Register for the Mentoring and Advising Summit
The 2021 Mentoring and Advising Summit will be held on Thursday, March 11, and this year the focus of the event will be on inclusive excellence in mentoring and advising. Participants will explore how to continue to build a strong culture of inclusion in mentoring and advising work. Visit the Mentoring and Advising Summit web page to learn more and register to attend.

Faculty Honored for Integrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion into Curriculum
The Office of the Provost and University Center for Teaching and Learning would like to congratulate the winners of this year's Provost's Award for Diversity in the Curriculum: Thomas Akiva, School of Education; Kayla Booth, School of Computing and Information; Zsuzsa Horvath and Christine Wankiiri-Hale, School of Dental Medicine; Lauren Jonkman, School of Pharmacy; and Andrew McCormick and Dara Mendez, Schools of Medicine and Public Health. The award formally recognizes faculty's efforts in integrating diversity and inclusion concepts into their course and curriculum.

Midterm Course Surveys Are Open
The midterm course survey period is underway, and students have until Feb. 28 to submit their feedback. In order to boost response rates, faculty should directly communicate the importance of student feedback with their class and even schedule class time for completion of surveys. Dr. Stephen Robar, associate professor of political science at Pitt Bradford, explained how a large reward can come from dedicating a small amount of class time in our latest YouTube video. "This works, and it's worth the 20 minutes in a classroom to devote time talking about." Midterm survey reports will be made available to faculty on March 1. For more information on midterm course surveys, please visit the OMET section of our website.

Feb. 23: Student Self-Care Day
Please be advised, the first of two student self-care days of the spring 2021 term is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23. Staff and faculty are encouraged to not schedule meetings, classes, or assignments on this day so students can rest, relax, and focus on self care. For more information, please visit our website. Faculty may also read Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner's message to Pitt students regarding self-care days.

Registration Open: Provost's Award for Diversity in the Curriculum Ceremony
Pitt faculty and staff are invited to attend the fourth annual Provost's Award for Diversity in the Curriculum ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 18, from 4-5 p.m. Faculty award winners will be celebrated for their efforts to enhance diversity in the curriculum and inclusion in the classroom. Clyde Wilson Pickett, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, will serve as the speaker for this year's event. In addition, the development team for the new interdisciplinary course, Anti-Black Racism: History, Ideology, and Resistance, will be honored at the event. Please register for the event to receive connection information, and visit our website for more information on the award and past winners.

Instructional Compassion & Equity
Compassion and equity help foster resilience and respect for one another, especially in times of distress. Your students will benefit from knowing that you not only understand high-quality course content, but that you recognize that it is impossible to know exactly what each student’s life is like right now. Visit our Resources for Teaching page to learn about five instructional compassion and equity reminders for faculty, in order to show students you care while we operate under the Flex@Pitt instructional model.