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| Mike Sciola,
standing, director of Wesleyan’s Career Resource Center, speaks during an
Academic (Technology) Roundtable meeting Feb. 8. |
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| Posted 02.16.07 |
Roundtable Meetings Promote Conversation, Sharing of Resources
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Intellectual property issues, using visual
images in the classroom and rock and roll memories are all upcoming topics
for the Academic (Technology) Roundtable.
The weekly roundtable meetings aim to promote conversation, cooperation, and
the sharing of information and resources among Wesleyan's faculty and staff.
"This is an informal way for faculty, librarians and staff members to get
together and talk about technologies, academic issues and student life,"
explains Andy Szegedy-Maszak, director of the Center for Faculty Career
Development, the Jane A. Seney professor of Greek and chair of the Classical
Studies Department and roundtable moderator.
During the Feb. 8 meeting, some 40 guests came to hear a talk by Mike Sciola,
director of Wesleyan's Career Resource Center. After a presentation on
learning styles of "The Millennials," or the students born after 1988, more
than a dozen participants chimed in with questions or stories pertaining to
the topic of the day.
Like "The Millennials," not all topics are entirely technology-focused. The
Academic (Technology) Roundtable, which is abbreviated as A(T)R shifted
gears about four years ago when Szegedy-Maszak and Michael Roy, director of
Academic Computing Services and Digital Projects, took charge of
coordinating the meetings.
 Rather
than discussing technology only, they began welcoming a wide variety of
other subjects such as university services, grading practices, publishing in
academic journals, and students' mental health. Most presentations are by
Wesleyan staff or faculty members, along with some outside speakers.
"That's why we put the 'T' in parentheses now," Szegedy-Maszak says.
"Although we still include technological topics, our subjects are broader to
appeal to faculty and staff with different interests."
Future A(T)R topics vary. On Feb. 22, Don Moon, dean of the Social Sciences
and Interdisciplinary Programs and the John E. Andrus Professor of
Government, will lead a discussion on public speaking, which has been
identified by Wesleyan faculty as one of the academic "essential
capabilities." On March 1, James Neal, vice president for Information
Services at Columbia University, will speak on intellectual property issues
within higher education; March 5, David Green will speak on a National
Institute for Technology and Liberal Education report on visual images in
the classroom. Other upcoming topics and presenters can be found at:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/atr.
Roy and Szegedy-Maszak encourage the Wesleyan community to suggest a topic
of interest, nominate a presenter or volunteer to make a presentation via
its Web site at
http://www.wesleyan.edu/atr/suggestions.html.
"A(T)R is really the best-kept secret on campus," says Barbara Jones, the
Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian and regular meeting-attendee. "It's
a wonderful resource for our library staff, and it's a great place to meet
new colleagues."
Sponsors of A(T)R include The Center for Faculty Career Development, Olin
Library and Information Technology Services. Meetings take place at noon
most Mondays and Thursdays in Olin Library's Develin Room. Buffet lunch is
served and any member of Wesleyan's faculty and staff is welcome to attend.
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By Olivia Bartlett, The Wesleyan Connection
editor |
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