Welcome to the 2024 Professional Track Faculty Symposium!
We are excited to announce that registration is now OPEN for this year's PTK Symposium, scheduled to take place on March 7-8, 2024.
This year's symposium features plenary addresses from Dean Rafael Lorente and the PTK Working Group. In addition, multiple concurrent sessions will run in the afternoon featuring presentations on our 2024 themes: Profession, Engagement, and Promotion.
How to Register:
Complete this registration form (https://go.umd.edu/PTKSymposiumRegistration) to indicate your attendance for Thursday and Friday, mark your interest in the PTK Mentoring Program, and share any dietary restrictions for the provided lunch. Registration will close on March 4, 2024.
Key Details:
Dates: Thursday, March 7, 2024 (Online) and Friday, March 8, 2024 (In person at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union)
Format: Two-day hybrid conference
We can't wait to welcome you to the 7th Annual PTK Symposium this March. Complete your registration today!
Thursday, March 7, 2024 (Virtual)
Welcome and Plenary Session
We're Better Together
Rafael Lorente, Dean of Philip Merrill College of Journalism
The treatment and status of professional track faculty has improved significantly over the last decade at the University of Maryland, and at many of our peer institutions. And while there remain significant areas for improvement, I believe now is the time for professional track and tenure track faculty to come together, both because we are better together, and because the health of our institutions and our democracy are at stake. The attacks on academic freedom across the country are just beginning. We need to stand together to defend both academic freedom and the role of vibrant, diverse universities in a functioning democracy.
PTK Mentoring Session Information
Launching this year is a special program to create lasting mentor-mentee relationships between PTK faculty. Whether you're a more experienced PTK Faculty member or a new PTK Faculty member, this program offers opportunities for growth in teaching, research, administration, leadership, work-life balance, and more. The matching process will be led by the Social/Networking PTK Symposium Committee. We aim to extend this program beyond the duration of the symposium for long-term impact.
Mentoring Workshop
The session will include an introduction to the campus-wide mentoring program. The aim of this program is to generate a database of mentor volunteers and mentees to be paired up. We aim to match pairs and start a yearlong partnership that would help PTK in various areas such as teaching, research, administration, and more. A discussion and brainstorming of ideas will follow the program introduction. We hope that this program will continue with next year's PTK Symposium Networking Committee at the helm thus starting a tradition and a new resource for PTK at the university.
Friday, March 8, 2024 (In-Person)
08:30 - 9:00
Registration and Light Refreshments
09:00 - 9:15
Welcome Remarks & Introduction from Provost Rice
09:15 - 10:30
Opening Plenary
PTK Working Group Recommendations | Panel and Town Hall with Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, John Bertot
- John Bertot, Moderator, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs & Professor, iSchool
- Colleen Worthington, Clinical Professor Emerita and former Director of Clinical Education in the Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences
- Jacqueline Takacs, Principal Agent, University of Maryland Extension
- Jo Zimmerman, Senior Lecturer, KNES, School of Public Health
- Ursula Gorham, Associate Director for Faculty Initiatives in the Office of Faculty Affairs
The Professional Track Working Group was convened by Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice and the Office of Faculty Affairs in May 2022. It was divided into four subgroups: 1) Appointment, evaluation, and promotion (AEP) processes; 2) Workload policy for PTK faculty; 3) Contracts and compensation; and, 4) PTK titles.
During the PTK Working Group Panel, members will summarize subgroups and recommendations. After brief presentations, members and moderator John Bertot, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, will respond to questions regarding the Working Group activities and outcomes in a town hall format.
10:45 - 11:45
Panel: Community Engagement Discussion
- D. Paul Monteiro, Jr. Secretary of Service & Civic Innovation, Office of Secretary Department of Service & Civic Innovation (DSCI)
- Jinhee Kim, Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Associate Director of the University of Maryland Extension
- Paul Goeringer, Senior Faculty Specialist and Extension Specialist, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Isaias Yemane Tesfalidet, Director, Digital Literacy/ Tech Extension
Please join Secretary Paul Monteiro and his panelist as he leads a discussion and shares community engagement strategies that enhance PTK faculty and others to better engage diverse communities, deepen relationships, and drive sustainable impacts and outcomes. In this interactive session, panelists will share successful approaches to community engagement. The session will highlight the importance of working together, and how to collaborate with different students, audiences, demographics, colleges, departments, stakeholders, and community partnerships to drive impact and social changes.
12:00 - 1:15
Lunch & Networking Bingo