Summer workshops are open to all Instructors, Peer Leaders, and Graduate Leaders. The majority of workshops will take place virtually through the "U101 Instructors 2023 Blackboard Organization" via Blackboard Collaborate and recordings will be added to this website following each workshop.
On the list below, workshops that will take place in-person are noted with a *. Click on the title of a workshop to view the full description, including the location. If you have any questions, please reach out to Jasmine Carter .
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Presenters: Callyn Fahey and Katie Hopkins
U101 instructors can ensure students find significance in the first-year common read, How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question, by incorporating meaningful assignments, discussions, and activities into the curriculum. During this session, instructors will walk through the curriculum guide to effectively integrate this year’s First-Year Reading Experience book into U101.
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Presenters: Jessie McNevin
Sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of today without sacrificing the needs of the future. We often see students put their wellness (e.g., sleep, balanced meals, self care) on the back burner, perceiving it as a temporary sacrifice. Unfortunately, that sacrifice often recurs and becomes a habit. What if we could influence students before that sacrifice becomes a habit? Overlaying frameworks of sustainability and wellness allows students to examine these concepts on a macro and micro level. The presenter will share several activities, and each participant will receive a packet of lesson plans and ideas that can be scaffolded and woven into instructors’ existing curriculum plans.
Presenter: Caleb Morris
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
University 101 assessment has shown that sense of belonging and acceptance is the number one predictor of a student’s decision to persist. But what are the magical ingredients that foster belonging and acceptance? In this session, U101 instructors will explore strategies for building relationships between instructors and students across all facets of the course, including check-ins, in-class activities, assignments, and beyond the classroom experiences. This session will highlight insights from the Appreciative Education movement (Bloom, et. al., 2013), Relationship-Rich Education (Felton & Lambert, 2020; Gardner & Artze-Vega, 2022), and Daring Classrooms (Brown, 2018). This session will also consider belonging as a goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Presenter: Anne Frank Center Staff
Location: 1731 College St.
This is a unique opportunity for U101 instructors to tour the Anne Frank Center, which brings to life the story of Anne Frank and seeks to inspire a commitment to never be bystanders but instead to stand up together against antisemitism, bigotry, and inequality wherever it may exist today. A RSVP is required for this tour.
Presenter: Adrian Anderson
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Many instructors may be concerned with AI's ability to aid students in circumventing the learning process. This presentation will focus on the possible positive uses of Artificial Intelligence in the U101 classroom.
Presenters: Courtney Buzan, Megan Colascione, and Joshua Cauble
Location: Career Center Classroom
The Department of Student Life has created a semester-spanning curriculum that instructors can integrate into their course calendar that will give students an immersive overview of the opportunities and benefits of getting involved on campus. There will be four touchpoints throughout the fall semester, each focusing on one of the key components of a student's Student Life Journey.
Presenters: Katie Hopkins and Jasmine Carter
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Blackboard is an important learning management system that your students will use throughout their time at USC. It is expected that instructors use this technology for their class. This workshop will outline three levels of use for instructors to consider to effectively use Blackboard. From posting your course syllabus, assignments and grades, your students will appreciate and expect your use of this tool in your class.
Presenters: Ailie MacLennan and Emma Reabold
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Peer Leaders are valuable role models and serve as mentors, resources, and facilitators of learning for first-year students in U101. As a teaching partner, they have valuable input and influence that can help your class and teaching team relationship flourish. One key indicator of a successful teaching team is consistent communication and weekly meetings. This session will provide best practices for weekly meetings, communication, establishing clear expectations, and supporting and mentoring your peer leader throughout their experience.
Presenters: Katie Hopkins and Jasmine Carter
Location: Career Center Classroom
Your syllabus will serve as the road map of your course for both you and your students. It is important that the syllabus is well thought out and intentional in design, but sometimes it can be hard to figure out where to start. This session will provide instructors the opportunity to work on their syllabi while having the space to collaborate with other instructors and the support of the U101 staff.
Presenters: Alisa Liggett and Jessie Townsend
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Based on James Lang’s recent book, Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, this session will address the pervasive problem of distracted students, including how to use research on the effects of the technology students use as a distraction (cell phones) and/or as classroom tools (laptops). Presenters will analyze the neuroscience around multitasking and the implications it has on the student technology user, including research from students about the frequency with which they distract themselves with technology in a classroom. Further, presenters will identify approaches for discussing and navigating technology use with students. Lastly, we will formulate ideas and strategies connected to how attention can be achieved in the U101 classroom.
Presenter: Anne Frank Center Staff
Location: 1731 College St.
This is a unique opportunity for U101 instructors to tour the Anne Frank Center, which brings to life the story of Anne Frank and seeks to inspire a commitment to never be bystanders but instead to stand up together against antisemitism, bigotry, and inequality wherever it may exist today. A RSVP is required for this tour.
Presenters: Amber Fallucca, Julie Boyken, and Keah Tandon
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Reflection is an important method to facilitate learning and connections between experiences, yet it can be perceived as ambiguous or overwhelming to students. This session will provide strategies for introducing reflection as a skill to practice over time to make meaning across the college years. By highlighting activities in the U101 Faculty Resource Manual and lessons learned from Experience by Design, USC’s Quality Enhancement Plan, participants will walk away with a variety of resources to help incorporate reflection into assignments and to bring awareness to beyond the classroom activities to help students deepen their learning in approachable ways.
Presenter: Sandy Greene
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Beyond the classroom (BTC) activities are one of the most effective ways to build community in U101. This session will dive into strategies to engage students in BTC activities and will provide examples of successful BTC classroom events. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss best practices for creating, planning, and implementing BTC activities with the goal of building community.
Location: Horsehoe
In partnership with the Visitor Center, there will be an exclusive opportunity for U101 Instructors to participate in a campus tour led by a University Ambassador. This tour will give instructors the chance to see campus from a student’s perspective! This may be particularly beneficial to instructors who are relatively new to USC. A RSVP is required for this tour.
Presenters: Emily Baumann and Alexa Dean
Location: Career Center Classroom
You were looking forward to the class and felt confident because you had every detail planned. The class followed the lesson plan exactly. So why did it bomb so badly with the students?! This session will focus on how to assess, evaluate, and learn from the experience. Using these techniques will improve your teaching and build better connections with your students.
Presenter: Annie Sacilowski
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
Every student deserves equal access to all aspects of the USC experience. The Student
Disability Resource Center (SDRC) coordinates efforts to ensure that students with
disabilities receive reasonable accommodations and serves as consultants to faculty,
staff, and campus and community partners. In this session, instructors can expect
to learn what qualifies as a disability, SDRC demographics, and SDRC services available.
U101 instructors will also gain an understanding of the interactive process for receiving
accommodations while at USC, including information about the registration process
for students as well as recommendations for implementing accommodations in the classroom.
Finally, instructors will also develop a better understanding of how to tactfully
connect students with our office and normalize accommodations, all while protecting
the privacy and integrity of each student.
Presenters: Katie Hopkins and Jasmine Carter
Location: Career Center Classroom
Your syllabus will serve as the road map of your course for both you and your students. It is important that the syllabus is well thought out and intentional in design, but sometimes it can be hard to figure out where to start. This session will provide instructors the opportunity to work on their syllabi while having the space to collaborate with other instructors and the support of the U101 staff.
Presenter: Eli Scriver
Location: Career Center Classroom
"Take the Risky Out of Frisky" is an interactive presentation facilitated by Changing
Carolina Peer
Leaders and Healthy Campus Initiatives. Through group dialogue and self-reflection,
we provide
students with medically-accurate information on sexual health, including methods of
protection and
contraception, STIs and HIV, information on getting tested, and tips for relationship
communication and
risk reduction. This session is an opportunity to learn more about how to facilitate
a presentation on this topic.
Presenter: Courtney Buzan
Location: Career Center Classroom
Tradition comes in many forms at USC - from what we say and wear, to the events we
attend year after year. And let's not forget about that school in the upstate we love
to compete against annually! This presentation takes a deep dive into the spectrum
of tradition that lives at USC - both the well known and the up-and-coming traditions
we celebrate - in the hopes of recognizing the importance of traditions as part of
one's college experience both now and into the future. This session is an opportunity
to learn more about how to facilitate a presentation on this topic.
Presenter: Molly Peirano, Assistant Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX/Title IX & ADA Coordinator
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
In conjunction with the university’s ongoing Title IX efforts, this training is intended to support us in our role as mandatory reporters. If a student discloses any behavior that has the potential to be discriminatory or harassing in nature, we have a specific responsibility to report it. This training will clarify what is expected of us, walk us through the specifics of completing the reporting process, and will highlight resources needed to support our students.
Location: Blackboard Collaborate
In this webinar, the University 101 Staff will provide important updates, review the available resources that can assist you in teaching this fall, and discuss upcoming fall faculty development events.