Virtual Alternatives for Faculty Collaboration from IUPUI Forum Fellows
The Forum Fellows (read more about the Forum Fellows program here) remain committed to our primary objective of building community and collaboration for faculty and teaching staff of all rank and appointment, across schools and disciplines.
While we won’t be gathering around espressos at the IUPUI Faculty Crossing anytime soon, there are a variety of ways to connect. We welcome new faculty to join our bimonthly virtual happy hours, tune into our Faculty Residency Teach Talks (coming soon), submit to the Digital Teaching Repository, or join in on the weekly Forum Fellow Writing Groups.
Reach out to Forum Fellows Aimee Zoeller and Darrell Nickolson at ude[dot]iupui[at]ssorccaf with questions. We are eager to meet and welcome you!
Curating a Social Media Presence for Networking and Engagement
Some academics use their social media accounts interchangeably for personal and professional use. I take a different approach and keep my Twitter account (@amandajofriesen) mainly focused on research, teaching and political commentary, and my other social media accounts for personal use.
As a political scientist, Twitter is invaluable for following experts and a variety of perspectives on current events. This is useful to me as a teacher and citizen. Beyond this practical use, I’ve curated my feed to include experts across a range of disciplines and sub-fields and voices from under-represented groups and scholars. This has led to keeping up on the latest research and critiques as well as connecting me to other scholars that I cite and even collaborate. Several of my current coauthors are people I first encountered or built relationships with on Twitter! Research also shows that articles shared on social media have more views, downloads, and even citations.
It’s a great way to push out your own research or promote that of others.
– Amanda Friesen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science
Hot Tips for Success
How Can the EMPOWER Program Help Empower Your Work?
“The Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities for Ways to Excel in Research (EMPOWER) Program provides support to faculty who are from historically underrepresented and/or excluded populations in their discipline or area of scholarship. This program, sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Office for Women, links tenure-track faculty with mentorship and up to $10,000 in research funding.”
– Willie Miller, M.L.S., Associate Librarian
Need-to-Know for New Faculty
Faculty Town Halls
The October monthly town hall webinar for faculty will address timely topics including strategies for teaching during and after the election and answer questions in order to promote faculty well-being during the 2020-2021 academic year.
This website provides information on all faculty town halls and registration for the upcoming webinar on October 22.
The Forum Fellows (read more about the 
Some academics use their social media accounts interchangeably for personal and professional use. I take a different approach and keep my Twitter account (
“The