SPA DAY
The SPA Day seeks to stimulate conversations that include perspectives from the lens of students, faculty, and staff. A crucial perspective to include is that of the chairs of academic departments. Their role in maintaining a healthy and collegial environment has become more complex in times of constant change and emerging challenges. This panel will explore the experiences and approaches of department heads and provide an opportunity to learn about their challenges and successes as they strive to foster inclusion, accessibility, collegiality, and community.
Program by Year, Click on ☰ below ▼
A Conversation About “Welcomeness”
Presenter Linda Miles, Assistant Professor, Library Join us as we explore the concept of “welcomeness” and its critical role in establishing a sense of belonging within the Hostos community. We will collaborate to define welcomeness from several angles. Then, through thought-provoking conversations, we will collectively explore the essence of welcomeness, its significance, and practical strategies to help ensure an inclusive [...]
Harmony Within: Nurturing Connection through Yoga and Meditation
Presenters J.C. Williams, Adjunct Lecturer, Behavioral & Social Sciences, RYT-200 Iber Polma, Coordinator of Student Support, Edtech Explore fun and practical yoga techniques to experience a greater sense of connection, with ourselves and with each other. We will open our senses, relax the mind, and use our breath to feel that interconnection. Join us as we harness the transforming potential [...]
Unleash the Learning Pulse: Catalyzing Student Growth through Assessment
Presenters Anders Jasson Stachelek, Associate Professor, Mathematics Discover innovative, and yet simple approaches to assessment to unraveling the learning pulse. We will explore strategies to foster student progress, enhance retention rates, and create an inclusive and supportive learning environment by asking three foundational questions: 1) What do we want students to learn? 2) How do we know if they learned [...]
Expressions of Art: Unleashing Creativity to Foster Inclusion, Persistence, and Belonging
Join us for a dynamic and interactive series of hands-on breakout sessions that utilize art as a powerful medium to illustrate complex concepts such as belonging, inclusion, welcomeness, and persistence. Through poems, mask-making, songwriting, and acting, discover creative ways to express and embody these transformative principles, fostering a stronger sense of unity and connection within our community. This is the [...]
Creativity & Play for Community-Building in the Classroom – Share Back
Presenters Linda Miles, Assistant Professor, Library Lauren Wolf, Assistant Professor, Mathematics In this session, we will explore strategies for incorporating creativity and play to help build community in our courses and at Hostos. We will reflect on the preceding creativity exercises, and consider practical ways to use low-stakes creativity and play activities to help foster an inclusive and supportive learning [...]
Student Scenarios: Reimagining a New Normal from the Student Lens
It is crucial that educational institutions deliberately include and integrate student feedback within continuous improvement processes. Identifying the best ways to capture student perspectives, challenges, and needs that require thinking outside the box and trying different approaches. This activity brings the voices of three Hostos students and presents different scenarios that they have had or are facing in their academic [...]
Potential Approaches to Cross-Disciplinary Experiential Learning at Hostos
Presenters Angela Dunne, Humanities Alliance Graduate Fellow Jason Castillo, Humanities Alliance Graduate FellowMehrnaz Moghaddam, Humanities Alliance Graduate Fellow In this short interactive workshop, we will explore and share ways in which we implement Experiential Learning and interdisciplinary approaches at Hostos. This exercise will allow faculty and staff to learn about each other’s methods/practices and alternative Experiential Learning teaching techniques, and identify [...]
Dissecting Evidence of Learning by Uncovering the Meaning of the What Questions in our Courses
Presenters Jacqueline Disanto, Professor, EducationAntonios Varelas, Professor, Behavioral & Social SciencesNelson Nuñez-Rodriguez, Professor, Natural Sciences This conversation builds on the simple SoTL question What works? It is also illuminated by the legacy of the conversations sparked during the Middle States on-site visit revolving around the reviewer’s question How do you know what students know? Rooted in the evaluators’ interest to [...]
Maintaining a Healthy and Collegial Environment in Times of Flux: A Chair’s Perspective
Presenters Charles I. Drago, Chairperson, Allied Health SciencesJacqueline Disanto, Professor, EducationErnest Ialongo, Chair, Behavioral & Social SciencesAlisa Roost, Associate Professor & Chairperson, Humanities Moderator Cynthia Jones, Lecturer, English, CTL Co-Director This year’s SPA Day theme seeks to stimulate conversations that include perspectives from the lens of students, faculty, and staff. A crucial perspective to include is that of the chairs [...]
Spa Day 2021 Program
14th Annual Professional Development Day, CTL Spa Day. Transforming the Hostos Community: Fostering Inclusion, Cultivating Belonging, and Enhancing Retention 9:30 am - 9:45 am Welcoming & Opening Remarks Emcees: Asrat Amnie, Assistant Professor, Education Linda Miles, Assistant Professor, Library Daisy Cocco de Filippis President, Hostos Community College Charles Drago Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs 9:45 am - [...]
