Dear Kirkwood Adjunct Faculty

The Adjunct Faculty Advisory Committee (AFAC) would like to invite you to participate in the 2010-11 Kirkwood Adjunct Faculty Survey. This confidential and anonymous survey is very important to all adjuncts working here at Kirkwood. It provides you an opportunity to voice your concerns & needs as instructors, express your thoughts regarding being an employee of Kirkwood, and give your feedback on a wide variety of topics important to you. Whether you have been employed at Kirkwood for several years or this is your first semester your opinion is important. The survey is now available online and can be reached by following this link:

The survey will be online until November 1^st so please take the few minutes (really it takes only a short period of time) and fill out the survey as soon as possible. The survey results will be compiled aggregately using a non-Kirkwood based web tool (Zoomerang). We are taking this extra step – with Kirkwood’s support – in order to ensure anonymity and stress confidentiality. If you have questions, comments or concerns regarding the survey feel free to contact the AFAC Survey subcommittee at adjunct.committee@kirkwood.edu.

We sincerely appreciate your time and consideration in participating in this survey!

 

Do you have a secret talent or performance ability you long to share with the world? Do you like American Idol/America’s Got Talent? Are you a part of the Kirkwood Community? Do you love prizes and/or fun? What better way to connect faculty and staff with students and have a great time doing it than by participating in the first ever Kirkwood Faculty and Staff Talent Show!
Through the Adjunct Faculty Advisory Committee and Student Services, this idea has come to life. On November 10 at 7 pm in room 234 Cedar Hall (also known as The Green Room…appropriate!), faculty and staff will present their talents to a panel of student judges and Doug Bannon, Dean and MC to the stars. Everything is ready to go, but we can’t do it without you.

Please email Seth Vander Tuig in Student Services and sign up to participate or if you have any questions. The room comes equipped with a piano, but all talents are welcome! Talents should be a reasonable length (no more than 8 minutes), and winners will receive plaques and eternal glory.

 

Sign up now!

 

As we rapidly approach the midpoint of the fall term, I hope that your work and classes are going well. I appreciate the good work that you do for our students and the Region we serve.

 

As you are all aware, Kirkwood will not hold classes on November 22 and 23 to allow for two days of conversation and learning about our students and the many other groups we serve. I appreciate the great work of the faculty-staff committee who have been meeting since the early part of this year to plan these two days and to make them beneficial for everyone in Academic Affairs. 

 

The first day will open with a presentation by John Roueche, an internationally recognized scholar in Community Colleges. His presentation will be followed by topical discussions facilitated by faculty and staff colleagues. The second day will bring discipline and work groups together to share ideas and to develop action plans for the future. The Theme: “Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century” will help us focus on all aspects of learner success. You will need to register for this conference and the sessions you would like to attend. 

 

How To Register: There are three convenient ways to register for KCELT classes. If you register via email or phone, please provide your k number as well as the section name (i.e. CURINAS-XXXXXXX-XXXXX).

 

 

The second day will open with a presentation on what we have learned from the Community College Survey on Student Engagement. After the presentation, faculty and staff will meet in like groups to discuss the action items from the first day and related topics. Staff will meet with like groups to share successful practices. The afternoon will bring groups of faculty and staff together to discuss collaboration and successful practices.

 

The commitment of the planning committee has focused on the fact that “we have a lot of talent and expertise at Kirkwood. We have not always taken the time to share that talent and expertise, discuss our challenges and capabilities, and exchange ideas among ourselves. We strive to build a foundation for ongoing discussions and professional development.

 

Goals

To better understand and respond to student learning needs.

To explore discipline based teaching ideas and practices.