Professional Development Day - 2026

Conference Presentation Professional Development

Professional Development Day - 2026

Aug 27, 2026 9:00am – 4:00pm Corey Union, Function Room Past Event

Registration Required Closed

Join us for a full day of sessions (lunch included) where faculty & staff can learn about everything from reciprocal wellness, to fundraising, to strategies for promotion!

The CTL and the Faculty Development Committee (FDC), in conjunction with the Provost's Office, are hosting a Professional Development Day for all Faculty and Staff! We hope you can join us for all or part of the day!

Tag	Meaning
DP	Digital Productivity
PPR	Preparing a Portfolio for Reappointment
TBC	Team Building and Collaboration
CC	Career Competencies
WSC	Wellness and Self Care
ISW	Instruction / Student Wellness
M	Mentoring

Sessions

Panel 1: 9:00-9:50

Panel 2: 10:00-10:50

We are all managing a lot these days, both in our work and in our personal lives, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. The implications of this show up in many ways in the classroom and workplace. Our students often struggle with executive functioning, are experiencing increasing levels of anxiety, and are coping with other mental health symptoms that can, at times, feel incapacitating. Our colleagues are navigating competing demands on their time, and feeling overextended can be emotionally taxing in ways that can cause both tension and conflict. This session will invite us to explore moments when the behaviors we are observing—or experiencing ourselves—are the result of feeling activated. We will consider the impact of these moments, for the individual feeling activated, for those present in the classroom or workplace, and for our roles as educators, advisors, coaches, colleagues, or supervisors. This session will offer concrete strategies that can be used both during moments when individuals are feeling activated and as regular practices that help support self-regulation.

Session Materials Slide Deck_Foregrounding Care

Suggested Citation (APA 7)

Renee Wells. (2026, August 27). Foregrounding Care: Recognizing Moments of Activation and Utilizing Self-Regulation Strategies [Conference session]. Professional Development Day - 2026, SUNY Cortland.

Panel 3: 11:00-11:50

What does it actually mean to create a classroom where students feel safe enough to learn? Not the compliance version — the accessibility statement buried in your syllabus, the land acknowledgment you read once — but the kind of care that shapes how you design every policy, every assignment, every interaction from day one. This workshop invites faculty to reflect on what empathetic teaching looks like in practice: building structures where students don't have to "trauma dump" to get an extension, where showing up matters more than performing, and where your policies say I am on your team before a student ever has to ask. We'll explore practical strategies for humanizing your classroom — from syllabus language to day-one framing — grounded in the belief that education should be dignity-affirming and psychologically safe for everyone in the room, including you. Leave with language, examples, and a framework you can use this semester.

Session Materials Slide Deck - Empathy & Care Vossoughi 2015 - Intellectual Respect Reading "Things you want me to know" beginning-of-semester survey example Morgan's Example Syllabus Statements

Suggested Citation (APA 7)

Morgan Vickery. (2026, August 27). "Be the Professor You Needed": Intentional Course Design for Empathy & Care [Conference session]. Professional Development Day - 2026, SUNY Cortland.

Introduction: who we are; where to find us; when students should be referred for counseling; the referral process; steps to engaging in counseling; confidentiality; cost and resources available to students. The aim of our counseling center is to support students with mental health concerns. The goal of this presentation is to look at wellness as reciprocal. How well you do in supporting your students is affected by how well you are doing. We will look at the importance of recognizing the interconnection between cultivating wellness in our students and in ourselves. By paying closer attention to shifts in your baseline you will be better attuned to students who are struggling. Self-awareness is the first step to better self-care. Noticing the early signs that you are stressed or overwhelmed can help you intervene before things become unmanageable. We will help you identify what leads you to feeling overwhelmed and stressed and what helps you to feel calm and relaxed. Self-care doesn't have to be relegated to the end of the workday. We will look at how you can integrate better self-care into your workday to support yourself and your students.

Suggested Citation (APA 7)

Roueida Ghadban, Jen Talarico. (2026, August 27). Faculty & Staff Guide to Reciprocal Wellness - Supporting Our Students, Supporting Ourselves [Conference session]. Professional Development Day - 2026, SUNY Cortland.

Team Building Lunch: 12:00-12:50

Panel 4: 1:00-1:50

Panel 5: 2:00-2:50

Panel 6: 3:00-3:50

Whether you're pursuing a promotion, applying for a new role, seeking grant funding, or being considered for an award, your success depends on more than your accomplishments. It depends on how effectively you communicate them. This interactive session will help faculty and staff to identify, frame, and articulate their skills, experiences, and impact in ways that resonate with decision-makers. Participants will also learn practical strategies for helping their students translate their academic, leadership, and experiential learning into compelling stories that prepare them for success after graduation.

Session Materials Slide Deck - Advancing your Career

Suggested Citation (APA 7)

Taylor Lynch. (2026, August 27). Framing and Articulating Your Experience to Advance Your Career [Conference session]. Professional Development Day - 2026, SUNY Cortland.

Contact: CTL [[email protected]]

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Professional Development Day - 2026

Professional Development Day - 2026

Sessions

Panel 1: 9:00-9:50

Panel 2: 10:00-10:50

Panel 3: 11:00-11:50

Team Building Lunch: 12:00-12:50

Panel 4: 1:00-1:50

Panel 5: 2:00-2:50

Panel 6: 3:00-3:50

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