This year’s Professional Development Day was held on June 5, 2025. Dr. Felice Vazquez, Chancellor for International Campuses, and Dr. David Birdsell, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Kean University, also participated in the event, further strengthening the friendship and collaboration between the two universities. The program featured two main components: a plenary session and a series of training and sharing workshops. In addition, external experts were invited to contribute their expertise and exchange innovative practices. Approximately 220 faculty and staff members took part, marking the highest attendance in the event’s history. Faculty from across the university actively exchanged teaching insights and shared their academic development experiences from the past year, fostering collaboration to further enhance both teaching quality and research excellence at WKU.
Plenary Sessions
At the opening of the event, Dr. Felice Vazquez, Chancellor for International Campuses, delivered an important address. She emphasized the value of professional development for enhancing teaching excellence and highlighted the strong partnership between Kean University and Wenzhou-Kean University. Her remarks set a positive tone for the day’s activities and inspired faculty to actively engage in meaningful exchanges.
Dr. David Birdsell, Provost and Senior Vice President at Kean University, delivered a keynote on “Expectations on Teaching, Scholarship, and Service.” He outlined key evaluation criteria, offered practical tips for success, and reflected on the evolving expectations of faculty roles.
Dr. Yang Yixin, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, delivered a keynote themed “Building Academic Excellence: A Vision for Wenzhou-Kean University’s Academic Affairs.”In his address, Dr. Yang outlined WKU’s vision for strengthening academic excellence, highlighting the importance of innovation in teaching, faculty development, and student success.
“Start Here, Go Anywhere”Wenzhou-Kean University takes pride in its graduates, who embody the university’s commitment to student-centered teaching and the belief that every student can go far. As part of the program, Dr. Xin Lu, Vice Dean of the Chu KoChen Honors College at Zhejiang University, delivered a keynote on “The Practice of Chu KoChen Honors College for the Cultivation of Talented Students.” He shared innovative practices and experiences in nurturing outstanding students, offering valuable insights into talent cultivation and academic excellence.
Agnes Tang from the College of Education and Shaoshuang Wen from the College of Liberal Arts introduced “Service Learning: Creating Opportunities for Student Engagement,” highlighting ways to enhance participation and meaningful learning experiences.
Wenhan Wang, instructional designer at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, presented “Integrating Gamified Learning Strategies to Enhance Student Engagement in Blended Learning,” offering practical approaches to boost motivation through gamification.
Dr. Jing Leng (East China Normal University) demonstrated an AI-driven assessment model in “The Battle of Wits: Assessing Students’ Argumentative Writing through a Multi-Agent Debate System.”
Hamza Djigal explored “When and When Not to Use AI in Research,” offering a decision framework enriched by insights from both computer science and sociology. Dr. Leonard Lipovich (College of Science and Technology) presented “Reality and Hype at the AI–Biotech Interface: Insights from the NextGen Omics & Bio-IT World Conferences,” sharing global perspectives on the fast-changing intersection of AI and biotechnology.
Balancing technology with tradition was the theme of Ataullah Kian from the College of Business and Public Management. His talk, “The Wisdom of Zhongyong Philosophy: Balancing AI and Human Insight in Faculty Development,” urged faculty to integrate cultural perspectives when adopting new technologies.
Caroline Handley (College of Liberal Arts) explored Cognitive Load Theory, showing how awareness of cognitive processes can improve course design. Her colleague, Elizabeth Sugar Martinez, followed with “The Impact of Affect on Academic Achievement,” emphasizing the link between students’ emotional states and their academic performance.
George Chang led a practical session on “Roads to Administration,” guiding faculty interested in academic leadership.
Liam Duffy (College of Education) shared “Software Speedrun: A Flyover of Everything I Use,” a dynamic showcase of digital tools to improve teaching efficiency and engagement.
On research collaboration, Alexander English (College of Liberal Arts) and Jiajun Bao (Office of Research and Sponsored Programs) presented “Dual Perspectives on an External Project Success,” demonstrating how cross-unit collaboration enhances outcomes. Darryl Brock (College of Liberal Arts) added with “Darwin and Needham: Student In-Class Research Using Cambridge University Digitized Correspondence Databases,” showing how archival sources enrich student inquiry.
Jue Yu (College of Education) addressed assessment in “Teaching with Evidence: Navigating Course, Program, and Pedagogical Assessment Content,” offering concrete strategies for making assessment meaningful and evidence-driven.
We are pleased to announce the upcoming Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) — a signature faculty development program designed to strengthen teaching practices through experiential learning.
Session #22: November 1–2 & 8–9
Session #23: November 15–16 & 22–23
Participants will explore core teaching and learning concepts, reflect on current practices, experiment with new instructional strategies, and engage in supportive environments.
We look forward to discussing this excellent opportunity to increase student engagement with interested faculty and staff of WKU. Please note that participation is limited to five individuals, and all four days of the workshop are required.
Scan the OR code to register >>
Author: Jingru (Claire) Cheng
Chief Editor: Yirui (Sandy) Jiang