Blackwell Talks - Monday, October 19
Scholar: Smriti Srivastava
Talk: NISAR: See Earth Like Never Before
When: October 19, 12:00-12:50
Where: Virginia Room
Light lunch provided.

Saving for Retirement
When: October 20, 3:30-5:00 pm
Where: CAFE Classroom, Allen 308
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/jTp9kXwkd1RHrtV69

Have you put off saving for retirement, or are you wondering if you have done everything you can? Join CAFE as we host AJ Sanfratelli, a financial expert who has worked for years with working folks looking to develop a nest egg for retirement. Faculty in all career stages are welcome to attend.

What Is “Significant Learning” in the Age of AI? A Faculty Learning Community
Hosted by: Alecia Blackwood and Jacob Dolence
Dates: Friday, November 6 and Friday, November 13 (Spring 2027 dates TBD)
Time: 1:00–2:15 PM
Location: Allen 308
Format: Hybrid
Sign up at https://bit.ly/4iPQD53

Join us for a CAFE Faculty Learning Community focused on exploring what significant learning looks like in the age of AI. Using Dee Fink’s Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses as our anchor text, we will read, reflect, and think together about how emerging technologies are reshaping course design, teaching, and learning and what thoughtful, learning-centered AI pedagogy can look like across disciplines.  Our focus will remain on the learning: What do we want students to know, do, connect, and carry with them beyond our courses? How might AI support those goals? Where might it complicate or undermine them? And how can our pedagogical choices help students engage with AI critically, ethically, and purposefully? Together, we will explore how principles of significant learning can inform decisions about whether, when, why, and how to use AI in our teaching, keeping learning goals and pedagogical purpose at the center.

Participants will leave with a redesigned or newly developed course, feedback from colleagues across disciplines, and a clearer sense of whether, when, why, and how AI fits within their teaching and when it does not.

Faculty from all disciplines are welcome. No AI expertise is needed: just curiosity, conversation, and a willingness to rethink teaching and learning together.

FOCUSED WORK SESSIONS

Pomodoros: Focused Work Sessions
Join CAFE for Pomodoro sessions again this semester. All faculty and staff are welcome. The sessions use a focused cycle: set a goal, work towards it for 25 minutes, and then take a five-minute break. You will repeat the cycle three times. Choose the session that fits your needs and attend when you are able.

HOST

SESSION

Wonderful Women @ Work with Sarah Tanner-Anderson--your ACE VA Women’s Network co-institutional representative

Join women faculty and staff for a welcoming, focused work session that provides dedicated time to make progress on the work that matters most to you.

Mondays@  8:30-10:00 am @ https://longwood-edu.zoom.us/my/tannerandersonsl  

 

Focused Work Pomodoro with Pam Tracy

A focused work session where faculty and staff can set aside time to make progress on the work that matters most to them.

Wednesdays 9:00-10:30 am @ https://longwood-edu.zoom.us/my/tracypj    

Research Pomodoro with Renee Gutiérrez

Join fellow faculty for a session dedicated to making progress on your research, whether you are writing, analyzing data, reviewing literature, or working on another aspect of a research project.

Mondays @ 3:30-5:00pm @

https://longwood-edu.zoom.us/j/98290614088?pwd=tufEbzYmPSPe0y9N0C2pHU9TdbaRx0.1

ACROSS CAMPUS

What Makes This ‘Honors’?: Split-Sections & Enhancements Workshop
Facilitators: Dr. Kevin Schattenkirk, Dr. Hannah Dudley Shotwell, Dr. Adrienne Sudbury, and Ms. Rebecca Sturgill
When: October 22, 2026, 3:30-5:00 pm
Where: Allen 308Register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5Izxvo5qEbp9i6VNXXg9irvIHcby0It48YmZkAirddVBnTg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Are you excited by the prospect of teaching Honors courses? Are you wondering what exactly makes an assignment or project 'Honors'? Please join us for a workshop on pedagogical approaches to developing split-sections and enhancements, two common ways for students to earn Honors credit.

7 HABITS
When: Thursday and Friday, October 22 & 23; you need to commit to both days.
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. each day
Where: Moton Museum
Facilitators: Certified Longwood University faculty and staff facilitators
Register here: https://forms.gle/689ShdMnUDQrKxX87

Have you ever wondered…
How do highly effective people prioritize what truly matters?
What habits help leaders manage change and build trust?
How can I align my daily decisions with my long-term values?

If these questions resonate with you, we invite you to join your colleagues for the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® Signature Program. During this interactive two-day program, you’ll explore principles of effectiveness, strengthen both personal and professional leadership, and develop practical tools to improve communication, teamwork, and productivity. Sponsored by Longwood’s SNVC Leadership Institute, the program is free for all Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College faculty and staff.

Your participation in this program is an investment in yourself—and in the campus community. By learning and practicing the 7 Habits together, we create a shared language of effectiveness that strengthens both individual growth and collective success.

SYNC YOUR CALENDARS: 2026-2027 CAFE SIGNATURE PROGRAMS
Pre-Semester Pedagogy Series        January 6-7, 2027
Faculty Well-Being Month             April 2027
2027 Teaching and Learning Institute   May 18, 2027