time to gather feedback from your students about their experiences in your courses so far. See our tipsheet on “Gathering Feedback from Students” for ideas, formats, and resources for doing so! You can also reach out to the Faculty Hub to schedule a one-on-one consultation about designing a feedback survey for your particular goals and teaching context.

Keep reading about more happenings here.