Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to fall! If you are anything like me, summer felt too short. And yet, the excitement and energy that comes with the return to campus is contagious and inspiring. This is a powerful moment of renewed connections, deep purpose, and new inspiration.
I am excited to introduce you to Erica Drennan, OFD’s new Associate Director of Faculty Development. Erica joins us from Amherst College, where she was the Associate Director and Head of Collections for the Amherst Center for Russian Culture. This year, Erica will direct our Scholarly Writing and Mutual Mentoring programs as well as the Director’s Coffee Hours. She is excited to help support your career growth and community connections. Please join me in making her feel welcome.
This year, OFD’s Special Topic Series is Storytelling. We are offering opportunities for you to tell the story of the value of your work, both within and outside the academy. The series will kick off with a pair of events developed in collaboration with the Public Engagement Project.
- In Turn Scholarship into Public Impact, Hannah Sussman, an editor at The Conversation, and UMass faculty will share practical advice about how the publication works, who gets published, and why their articles resonate with millions of readers. Then, for a select group of faculty and librarians, Lisa Troy, Director of the Public Engagement Project, will lead a four-part writing intensive, leading to a prepared submission for The Conversation.
- In early October, a panel of faculty and librarians will come together to explore How To Talk About Public Engagement in Your AFR and ALR. Later this fall, we will launch a new OFD On Demand focused on communicating and engaging with the public. As the year progresses, we will further explore writing effective OpEds with The OpEd Project, how to talk to the media, how to strategically use social media for public engagement, and more.
I’d like to highlight Wisdom of Happiness, a film screening and panel discussion featuring actor and UMass alumnus Richard Gere, Representative Jim McGovern, and Tencho Gyatso, president of the International Campaign for Tibet. This free event is brought to you by Student Affairs and Campus Life, the Fine Arts Center and the International Campaign for Tibet. OFD is a member of the planning committee, and we are excited to help bring this conversation to campus. We would love to see you there!
OFD is here to support your scholarship, mentoring, public engagement and career progression, and we know none of this is possible without prioritizing your well-being. That's why this fall, we are partnering to offer Positivity and Relation Training (PART): Evidence-Based Practices to Support Flourishing in Academic Life, a cohort-based 9-week learning experience developed at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
As always, if you need some space to write, relax, or meet colleagues, the Faculty & Librarian Commons is available with caffeine and snacks whenever the W.E.B. Du Bois Library is open. And, if you are looking for some exercise and community, join our Walk and Wonder Wednesdays.
Thank you for creating such a vibrant community focused on the common good. Go UMass!
With Care,
Angela