April/May: Teaching Appreciation and Summer Reading

This issue of the Faculty Affairs newsletter is coming to you a bit later than usual because I was traveling last week to attend the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) 2025 Academic Partnerships Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada. I was looking forward to my return because next week Faculty Affairs is hosting a series of teaching appreciation events on campus.

Inspiring “a sense of wonder” through UND’s teaching mission is central to the faculty experience at UND. To honor and celebrate your work in the classroom, Faculty Affairs has organized “A Sense of Wonder: Teaching Appreciation Week” next week. You have already received notice about the Donuts and Iced Coffee bar in the Memorial Union on May 5 and 6, hosted by the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.

I hope you will also attend a Stress Relief Open House in the Faculty Affairs Office in O’Kelly 8 on Tuesday, May 6 from 9am to 3pm with snacks, gift bags, and visits from therapy dogs.

TTaDA will host a Teaching Week event on Wednesday, May 7 from 10am to 1pm on the third floor of O’Kelly with refreshments and opportunities to share why you love teaching.

Watch for a special teaching-focused edition of UND TODAY with stories highlighting creative and innovative teaching at UND. Throughout the week, faculty should also be on the look-out for thank you notes from grateful students. We have gathered over 500 thank you notes that will be sent to faculty through campus mail the week of May 5.

I hope the semester ends well and that you find some time for rest and renewal this summer. I love to hear what colleagues are reading over the summer. On the plane back from the conference in Reno, I started reading Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and Other Organizations for Human Flourishing by Jessica Riddell. And I always enjoy a good mystery novel; I just discovered the work of Minnesota author Marcie R. Rendon (White Earth Nation), and look forward to reading Murder on the Red River as my first summer read. If you have any book recommendations, let me know, and in the meantime, I hope to see you at the Stress Relief Open House next Tuesday!

Randi Tanglen

Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs