President's Column (Angela Linse)
Building on a Foundation of Empathy: Centering Priorities on Inclusion and Diversity

The 'daffodil isopleth' slowly moves north, and our members in the upper tier states and provinces dream of spring! Angela Linse is the new POD Network president and in this column she asks you to share with her what you think are the most critical steps we can take to start our journey of meeting one of the core priorities of our new strategic plan—click here.

Committee & SIG Updates

Governance Manual
The POD Network Governance Manual has been updated to include all changes approved at the March 2019 Core Committee meeting. Access it here.

To Improve the Academy
To Improve the Academy will be moving to an open-source format, hosted by Michigan Publishing Services (part of the University of Michigan) this spring! We anticipate our first issue with this new publisher to be out in the fall. More information coming soon!

Mastermind Groups
What is a Mastermind? A Mastermind is a small group of trusted colleagues that meet regularly to work towards individual goals, provide emotional support, and build community. The Professional Development Committee (PDC) makes it easy for POD Network members to connect and form Masterminds. By joining, members can broaden their networks beyond their institutions and support each other as educational developers. Visit the Mastermind Group page to learn more.

New Special Interest Group (SIG): Learning Analytics Community 
The POD Core Committee has approved a new SIG for 2019. The Learning Analytics Community SIG will convene its first meeting during the POD Network's Pittsburgh conference this coming November 2019. This new SIG will provide a forum for POD members to become informed contributors to this new field, and what it has to offer educational developers, as it continues to influence important institutional decisions and resource allocations. For more information, contact George Rehrey at [email protected].

POD Network Awards

Each year the POD Network recognizes the contributions of its members to our organization and our field through its awards.  Follow the links below for further information: 

• Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Award
• Robert J. Menges Award for Outstanding Research in Educational Development
• POD Innovation Award
• The Christine A. Stanley Award for Diversity and Inclusion Research in Educational Development

Each award is administrated by a subcommittee, who will gladly answer any questions.

Membership News

Indiana University has received a $20,000 "mini-grant" from the Association of American Universities to help improve undergraduate education in STEM.  The "Advancing a Data-Informed STEM Culture: The Mitigating Grade Surprise Collaborative", expands upon existing campus efforts to transform teaching and learning cultures using learning analytics and big data. Faculty will address the impact that the difference between a student's expected grade and their actual grade in a course has upon their performance and retention. To learn more, click here.

From left: Dennis Groth, Linda Shepard, George Rehrey, Jennifer Meta Robinson, Logan Paul, and Chung-cheih "Ken" Shan.

Indiana University hosted its second annual learning analytics summit the past April 3–5, 2019. The purpose of the summit is to support the practical application of big data and learning analytics for the purpose of transforming teaching, learning, and student success. This year's theme was "Engaging Faculty in the Research of Student Success" and was attended by 87 participants from 28 institutions. Find out more about this year's summit here.

POD Live!

POD Live provides a series of thought-provoking presentations and conversations by leading educational developers. This issue features Dr. Esther Jordan (Kennesaw State University) sharing her expertise on Constructive Conflict Engagement for Educational Developers.  Dr. Jordan, a certified mediator, facilitates an interactive introduction to some of the principles from the literature in organizational psychology and conflict management that can make conflict engagements more constructive.  She provides an opportunity to apply those principles to an educational case and guided reflection for application in our own contexts.  While emphasis in this webinar will be on conflict in educational development work, the principles apply to the rest of our lives as well.  

Register Now: Increasing Access & Accessibility for Teaching and Learning Centers

You are invited to register for our upcoming PODLive! session, Increasing Access and Accessibility for Teaching and Learning Centers—Friday, May 24th 1:00–2:00pm EST, Facilitator: Thomas J. Tobin, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Click here to Register. You can also review recordings and material from previous PODLive! sessions here.  If you have any questions or suggestions for PODLive! please send them to [email protected].