Feminist Pedagogy, Wikipedia, and the Global Energy Crisis were some of the diverse topics discussed at IUGB’s Spring 2021 Faculty Convocation and Orientation. Panel discussions, information sessions, and technical workshops gave faculty opportunities to share their teaching and research experiences with their peers. Both full-time and part-time faculty took part in the orientation workshops, held a week before the start of Spring semester classes.
Prof. Ahmed LEGROURI, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, welcomed the faculty and presented best wishes for the New Year 2021 on behalf of President Saliou TOURÉ. He praised the Deans, the UPP Director and the faculty members for their commitment, their hard work and their adaptation to situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. They have the recognition of the University President and all the IUGB Community for having maintained close relations with their students through online teaching and allowed for them to make good progress towards their degrees. He then gave some statistics on the University and discussed its main achievements and challenges during last semester. He informed the faculty members of some relevant outcomes of the last Board of Director’s meeting, that took place on December 17, 2020, particularly the election of new Board President and the approval of the new academic program (BS in Economics, BS in Data Sciences, Concentrations and Minors in Entrepreneurship and Statistics). In addition, Mr. Bakary TOURE and Mrs. Valencia KOFFI have been confirmed as Registrar and Director of Communication & External Affairs, following a due process based on calls for applications. A new position for a University-Industry Liaison Manager was created and Mr. Azialo Carlos André TCHETCHE was selected as the best candidate.
Dr. Koffi N’DA, BSS Dean, Dr. Marcel SILUE, STEM Dean, and Ms. Julie REIMER, UPP Director, explained some important academic policies and discussed few points with the faculty members.
During the Show and Tell session, Ms. Brione LATHROP, BSS, and Ms. Lorie MATTOX, UPP, presented some innovative teaching methods that stimulate student interest and engagement. Dr. Mamadou KONE, STEM, explained the new B.S. in Data Science.
A panel moderated by Dr. Ousmane AG DALLA, STEM, and composed of three faculty members (Dr. Michael BURGESS, UPP; Dr. Walamatien COULIBALY, BSS; Dr. Armand DIAMA, STEM) discussed lessons learned from online teaching during the outbreak.
Different sessions were led by other faculty members, discussing:
- Feminist Pedagogy: History, Qualities, and Implementation (Dr. Georges GNAKPA, BSS);
- Experiential Learning (Mr. Mohamed LEKRAMA, UPP);
- The New Normal Teaching Approach (Ms. Nandy BEUGRE, BSS)
- Workshop for STEM Faculty on Student Advising ( Marcel SILUE, STEM Dean);
- M-Reader (an online platform that promotes extensive reading), (Ms. Brione LATHROP, BSS);
- Wikipedia: Inside Out (Dr. Mamadou KONE, STEM);
- The Global Energy Crisis, Dr. Sinde SEYDOU:
- Using Google Classroom (Dr. Priscilla ADIPA, BSS);
- Creating Professional-Looking Documents (Ms. Julie REIMER, UPP Director)
In addition, the director of the University Clinic, Dr. Michelle ASSIE, presented the sanitary measures undertaken by the University and discussed policies and procedures related to the reopening of the campus and the return to face-to-face teaching and interactions.
As usual, the two schools (BSS, STEM) and the UPP had their first general faculty meetings of the semester. The BSS curriculum meetings marked the end of the program.