Dear Colleagues,
I hope your first full week of classes was both productive and rewarding. It is invigorating to see our campuses once again filled with energy and activity. I was pleased to connect with so many of you, along with our students, during the Weeks of Welcome events. Events continue through September 27, and I encourage you to take advantage of these offerings whenever your schedule allows.
StageWright: A Celebration of Arts in America
Join the School of Fine and Performing Arts at its annual celebration of the arts at the Levitt Pavilion in downtown Dayton on Thursday, September 11, from 7 to 8 p.m.
- Performances by Wright State dance students
- Wright State Jazz Band and Percussion Ensemble performances
- Musical numbers by Wright State theatre students
- A slideshow of artwork from our Wright State fine art students
- A performance by the Wright State University Trumpet Ensemble, fresh off their study abroad trip in Italy!
The event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chair or blanket to sit on as well as any food and beverages they would like.
Transportation from the Dayton Campus is provided and will depart at 6:30 p.m. from the front of the Student Union. Registration is required if utilizing transportation.
Emergency Preparedness Training for Faculty and Staff
The Emergency Preparedness Program is dedicated to a continuous process to prevent, prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against any incident that threatens life, property, operations, or the environment. The program conducts planning, exercises, and training to ensure the university is ready to respond to any type of emergency. We engage in a collaborative process with departments from across the university, as well as external partners, to coordinate Wright State's response to any emergency.
All faculty and staff should complete the Raider Ready: What You Should Know in a Campus Emergency training. The training covers a variety of emergencies and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
World Mental Health Day–Save the Date
Wright State University will host World Mental Health Day on Wednesday, October 1, beginning at 11 a.m. on the Quad. This annual global observance—established by the World Federation for Mental Health and supported by the World Health Organization—aims to raise awareness of mental health issues, promote education, and combat stigma.
Please encourage your students to participate in this important campus event. Your support will help create a more open, compassionate, and well-informed campus community. Additional information, including a schedule of events, will be available soon.
Student Recognition in Best Integrated Writing Journal
Our students inspire us every day by submitting exceptional written work. Wright State’s biannual journal Best Integrated Writing will continue to showcase student excellence in fall 2025. Please consider submitting the work of students you believe deserve recognition and publication. These written works can come from fall 2024, spring 2025, or summer 2025 courses.
The deadline for the fall 2025 edition of Best Integrated Writing is September 12. To submit work, email the editors at kristie.mckiernan@wright.edu or tracy.smith@wright.edu.
Submissions should include brief comments about the piece and are accepted only by faculty nomination in Word or PDF format. Nominations (whether they are collaborative or individual) may include essays, posters, multimedia projects, or any other work that involves superior writing. Nominations do not guarantee acceptance of a student’s work. Selection is done by the editors. Student permission and knowledge are required for a nomination, as well as before a work is published. We ask that each faculty member send no more than three nominations, unless there have been previous arrangements.
Academic Success Centers Faculty and Staff Open House
The Academic Success Centers are your partners in learning. Learn more about the centers’ services at the Faculty and Staff Open House on Tuesday, September 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Success Center.
Faculty Resources from SOCHE
Formed in 1967, the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) is a consortium of colleges and universities in Ohio that promotes educated, employed, and engaged citizens. SOCHE offers no-cost programming for faculty throughout the year.
SOCHE’s first virtual session on Tuesday, October 21, from noon to 1 p.m. will introduce the organization and highlight its commitment to workforce development and its support for education partners, employers, and students. Learn more and register.
Wright State Online Accessibility Essentials
Wright State Online offers a compilation of resources designed to support faculty as they ensure their courses meet accessibility standards. These resources include an interactive course, which takes about 20 minutes to complete, along with comprehensive guides.
Once faculty have completed the Accessibility in Course Design training and updated their content to reflect what they have learned, they are encouraged to submit their content for a digital accessibility review. A member of the WSO team will assess the content and provide feedback on any necessary revisions to ensure accessibility standards are met.
Learn more about Accessibility Essentials Information.
Student Success
Academic Success Centers — Embed academic success in your course! Getting students connected to the Academic Success Centers early in the semester is essential to their success. Faculty are our best way to make students aware of the support that is available to them. Here are three ways you can help connect students to our support:
- Put support information in your syllabus. We have ready-made snippets you can use on our Faculty and Staff Resources webpage.
- Bring your students to the Academic Success Centers or have us visit your class. You can request tours and classroom visits through our Class Visit Request form.
- Add the Academic Success Centers widget to your Pilot homepage.
If you are unsure if your course is supported by the Academic Success Centers, check the following webpages: Course-based Tutoring, the Math Learning Center, Supplemental Instruction, and the Writing Center. Contact Dr. Alison Witte, director of the Academic Success Centers, with any questions.
Peer Navigators — The Peer Navigator Program is designed to connect students with upperclassmen for regular support and mentorship. The program matches students with a peer navigator for regular meetings that encourage, give direction, and help navigate the university successfully. Peer navigators focus on holistic well-being by providing support, problem-solving, and goal-setting tips that assist students in reaching their educational goals.
The Peer Navigator Program seeks to:
- Increase sense of belonging with a built-in peer support system
- Initiate early intervention strategies as needed
- Provide an additional touch point via regular follow up
- Identify barriers prohibiting student success
- Allow students to see their peers model excellence
- Assist in the transition between high school and university life
- Promote healthy classroom behaviors
Learn more about the Peer Navigator Program.
Raising Early Alerts for Students — Faculty play a critical role in identifying student issues. By raising an early alert, you enable timely interventions from various campus teams, enhancing Wright State’s ability to foster student success. The Slate Student Success Portal can be accessed through WINGS using your Wright State login credentials. Learn more.
Faculty Activity Reporting
Continuing this fall, annual faculty activity reports are due September 15. As a reminder, faculty report their activities for the previous academic year (fall 2024 to summer 2025), not for the calendar year.
Activity reporting is collected through information entered by faculty in Watermark’sFaculty Success software. One-hour user training sessions are available.
Evaluation of teaching and service as well as scholarship for TETs will be based on a 0-4 scale (11.3).
Teaching and service are evaluated for the year under review only; scholarship is evaluated for the year under review, with the merit score for that year then averaged with the two prior years (11.2).
Criteria for evaluation of teaching and service are found in Article 11.6 for Bargaining Unit Faculty Members.
When a Student Needs Support
Wright.edu/help is a great resource for helping students or making referrals. This site contains contact information for emergency or essential departments that can assist your students all in one location.
The Student Success Navigator showcases the wide range of resources designed to support our students. Whether students are interested in joining a student organization, looking for access to mental health services, playing a sport, or finding a job, all information is available in one central location.
Jim Denniston, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
