Fall 2025 Convocation

Adult Mental Health First Aid

This class has been canceled

CSN Libraries Research Databases for Your Classroom

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM      Microsoft Teams                        Presenter – C. Zahedi

CSN Libraries provides access to a wide variety of online databases for faculty and students to use, from scholarly research databases to streaming video, eBook collections, resources for local Las Vegas news and more! These databases have been carefully selected to ensure they aid the various curriculums at CSN. CSN Libraries has a number of ways that instructors can incorporate these databases into their classes for the benefit of their students. Additionally, the librarians at CSN are poised to aid directly with classes and students to show them how to best conduct research for their assignments.

Expanding Access to College Credit: CSN’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) Academy’s & Partnership Opportunities

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM  Microsoft Teams                       Presenter – S. Rodger

This session will present the updated statewide CTE College Credit requirements and introduce CSN’s CTE Academy model, which strategically integrates CTE College Credit (articulated credit) and Jumpstart (concurrent enrollment) to streamline transitions from high school to college. The session will also emphasize the power of collaboration—how CSN is actively partnering with high schools to design aligned programs that prepare students for college-level coursework and workforce demands. It will also highlight the impact to CSN through a stronger enrollment pipeline, increased early engagement with potential majors, and enhanced curriculum alignment with high school programs.

AI-Proofing Your Writing Assignments

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM  Charleston Room E131                        Presenters – C. Cahall, E. King, & J. Sawyer

Knowing how to design your assignment to see if students are really learning the material can be daunting in an AI world. Generative AI can produce writing and images, craft an annotated bib, or even synthesize multiple sources. In this hands-on workshop, we will explore AI tools that students might already be using and cover assignment design techniques that encourage students to engage critically with assignments whether or not they use AI to complete them. Participants will leave with ideas for updating or creating assignments that challenge AI tools and encourage authentic student learning. It is recommended that you bring your assignment sheets to this interactive workshop.

Red Flags: Spotting AI-Generated Writing and Images

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Charleston Room B102                        Presenters – M. Hughes-Butts & A. Koch

How do you spot AI in writing or images? From overly polished text to strange image distortions, AI-generated content can look deceptively human at first glance. However, recognizing red flags- like repetitive phrasing, peculiar patterns, and subtle inconsistencies- helps educators better understand how AI works and its impact on academic work.  A “Human or AI” guessing game woven throughout the presentation will challenge your identification skills and reveal practical strategies for spotting these clues.  

Trust-Based Relational Instruction

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM Charleston Room B104                             Presenter – D. James

Trust-Based Relational Instruction is a trauma-informed, attachment-based intervention designed to meet the complex needs of the Post-Pandemic Student. The Core Principles of TBRI aims to disarm the fear and power struggles students feel when asking for help or accessing their professors through simple paradigm shifts of Connecting, Empowering and Correcting. Professors either encourage or discourage students' level of engagement with assistance throughout their collegiate journey through the way they connect versus correct. This approach is not another way to cuddle or coddle our student population, yet an approach that promotes positive behavioral changes through strategies like consistent empathy, compassion, and mindful awareness. This workshop provides staff and professors with practical tools and strategies to create a more supportive and positive learning environment.

Canvas Fall 2025 Semester Start: Best Practices & Tips

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM  Charleston Room B102                             Presenter – N. Webb

Semester start is a busy and stressful time, especially for preparing online and hybrid courses. In this workshop, faculty will learn about effective semester prep effective practices, including course copy, setting up Respondus and Panopto, selecting favorite courses for your dashboard, downloading the Canvas Teacher app, adjusting course navigation, and viewing the course(s) via the Canvas Student app and Student View. 

Empowering Students: Civic Learning & Engagement at CSN

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM  Microsoft Teams                     Presenters – R. Hagewen, S. Cosgrove, & F. Rudacille

This interactive workshop will explore findings from a civic engagement survey conducted at CSN (Spring 2025), where students were asked whether they voted in the last presidential election and why or why not. Drawing on insights from sociology and history, we will share key themes, such as feeling overwhelmed by the current political climate, political disillusionment, and a desire for credible information, that emerged from student responses. The results we collected revealed a civic divide, not between opposing ideologies, but between students who feel empowered to participate and those who feel unprepared, unheard, or excluded from the political process. These results highlight an opportunity for CSN to foster civic learning and student agency. Faculty and staff will discuss how to build supportive environments that encourage meaningful participation in democracy. This session is relevant to educators and staff in all fields who want to better support students' engagement with civic life.

Building Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Course with Notebook LM & ChatGPT (AI in Education)

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM  Microsoft Teams                            Presenter – L. Morningstar

Learn how to build a UDL-aligned course in Canvas LMS using AI tools like NotebookLM and ChatGPT to support inclusive design, content creation, and student engagement. This hands-on session includes a live demonstration of course development from scratch and offers practical strategies for creating flexible, accessible learning environments with AI. 

Empowering Students Together: A Faculty-Counselor Collaboration

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM Microsoft Teams                            Presenters – L. Ortega, E. Rafael, & A. Palmer

Student success is a shared mission - and when faculty and counselors work together, the results can be transformative. This dynamic session explores how collaborative efforts between academic faculty and counselors can strengthen student engagement, retention, and overall achievement. Discover how counselors support students through academic, personal, and professional development, and how faculty play a vital role in recognizing when to refer and how to connect students to essential resources. Through real-life case studies, practical strategies, and open dialogue, this session will highlight the power of partnership and offer actionable steps to create a more supportive, holistic learning environment. Whether you're a seasoned instructor or new to the classroom, join us to explore how we can empower students - together.

CSN Students Panel: Voices of Diversity

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM  North Las Vegas Room H211                  Presenter – J. Neitz-Singleton

Participate in hearing from a diverse panel of CSN students as they share their experiences on our campuses and in our classrooms, events, and activities. Panelists will discuss their successes and achievements while attending CSN. They will also address the challenges, barriers and/or adversities they have encountered and the resources that have assisted them to persevere towards their academic and career goal attainment.  Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions to find out what strategies are working to help students achieve, succeed and prosper as well as what additional resources and supports students would like to see in the future.

Using Ally and Other Tools for Course Content Accessibility

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM  Microsoft Teams                       Presenter – P. Michniewicz

This session will introduce you to existing resources available to make your course accessible for students. It will highlight how to fix common accessibility errors in images, Word/PDF documents, video, and help you create a game plan for fixing course content. After this session you will be on your way to going accessibility green in all your online courses.

Immigration Status & Retention: Research to Policy Impact

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM  North Las Vegas Room H211            Presenters – E. Pla-Cazares & L. Ortega

In this session, two Academic Counselors will share their recent doctoral research on the intersection of student immigration status and retention. The presentation will explore the role of First Year Experience courses in supporting the persistence and success of Latinx students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), emphasizing strategies to improve retention for immigrant and underserved populations. It will also discuss the impact of expanding in-state tuition eligibility for immigrant and high school-equivalent students in Nevada via policy advocacy, highlighting how policy changes can enhance access to higher education and improve retention rates. Together, these presentations will provide valuable insights into how both academic support programs and policy reforms can work together to address the unique challenges faced by immigrant students, ultimately fostering greater retention and success.

The Road to Zero Cost Book (ZCB) & Low-Cost Book (LCB): Understanding New Course Markings

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM  Microsoft Teams                            Presenters – P. Michniewicz & E. King

Students are now able to search for courses that have a Low-Cost Book (LCB) and Zero Cost Book (ZCB) designation. Data has shown students enrolled in LCB and ZCB courses save money, are more likely to complete the course, and on average receive a higher score in the class than courses with traditional textbook materials. This session will discuss, and give you advice about, making your courses LCB and ZCB using a variety of available resources like OER, Library Materials and more!

Meaningful Assignments: High-Impact Practices to Drive Student Success

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM  North Las Vegas Room H211          Presenters – B. Shapiro, K. O'Connell-Mock, & A. McAuley
 

Join our session to discuss year six of an innovative CSN initiative and scholarship program designed to highlight opportunities for faculty from all disciplines to engage students in coursework that excites intellectual engagement and personal growth. In this session, participants will learn about four criteria that make a meaningful project, hear about student and faculty experiences creating and teaching such projects, and then share what makes their own course assignments meaningful. Presenters will also provide qualitative and quantitative results from our ongoing research into the impact of meaningful writing for CSN students, as well as recent updates from broader research in this methodology. Additionally, we will share resources that support meaningful writing in the classroom. Faculty who attend will come away with quick, practical tips to make assignments more engaging. Courses LCB and ZCB using a variety of available resources like OER, Library Materials and more!

Teaching Faculty Evaluation Rubrics

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM  Microsoft Teams                            Presenter – J. Matovina

The Faculty Evaluation Policy is changing, and the Faculty Senate Evaluation and Workload Committee wants to hear from you. Specifically, the changes being considered include bulleted lists of activities that can be performed which would allow for an Excellent or Commendable Overall Employee Rating. We want your input as to what should be included in those lists. 

Working with American Sign Language Interpreters

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM  North Las Vegas Room H211                    Presenter – D. Martin-Vasquez

This workshop will engage in conversations about best practices in working with ASL Interpreters in the post-secondary setting. The following items will be discussed:  A brief history of the profession of ASL Interpreters, Communication Styles and Types of Interpreters, Interpreter qualifications/certifications/ethics, Student’s process of getting ASL Interpreter services, the Interpreter’s role in the classroom, what instructors should know about working with ASL Interpreters at CSN, and a Q&A session.

Navigating the Tenure Process: A Working Session for Tenure-Track Faculty

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM  Charleston Room E127                           Presenters – T. Busch & A. DeClouette

This interactive workshop is designed for faculty members currently preparing their tenure applications. Participants will refine their tenure portfolios, receive feedback from peers and tenured faculty, and engage in discussions about best practices for a compelling application. The session will be a combination of guided discussions, small-group feedback, and hands-on workshopping of materials.

New Faculty Orientation 

8:30 AM – 12:00 PM  Charleston Room B102                          Presenter – S. Gilliland

This Orientation is designed to introduce new faculty to the CSN mission, values, and goals, and familiarize them with programs and services that are valuable to faculty and their students in acclimating to the CSN community.

Sabbatical Reporting

8:30 AM – 2:30 PM  Microsoft Teams                            Presenter – S. Cosgrove

Faculty Senate Chair Elect will facilitate this session where academic faculty who have been on sabbatical will report on their experiences and share their findings. This is a required activity for all academic faculty returning from sabbatical: In the spirit of academic collaboration and "giving back" to CSN, sabbatical participants share the knowledge gained, research findings obtained, and artifacts produced while on CSN funded sabbatical.

Implementing a Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence at CSN

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM  Charleston Room E127                        Presenters – T. Kellough & A. DeClouette

The proposed Faculty Center is now in the Implementation phase, with bilateral goals of developing faculty while enhancing student success. Get a recap of how the Faculty Center will be a combination of best practices and faculty feedback.  Learn about the progress thus far in launching the Faculty Center, what steps the Implementation Team will take, and how you can contribute.  For example, participants will be asked to provide feedback on content you’d recommend for inclusion in the proposed Part-Time Institute.

Are you ready to lead?

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM  Charleston Room E131                       Presenter - Patrick Villa

Are you interested in exploring leadership pathways at CSN?  Great! Sign up for this panel discussion to explore the range of leadership positions available at CSN.  Whether you are thinking of making the leap next semester or a ways down the road, you can get all your questions answered by our experienced panelists.   We will cover duties for Faculty Senate, Department Chair, Program Director, Lead, and any other exciting positions available at CSN.   

Sexual Harassment & Discrimination Prevention

1:00 PM – 4:30 PM  Microsoft Teams                            Presenters – R. Evans & L. Miller

In accordance with Title IV. Chapter 8, Section 13(C) of the Nevada Board of Regents Handbook, "Each institution shall have on-going sexual harassment training program for employees." In this session we will discuss how sexual harassment harms the victim, the organization, and the harasser. Additionally, this course will explore discrimination and Title IX, its impact to the organization, and valuable information that you can use to be the front-line force to prevent its occurrence.