​​Join your colleagues for Online August Symposium, a full-online faculty development day on Monday the week before fall semester classes start. There will be interactive sessions, opportunities for reflecting and interacting with colleagues, and a keynote address (speaker to be announced soon!).

Programs within the CFI are designed to support the development of instructional faculty and AP faculty with instructional responsibilities. We also welcome staff to many of our programs. If you are interested in attending one of our programs but do not identify with the above classifications, please email cfi@jmu.edu.

Registration coming soon. Please check back to register.

The following is a selection of sessions offered during the Online August Symposium. Check back for updates about more sessions!

Join this brief session to connect with engage in structured reflection activities, connect with your fellow attendees, and start the day of Zoom sessions with intention.

Facilitated by Andreas Broscheid (CFI & CAL)

All About Mentoring

What are your mentoring needs for the upcoming year — and what might you be able to offer others in a mentoring capacity? New(er) and more seasoned faculty are invited to a session to 1) assess their own needs as of right now (which may have changed over time) and where their network of support could be strengthened; and 2) think about what forms of (peer and/or more hierarchical) mentoring they'd like to see at JMU and what techniques/practices they can implement in the year to come.

Facilitated by Jessica Salvatore (CHBS & CFI)

Beyond Policing AI: Developing Practical Wisdom for Human-AI Collaboration

This workshop shifts the focus from abstract debates about what AI is to the situated, practical judgments people make when working with it. Drawing on Aristotle's concept of practical wisdom and pragmatist philosophy of technology, Dr. Hayward Marcum presents a three-part framework built around situated judgment, aims and goods, and reflective mediation. Participants will examine sample case studies and contribute examples from their own disciplines, exploring how practical wisdom can guide thoughtful, context-sensitive AI use.

Facilitated by Joni Hayward Marcum (Learning Centers & CAL)

Building Care into the Year Ahead

As we get ready to launch the academic year, let's consider proactive strategies for designing care into the fabric of the year ahead, for ourselves, our students, and others. Please join the CFI Well-being team for a session to support planning for the year, such as designing course content and learning activities, planning for scholarship and service, or any other element of faculty lives, with special attention to integrating care and well-being. This will be space for conversations with colleagues, community building, and exploring ideas and resources designed to support care.

Facilitated by Daisy Breneman (CFI & CAL), Joe LeBlanc (CHBS & CFI), Eric Magrum (CHBS & CFI), and Mollie Stambler (CAL & CFI)

Meet International Faculty at JMU

This session invites international faculty at JMU (and those who want to meet them) to network, create connections for mutual support, and talk about the issues that concern us currently.

Facilitated by Modjadji Choshi (CHBS), Jonathan Kratz (CGE), and Sherry Lu (CGE)

From Dialogue to Debate and Deliberation: Student Interactions for Learning

Dialogue, debate, discussion, and deliberation are different ways in which students can interact around a range of topics, including so-called "difficult conversations." This session will help participants experience how these approaches differ, what their strengths and shortcomings are, and also how they can form different stages or modes of interaction around the same topic.

Facilitated by Andreas Broscheid (CFI & CAL)

From Surviving to Thriving: Hope Theory as a Framework for Faculty Well-Being

This roundtable invites faculty to examine personal and collective well-being through a hope-centered framework grounded in five research-based strategies for sustaining educator vitality. Drawing on Snyder's hope theory and an asset-driven approach to professional wellness, participants will engage in structured dialogue exploring the intersection of self-care, belonging, community-building, and institutional structures that either foster or hinder faculty flourishing. The session offers both practical tools and a reflective space for faculty to reconnect with their purpose and invest in their own thriving.

Facilitated by Viki Kelchner (CHBS)

Teamwork That Works: Diagnosing and Maintaining Healthy Group Dynamics

This interactive workshop helps attendees diagnose and address the group dynamics that shape collaboration in student teams, research groups, committees, and workplace settings. Participants will explore how boundaries, task processes, interpersonal relationships, and self-oriented behaviors influence group effectiveness. The session introduces practical team maintenance strategies that can help normalize difficult conversations, prevent deterioration, and support healthier collaboration over time.

Facilitated by Raafat Zaini and Shannon Conley (CISE)

Transitioning to a New General Education Program, Launch Fall 2028

After a lengthy and deliberative process that formally began in 2021, JMU is poised to launch its new General Education program in Fall 2028. What's the current state of play in the transition? How can faculty participate in shaping what comes next? What are the opportunities to teach dynamic and rewarding courses? Come to this session to discuss recent developments and new opportunities with like-minded colleagues, including General Education co-directors.

Facilitated by Sarah Brooks (Faculty Affairs & Curriculum and CVPA) and Elizabeth Brown (Faculty Affairs & Curriculum and CSM)

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Collaborative Learning with Reflection in Digital Space

This roundtable session invites JMU instructors to reconsider groupwork in digital space, allowing for process-oriented assessment of collaboration and reflection. Instructional Designers with practical design and teaching experiences will lead faculty in a structured discussion. We will focus on strategies and best practices for implementing collaborative learning with reflection in JMU-supported digital learning spaces. Faculty participants will be invited to share their experiences, insights, challenges, and questions related to designing and facilitating student collaboration and reflection in digital learning space.

Facilitated by Chelsey Bollinger (COE & Libraries), Jessica Lantz (Libraries), and Juhong Christie Liu (Libraries)

Creating Debate Activities in Your Classes

JMU's *Debate Across the Curriculum* initiative supports faculty use of debate activities in their classes, "challenging students to improve advocacy skills, critical thinking, public speaking, group collaboration, confidence and more." This session introduces participants to the range of formats and purposes that debate can take and demonstrates a new AI agent, developed at JMU, that takes instructors through a debate design process.

Facilitated by Paul Mabrey (Student Success & CAL)

Developing Student Voice from Day One

What happens when students help shape aspects of the learning environment from the start? Participants will explore simple strategies for incorporating student voice into course expectations, discussion norms, and learning experiences during the opening weeks of the semester.

Facilitated by Chris Hass (COE)

From Frustration to Function: Pondering Ways to Improve Group Work Engagement

This roundtable invites instructors to consider ways to improve their cooperative learning activities to foster greater student engagement. The session will begin with an open discussion of common student engagement challenges in group work (e.g., uneven participation, social loafing, student resistance, communication breakdowns). Participants will then consider how to (re)design meaningful cooperative learning tasks based on the principles of positive interdependence, individual accountability, and small group coordination\/collaboration skills. Emphasizing shared inquiry and peer exchange, the session will provide space for instructors to share resources and their experiences (i.e., what has worked and what has not worked and under what conditions). Participants will leave with practical strategies and renewed perspectives for making group work more purposeful, equitable, and effective in their classrooms.

Facilitated by Lori Gano-Overway (CHBS & CFI)

Introduction to General Education at JMU

This session provides a concise introduction to JMU's unique, faculty-designed General Education program. The program is an integral part of JMU's broad liberal arts and sciences education that prepares our students for future success and lifelong learning. This session will discuss: the role of the General Education curriculum in the bachelor's degree; the JMU program's distinctive features; essential practical considerations for both advisors and instructors. Participant questions will be welcome. This session is especially appropriate for anyone who is new to JMU or newly advising, mentoring, or teaching at JMU.

Facilitated by Sarah Brooks (Faculty Affairs & Curriculum and CVPA) and Elizabeth Brown (Faculty Affairs & Curriculum and CSM)

Join your fellow participants for a brief, guided, interactive reflection on what you have learned and what you want to do with what you've learned today.

Facilitated by Andreas Broscheid (CFI & CAL)