New Faculty Orientation Schedule
Monday, Aug. 25 | Tuesday, Aug. 26 | Wednesday, Aug. 27 | Thursday, Aug. 28
Monday, August 25, 2025
9:00–9:15 a.m.
Coffee, tea, and a light breakfast
9:15–9:45 a.m.
Welcome to Vassar
Brief words of welcome from Elizabeth Bradley, President; Demetrius Eudell, Dean of the Faculty; Carlos Alamo, Dean of the College; and Marianne Begemann, Dean of Strategic Planning and Academic Resources
9:45–11:00 a.m.
Teaching at Vassar: Discussion with Current Faculty
Candice Lowe Swift, Faculty Director of Teaching Development and Professor of Anthropology is joined by a panel of faculty who share their experiences teaching at a small liberal arts college. Panelists include Jodi Schwarz, Associate Professor of Biology; Stephane Andrade, Assistant Professor of Sociology; Monserrat Madariaga-Caro, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies; Adam Lowrance, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
11:00–11:15 a.m.
Break
11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
The Teacher-Scholar Model: Support Your Research and Scholarship
Susan Hiner, Director of Research Development and Professor of French and Francophone Studies, in conversation with current faculty regarding strategies and resources that have supported their research. Panelists include Mita Choudhury, Professor of History; Josh De Leeuw, Associate Professor Cognitive Science; Arpitha Kodoveri, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Justin Touchon, Associate Professor of Biology; Christina Johnson, Assistant Dean for Grants Development and Administration; Gary Hohenberger, Director of Grants Development and Associate Vice President of Foundation and Government Relations in the Grants Office will also join the conversation.
12:30–1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30–2:30 p.m.
Faculty Benefits Session
Sonja Krekun, Director of Benefits and Leave Administration
3:00–4:00 p.m.
Optional Campus Tour
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Dean of the Faculty Welcome Dinner, Alumnae House
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
9:00–9:15 a.m.
Coffee, tea, and a light breakfast
9:15–9:30 a.m.
Meet Members of the Dean of the Faculty Team
Brief introduction to the Dean of the Faculty Team: Chris Bjork, Associate Dean of the Faculty, joined by Melissa Naitza, Assistant Dean for Academic Administration; Amy Jo Arndt, Assistant Director of Academic Administration; and Andrea Monteleone-Villani, Assistant Director of Academic Administration
9:30–10:00 a.m.
Teaching at Vassar: Discussion with Current Students
Current Vassar students will share their experiences at Vassar and discuss classroom practices that have been especially transformative for them.
10:00–10:40 a.m.
Academic Support for Students: The Dean of Studies Office
Tom Porcello, Dean of Studies and Professor of Anthropology; MaryJo Cavanaugh, Director and Moorhead Learning Specialist for the Office for Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (AEO); Chris Bjork, Associate Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Education
10:40–11:00 a.m.
Break
11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Hands-on Syllabus Workshop: Inclusive Design and the First Week of Classes
Alexia Ferracuti, Director of Inclusive Pedagogy, will lead an interactive workshop on syllabus design and strategies for creating a welcoming, inclusive learning environment for your students from the first week of class. Bring a laptop, if possible, and hard copies of a syllabus you would like to work on.
12:30–1:30 p.m.
Lunch
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
9:00–9:15 a.m.
Coffee, tea, and a light breakfast
9:15–10:15 a.m.
Institutional Equity: Title IX Workshop
Jeff Schneider, Faculty Director of Institutional Equity and Professor of German Studies & Women, Feminist and Queer Studies; Lynn Christenson, Associate Faculty Director of Institutional Equity and Professor of Biology
10:15–11:00 a.m.
Academic Support for Your Teaching and Research: Vassar College Libraries and Academic Computing Services
Andrew Ashton, Director of the Libraries; Melanie Maskin, Head of Academic Engagement, Vassar Libraries; Amy Laughlin, Director of Academic Computing
11:00–11:15 a.m.
Break
11:15–11:45 a.m.
Academic Support for Students: The Learning, Teaching, and Research Center
Alexia Ferracuti, Director of Inclusive Pedagogy; Hudson Gould, Director of the Quantitative Reasoning Center and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics; Matt Schultz, Director of First-Year Writing and the Writing Center and Adjunct Associate Professor of English
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Teaching Beyond the Classroom: Community Engaged Learning, International Programs, and the LOEB Art Center
Elizabeth Cannon, Director of the Office of Community Engaged Learning; Azra Dawood, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programs, The Loeb Art Museum; Kerry Zuccaro, Assistant Dean for Global Partnerships and International Programs and Isabel Hansen, Associate Director of International Programs
12:15–12:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks by the Dean of the Faculty
12:30–1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30–3:00 p.m.
Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment from Week One (optional)
Alexia Ferracuti, Director of Inclusive Pedagogy
In this workshop, Alexia will build on the work started in our session on Tuesday, and guide you in a scaffolded process for creating icebreakers, surveys, and group activities that will help you establish a sense of community and belonging with your students from the beginning of the semester. You will have the opportunity to design and exchange feedback on the activities you plan to use during the first week of class.
Thursday, August 28, 2025
1:00–3:00 p.m.
Mind the Gap: From Practicing to Teaching Academic Writing (optional)
Matt Schultz, Director of First-Year Writing and the Writing Center
Our professional writing processes are often creative, exploratory, and exciting. We begin our research with questions sparked by reading others’ work; we think about crafting responses to those questions that impact the wider scholarly conversation; we look for astonishing gaps and curious complications. When we write, we are learning and experimenting, drafting and rethinking, asking for help, and even running into roadblocks that can be revelatory.
Teaching writing—while rewarding—is often humbling and sometimes maddening. What is the cause of this difficulty? Are there gaps between how we teach our students to write and how we approach our own writing? What are the implications of these gaps? Are there mindsets, tools, and techniques that can help us become more engaging teachers and help our students become more ambitious learners?
Please join Matt Schultz to consider appropriate writing outcomes for first-year students, identify the social process of writing from reading to revision, and share effective and efficient approaches to teaching writing and teaching with writing across the curriculum.
3:15 p.m.
First Faculty Meeting
(Rockefeller Hall 300)