The Daily Bulletin Archive

By Tony Astran

For many faculty members, the summer offers time to catch up on continuing projects or begin new ones. Many Buffalo State faculty recently took advantage of new programs offered through the Faculty Development Center to hone their work and stay productive during the warmer months.

Sue McMillen, associate professor of mathematics and director of faculty development, spearheaded a series throughout May called “Start Your Summer Scholarship.” Nearly 50 faculty members participated in a variety of activities, including an introduction to Endnote citation-management software, two workshops as part of the Summer Pedagogical Institute, and a writing event that paired participants with mentors.

“The main idea was to energize faculty as they begin the summer for their own research and writing and also for their teaching,” McMillen said.

Theresa Harris-Tigg, assistant professor of English and coordinator of the English education program, participated in the writing event. She hopes to complete three publishable articles and outline her first book before the fall semester begins.

“The summer months offer a great time for productivity, but you have to be good at prioritizing,” Harris-Tigg said.

She is grateful for the advice she received from her writing mentor, Paul Theobald, professor and Woods-Beals Endowed Chair with the Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education. During the full-day writing event on May 29, Theobald offered Harris-Tigg suggestions to add more depth to her article and also referred her to Bill Wieczorek, professor and director of the Center for Health and Social Research, for advice on incorporating surveys into her work.

To encourage continued productivity during the summer, McMillen is making the conference area outside her office—Bulger Communication Center 104—available every Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for those seeking quiet time for writing or a place to share ideas with colleagues.

“The space offers little distraction and can energize a faculty member by being in the presence of others who want to write,” she said. “It’s like having a workout buddy.”

KeunYoung “Vicky” Oh, assistant professor of technology, registered for all the activities. She found the Summer Pedagogical Institute workshops—Strategies for Teaching Large Classes and Dealing with Disruptive Students—to be helpful.

“The workshops were very informative and inspirational,” Oh said. “As a novice in higher education, my whole perspective to classroom teaching has changed to more student-learning and thinking skills.”

Oh, who is currently working on a manuscript about the design attributes of online shopping sites, compares the summer months to farming.

“The summer is like a seeding time for me to be an active scholar,” she said. “In this profession, ‘publication’ is considered products or crop. During this summer, if I can produce manuscripts to be sent to journals, if I can develop questionnaires to be sent out to respondents, or if I can do some reading and be able to come up with new research ideas or proposals, my seeding mission would lead me to a successful growing season throughout the next year.”

McMillen is compiling a calendar of new activities for the fall. She hopes to repeat a similar series during Winterim and future summers.