Events Calendar

We know, sometimes making the live event is impossible.  To help, we try to record CCI events when the presentation format and content can be reviewed effectively as a video.

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AI SERIES: What is AI and Generative AI? A Computer Science Perspective
Presenter: Laura M Grabowski and the Computer Science Department
The Generative AI Workshop Series is presented by the SUNY Potsdam AI Working Group.
Session 1 Overview: 
Goal: Attendees will be able to recognize the capabilities of generative AI

• How generative AI works
• How is it trained and what does training mean
• What it can do
• What it can't do
• How do we detect it

View the VIDEO on the CCI YouTube site.

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AI SERIES: Generative AI and Career Development (student-focused)
Presenter: Jenica Rogers
The Generative AI Workshop Series is presented by the SUNY Potsdam AI Working Group.
Session 2 Overview: 
This student-focused session will give student participants the opportunity to discuss and consider the proper use of AI technology with session participants and session leaders.
Outcomes:

• Get students thinking about career goals and preparation.
• Educate students on how AI is used in the hiring process on the employer side.
• Show students healthy ways to use career-focused text generators for their own career portfolios.
• Demonstrate useful critical thinking techniques for selecting AI tools for personal use.
• Start students on the path to understanding how AI knowledge and skills can advantage them in the workforce.

Questions attendees may have:

• “Can I just use AI to write my cover letters?”
• “Is there any good way to use AI for job stuff?”
• “What are the best AI tools to use?”
• “Is there an advantage to being able to use AI tools?”

View the VIDEO on the CCI YouTube site. 
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AI SERIES: AI in the Research Process and the Classroom
Presenter: Bryan Kvet, College Libraries
The Generative AI Workshop Series is presented by the SUNY Potsdam AI Working Group.
Session 3 Overview: 

• Discuss how students appear to be using ChatGPT
• Dangers of hallucinations in research
• Possible assignments using ChatGPT?
• Introduce Semantic Scholar & Elicit AIs for research purposes

View the VIDEO on the CCI YouTube site.
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HR Training Webpage
Human Resources manages a Training and Development webpage that lists several programs.  You will find information and resources on Compliance and Accessibility training (FYI- the BizLibrary compliance training site also includes a video tutorial library on various topics including Microsoft M365 applications).  You can also find information about SUNY CPD Points, which can pay for Center for Professional Development events.
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Access for all Webinar Series
The Access for all Webinar Series (Scaled Webinars) for UDL are designed to allow for the opportunity to give a more in-depth perspective about a given topic within the UDL Project. 
Important Note: All monthly webinars will be held on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., recorded and sent for Postproduction Captioning. Live captioning will be available for the duration of the webinars, and all finalized recordings will be housed within the UDL Website.
 
These webinars are offered by Empire State University’s Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports (CAARES) and SUNY System Universal Design for Learning Initiative through the Office of University Life.
The following are topics covered as part of this series: 

• February 28 - Supporting our Diverse Student Body: Executive Functioning
• March 27 - Supporting our Diverse Student Body: Continuation of Executive Functioning through Universal & Tiered Supports
• April 17 - Supporting our Diverse Student Body: Student Empowerment for Neurodivergent Students\May 15 - Supporting our Diverse Student Body: Continuation of Student Empowerment for Neurodivergent Students

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SUNY Online Teaching Webinar Series
The SUNY Online Teaching unit is committed to supporting campus faculty during this spring semester and has developed a monthly webinar series to provide information, resources, and best practices on important and relevant topics in online teaching and learning. To continue our efforts to support faculty this semester and beyond, we will resume our monthly webinar series this month. These webinars are free to attend, but registration is required. For full session descriptions and more details, visit: https://sunycpd.eventsair.com/sot-sp24.
 
Mark your calendars for the below sessions:

• Wednesday, January 31, from noon to 1:00 p.m. - Online Communication, Interaction & Engagement for Building Class Community
• Thursday, March 21, from noon to 1:00 p.m. - Effective Online Discussion
• Tuesday, April 2, from noon to 1:00 p.m. - Cool Tools: The 4 C’s to fire up online learner engagement (Part 1)
• Tuesday, April 23, from noon to 1:00 p.m. - Cool Tools: The 4 C’s to fire up online learner engagement (Part 2)

We are planning a webinar in May on AI in online teaching and learning and are looking for expertise in our SUNY community to lead this webinar. If you or someone you know would be interested in presenting a one-hour webinar on this topic, please email Erin.Maney@suny.edu with a presentation summary.

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Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education
Sponsored by the SUNY CPD and the SUNY FACT2 Task Groups on Optimizing Artificial Intelligence, two new courses have been designed to help staff and faculty learn about how AI impacts teaching, learning, enrollment, retention, and student success. The purpose of the Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education courses is to address the emergence and role of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education, and should also help the participants learn the competencies (knowledge and skills) needed to take AI into account in their roles as instructors, administrators, or staff members. 
There are 2 online asynchronous courses. The courses are 6 weeks in length each, and they contain approximately 3 to 5 hours of work each week. The courses are interactive with instructor feedback to participants and capped at 20 registrants. 
Courses may be taken individually or in tandem. The recommended order is Course 1 followed by Course 2; however, these courses are designed to stand alone. A digital badge will be awarded for the completion of each course. 

Course 1: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Higher Education - March 19 - April 29, 2024

Those who complete this course will be able to:

• Understand the history and evolution of artificial intelligence tools
• Explore and understand basic AI concepts: how AI tools work and their applications in higher education
• Assess the benefits, risks, and ethical implications of AI in higher education, considering academic integrity, social justice, access, and privacy 

Course 2: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Effectively in Teaching and Learning - May 14 - June 24, 2024

Those who complete this course will be able to:

• Understand the implications of AI tools for teaching and learning in higher education -especially as it relates to ethics and academic integrity (course policies, AI detection tools, ethical versus unethical uses of generative AI, etc.)
• Identify how AI concepts, tools, and applications can cultivate student-driven learning
• Evaluate examples (good and bad) of how to redesign courses and assignments, taking AI into account
• Redesign their own courses and assignments through experimentation with AI tools

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Empowering Every Voice – University Life Webinar Series
This free bi-weekly virtual webinar series, beginning Friday, February 9 through Friday, April 19, 2024, (from noon to 1:00 p.m.), is dedicated to enhancing the academic and personal development of students through a collaborative effort of faculty, staff, and the broader educational community. This series aims to provide a platform for continuous learning and professional development, focusing on various aspects of supporting diverse student populations. Sessions will feature experts, practitioners, and coordinators in each field to share real-world insights. Throughout the series we will encourage collaboration between different departments to foster a supportive campus community and provide strategies and resources for implementation in educational settings. 
Our goals include:  

• Foster dialogue and collaboration between academic and student support services. 
• Provide resources and share best practices for creating inclusive environments for all students. 
• Facilitate networking opportunities for attendees to share experiences and best practices within and across institutions. 
• Identify strategies that can be employed on SUNY campuses to better understand and serve the unique needs of diverse student populations. 

Join us in this impactful journey to create a more supportive and inclusive educational environment. Together, let's empower our students to thrive academically and personally. Visit the webinar series website for session details and to register. 

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New Faculty Peer Mentoring Program
The SUNY New Faculty Peer Mentoring Program is designed and offered at no cost to support the work of new tenure track colleagues in their first two years* on all 64 SUNY campuses across the State University of New York, and offers new faculty an opportunity to talk about vital issues as teachers, scholars, and advisors.

This mentoring community consists of a series of regular (bi-weekly) one-hour online meetings, beginning Monday, January 29 through Monday, May 6, 2024, (from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.), and is facilitated by the faculty and staff of Center for Mentoring, Learning and Academic Innovation SUNY Empire State University and the SUNY Center for Professional Development, as well as, previous program participants (current SUNY faculty serving as peer facilitators).

The meetings will have an “open-mic” format with no set agenda other than the issues, questions and problems faced by new faculty. These one-hour sessions will serve as opportunities for new faculty to share concerns and to get feedback from others. These sessions are intended as nonjudgmental forums; no questions are inconsequential; discussions among colleagues stay within the confines of our group. It is not required that you attend every session if you have a conflict with one or more. However, the Open Mics will not be recorded in order to maintain confidentiality for the participants.    

This informal, group-oriented, and participant-directed program has two goals:
1. Build community and connection among new SUNY faculty
2. Provide peer support in navigating various aspects of the faculty role - teaching, mentoring/advising, service, scholarship (and more)

*Those in temporary or adjunct faculty appointments or those who began their faculty appointment before Fall 2022 are not eligible for this program. The SUNY Center for Professional Development has many other professional development programs for those in these positions.

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Teaching and Learning Certificate for New Faculty Program

The SUNY Center for Professional Development is pleased to announce this 100% asynchronous online-certificate program, which provides all of the knowledge and skills you need to teach college courses and also gives you the experience of what it is like to be a student in a well-designed online course.
This program is intended to assist faculty in planning a well-articulated, systematized path for their professional development, and the certificate provides evidence that faculty have attained a basic set of essential skills and knowledge needed for teaching at SUNY.
To enroll, participants should have taught in a formal learning/training environment or plan to do so in the near future. Completion of all three courses are required to earn the certificate, and activities for the courses will include using an ePortfolio to document work. (If a participant's campus does not provide an ePortfolio platform for use, this program offers instruction on Mahara, a no cost Open Source ePortfolio platform which can be used by the participant for coursework during their duration in the program.)
Learning Outcomes:

• Utilize learning theory in the design and delivery of their courses
• Employ foundational learning teaching strategies that are supported by research and that promote active learning
• Effectively and efficiently evaluate student performance
• Create a safe and effective learning environment
• Utilize reflective techniques as a teaching practitioner
• Uphold and promote the academic policies of a participant's individual campus and the System

Please contact your Campus Points Contact to determine SUNY CPD Points eligibility to as a possible payment method.

Spring 2024

• January 2 - February 12, 2024: Helping Non-Traditional Students Succeed 
• February 13 - March 25, 2024: Critically Reflecting on Diversity and Teaching in SUNY 
• March 26 - May 6, 2024: Teaching for Racial Equity
• May 14 - June 24, 2024: Applying Universal Design for Learning Principles to Your Course 
• June 25 - August 5, 2024: Innovative Strategies to Engage All Students

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Online Pedagogy: Design for Online Learning

This course is a collaborative effort between the Center for Creative Instruction, the Online Faculty Fellows and volunteer faculty from across the campus. Conceived in the fall of 2019, the course has been an integral part of the SUNY Potsdam reopening plan and has prepared scores of faculty in delivering high quality and highly engaging online content during the COVID 19 crisis.

Course Overview: The purpose of this course is to facilitate development of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) for effective online teaching and learning. The course focuses on pedagogy and the design/facilitation of online learning. You'll learn by reading, watching, listening, sharing, and doing - applying the course content to relevant course design and development activities. This four-week asynchronous course involves an estimated 3 to 4 hours of work each week.  Each course is limited to 20 participants and includes an optional opening and closing online meeting, as well as opportunities to meet with the instructors and other participants each week.
Registered participants will receive a welcome email in the days leading up to the start of the course. The email will contain links to the course sites in Brightspace as well as links to the optional Welcome and Closing sessions at the beginning and end of the course. Both video meetings are optional and will be recorded.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Identify key differences between face-to-face (F2F) and online teaching and learning.
• Apply Backward Design to develop a course and its components.
• Recognize Community of Inquiry (CoI) principles of online learning and apply them to develop online teaching and learning experiences.
• Identify, select, and use tools, within the learning management system (Brightspace) and beyond, to support teaching and learning.
• Apply relevant standards and guidelines that frame distance education.

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Introduction to Universal Design for Learning Self-Paced Online Course

This online, self-paced workshop provides an in-depth introduction to the Universal Design for Learning framework begins Friday, September 1 (The course will be open enrollment and registration after this start date.) Participants will learn why the Universal Design for Learning framework is important, how to apply its principles and guidelines to their own courses, and best practices for interacting with students with disabilities. Participants of this workshop will leave with the skills and resources to apply what they learn about Universal Design for Learning to design a new lesson or student experience, or to revise an existing lesson or experience.
 
Learning Objectives:

• Define Universal Design for Learning and explain why it is important in higher education.
• Define Universal Design, accessibility and usability and explain how each is different from Universal Design for Learning
• Describe the three principles of Universal Design for Learning, recognize examples of them, and explain how to apply each of the three principles to their work with students.
• Employ a three-step approach to recognize barriers to success in their work with students and design to eliminate those barriers.
• Explain best practices for interacting with and providing support for students with disabilities.

Workshop Content: Total Estimated Completion Time: 12-15 hours

• What is UDL? Why is it Important?
• Provide Multiple Means of Representation
• Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression
• Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
• Three Steps to UDL
• SUNY EITA Digital Content Accessibility Standards
• Implementing Instruction to Support Students with Disabilities 

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Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative Training Program
Microsoft and your organization are working together to help you learn the skills you need to be successful with Azure and other Microsoft technologies. With the right technical skills, you can be more innovative, and you can better adapt to the digital landscape, even as it continues to change.
Microsoft has created the Enterprise Skills Initiative (ESI) program—to provide the structure and resources for you to expand your technical skill sets and growth. Sharpen your technical skills and knowledge of Microsoft solutions by enrolling in interactive courses and training designed for your role, and advance your career by getting certified.
Skills build confidence. Confidence drives productivity, innovation, and growth.
For more information on the program, go to https://esi.microsoft.com/ and sign in by entering your work email address and following the steps to create your learner profile. Need help signing in? Please contact: ESI Support.

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Empire KnowledgeBank (EKB) Online Learning – Spotlight on: Virtual Collaboration
The NYS/UUP Joint Labor/Management Committees offer free certification programs!!  Just fill out the application for a FREE e-learning program license and begin exploring what EKB can offer you!!

The Empire KnowledgeBank (EKB) Online Learning contains thousands of eLearning courses, eBooks and short course videos to help employees enhance your professional and career development, prepare for certification and continuing your education in subjects including software, project management, supervision, web security, leadership and much more. The license guidelines, as well as a list of the EKB eLearning Collection, are available here. For further information contact NYS/UUP JLMC at e-mail nysuuplmc@oer.ny.gov or phone (518) 486-4666.

Virtual Collaboration topics available through EKB include:

• Optimizing Virtual Collaboration
• Establishing Effective Virtual Teams
• Remote: Office Not required
• Facing Virtual Teams Challenges
• Virtual Leadership: Practical Strategies for Getting the Best out of Virtual Work and Virtual Teams
• Contributing as a Virtual Team Member

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Quality by Design (QbD): Strategies for Effective Teaching and Quality Course Design 

This four-week online asynchronous course is intended for all faculty and instructional support staff at all levels of experience with an interest in effective teaching and quality course design strategies. It provides a unique opportunity to improve courses through a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses, and focuses on four major topics that are a key component of any quality designed course, including:

• Learner Support
• Content Presentation & Accessibility
• Interaction & Collaboration
• Evaluation & Assessment

Those who complete the course will be able to identify the importance of learner-centered instruction; analyze the qualities of effective course design; and integrate these concepts into their teaching and/or instructional design strategies.
Participants will have the opportunity to earn badges issued through Acclaim by Credly and is free for CPD members and low cost for all others. The time-commitment for QbD varies by individual; averaging 2 to 4 hours per week.
For registration and more information, please visit the QbD website. 

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Lumen Circles Fellowships: Adventures in Teaching Excellence
SUNY faculty are provided a unique opportunity to connect with peers as they explore effective teaching strategies and instructional practices that support and boost student success and apply them in their own teaching. Through the fellowship you can learn, share ideas, and develop professionally in the areas you want to grow. Choose a fellowship theme in an area you’d like to deepen your expertise: Active Learning; Inclusive Teaching; Online Teaching; Teaching with OER; and more!
Lumen Circles Fellowships are offered in partnership with the SUNY Center for Professional Development, SUNY OER Services, and Lumen Learning. They are available at NO COST to SUNY faculty and campuses, and work well for any faculty member, in any discipline, at any stage of career. See Program Achievements for additional details about what faculty fellows have accomplished in order to earn a certificate. You do not need to use courseware to be eligible for this program.