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Fall Faculty Forum

The Fall Faculty Forum event kicks off the new academic year with updates from the Provost and presentations on current topics of interest.

2026 Fall Faculty Reception

Reconnect with your colleagues at the annual welcome back reception. Refreshments will be served and the dress code is casual.

Date: Monday, August 10, 2026
Time: 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Location: Museum of Commerce
201 Zaragoza Street
Pensacola, Florida 32502

2026 Fall Faculty Forum

"The State of AI at UWF"

Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Time: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: Building 82 (Center for Fine and Performing Arts). The forum will not be livestreamed.

Who should attend? All faculty and administrators.

Why attend?

  • Reconnect with colleagues and friends
  • Get the latest information about the upcoming academic year
  • Acquire knowledge about trending topics from peers in the concurrent sessions
  • Enter the raffle to win $500 seed money (Faculty only, deans and higher are ineligible. Must be present to win.)
  • Share what you did this summer
Agenda
9 - 9:45 AM Updates from Senior Vice President and Provost, Dr. Jaromy Kuhl
9:45 - 10:30 AM Keynote "The State of AI in Higher Education" by Dr. Tawnya Means
10:45 - 11:00 AM Break
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Concurrent Sessions
12:30 - 1 PM Lunch (Grab and go or dine with your peers)
1 - 2:30 PM Encore Workshop with Dr. Tawnya Means (Building 4, Room 210)

Concurrent Sessions

Title and Instructors Description

Hands-On AI Workshop: Tools, Teaching, and Partnership with AI

by Dr. Tawnya Means

An interactive, hands-on workshop where faculty practice using UWF's available AI tools (Gemini, NotebookLM, and BoodleBox for 30-day trial access), explore strategies for cognitive vigilance and strategic cognitive offloading with students, and begin drafting syllabus AI-use statements to inform UWF's broader AI management plan.

Learning Outcomes 

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Apply Gemini and NotebookLM to a sample teaching or research task 
  • Evaluate AI-generated output for accuracy and appropriate classroom use 
  • Examine approaches to syllabus AI-use statements and begin drafting or refining a course-level statement informed by applicable UWF and Florida Board of Governors guidance. 
  • Distinguish tasks suited to human judgment from tasks suited to AI ('strategic cognitive offloading') 
  • Contribute input toward UWF's institutional AI management plan

Getting Honest About AI; Academic Integrity and Ethics

by Dr. Kevin Scott and Dr. Julianna Costanzo

Explore how to be transparent with AI use, maintain institutional integrity and determine how AI can be used ethically. 

Learning Outcome

  • By the end of this session, participants will identify the questions faculty need to ask and answer to develop an AI management plan at the course and program level. 

Saving Critical Thinking

by Dr. Heather Riddell and Dr. Vanessa Rainey

In this session, we will explore critical thinking skills and how they are being altered or enhanced by AI.
Some of the questions we will tackle include:

  • How do we preserve foundational critical thinking skills for our students?
  • Should Gen Ed specific skills be protected in a special way?
  • How can we preserve critical skills based on discipline?
  • How do we get students to understand the importance of the foundational skills before they start using AI intensively?

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

  • Determine crucial foundational skills within their discipline and ways to enhance these skills with AI.
  • Identify ways to communicate the value of foundational skill building to students.
From Problem to Possibilities

by Dr. Michelle Horton and Dr. Lauren Adlof

A tour of the AI tools and resources UWF already provides and the frameworks for using them well. This session maps the UWF-supported AI ecosystem, introduces practical frameworks for matching tools to teaching, learning, and research tasks, and features a faculty panel showcasing real use cases across disciplines. Grounded in the UWF Gen AI 2026 Survey, the session helps faculty move from confident tool use to confident, consistent communication with students. This session complements the hands-on AI Workshop offered elsewhere in the Forum.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Identify the range of UWF-supported AI tools and match them to common teaching, research, and workflow tasks
  • Apply frameworks (e.g., the Green/Yellow/Red model and "human-in-the-lead") for thoughtful AI use and clear student communication
  • Draw on peer use-case examples and curated resources to inform their own AI practice

Testimonials

“It’s always good to hear what is on the mind of the provost. He used his time with us well.” - 2025 Participant

“[I felt most engaged during] The opening presentation by the Provost. It was great to have our thoughts/ideas to share to help set goals.” - 2025 Participant

 

Fall Faculty Forums Archive

Expand the below accordions to access an archive of the Fall Faculty Forums for previous academic years.

The 2023 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

The event, and guest speaker Dr. Vincent Tinto's breakout session, was webcast. The webcast can be viewed online at the WUWF website.

  2024 FFF Provost Presentation.

The 2023 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. 

2023 Fall Faculty Forum Webcast

2023 UWF Faculty Back to School Jams on Spotify

Presentations from the Forum and Breakout Sessions

  • Provost Liguori's Presentation
  • ChatGPT: Friend or Foe? by Ms. Pam Meyers
  • Getting Your Research Up and Running by Dr. Matt Schwartz
  • Engaging Your Undergraduate Students in Research by Dr. Allison Schwartz
  • Fostering Civil Discourse in the Classroom by Dr. Mary Anderson and Dr. Kelly Carr
  • Preventing a Climate of Self-Censorship and Fear in the Classroom with Dr. Greg Tomso
  • Peek Behind the Curtain Tour of the Center for Fine and Performing Arts by Mr. Jerre Brisky
  • Resource Fair with the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology 

The 2022 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 

2022 Fall Faculty Forum Webcast

Presentations
PDF copies of the presentations given at the event can be found linked below.

The 2021 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. 

2021 Fall Faculty Forum Webcast

Presentations
PDF copies of the presentations given at the event can be found linked below.

The 2020 Virtual Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.

Faculty Colleagues,

For the past few years, we have started the fall semester with a Monday night reception and annual Fall Faculty Forum. While we cannot hold these events as we have in the past, technology provides a means for us to connect in other ways.

I invite you to join me on August 18, beginning at 9 a.m., for a virtual welcome back event to celebrate a new semester, recognize your accomplishments and service to the University, and provide you with updates.

More specific details on joining the event will be shared with you in the near future.

George Ellenberg
Provost and Senior Vice President

The 2019 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 20, 2019.

Presentations
PDF copies of the presentations given at the event can be found linked below.

The 2018 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.

Presentations
PDF copies of the presentations given at the event can be found linked below.

The 2017 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 22, 2017.

Presentations
PDF copies of the presentations given at the event can be found linked below.

The 2016 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 16, 2016. 

The theme for this year's forum was "The Next 50 Years" and included discussions of such topics as 'What Faculty Can Do To Improve The Metrics', 'Opportunities For Funded Research', 'Celebrating 50 Years', and 'The Year of Security'.

Presentations
PDF copies of the presentations given at the event can be found linked below.

The 2015 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.

The theme for this year's forum was "Work Worth Doing" and included discussions of such topics as 'Sunshine Recruitment', 'Students with Disabilities', and 'General Education and Retention Tactics'.

Presentations & Breakout Sessions

The 2014 Fall Faculty Forum was held on Tuesday, August 19, 2014.

Remarks from Provost Saunders

Breakout Sessions/Best Practices

High Impact Practices

Retention Strategies - Patrice Moorer

The QEP - Greg Lanier & Matt Schwartz