The Synapse

Welcome to the 2021 - 2022 academic year! Loyola's campus is a flurry of activity with the return of students, faculty, staff, and administrators for the fall semester. The new Fernandez Center provides fantastic spaces for collaborative learning. Learn more about the many upcoming events on The Bridge, the university's new platform for the campus community. Share your news, photos, inspiring stories, and events for a future issue. Please send any feature suggestions to Jen Sullivan at jlsullivan4@loyola.edu.

Wishing all a successful and healthy start to the year!

The Natural and Applied Sciences division is excited to introduce the newest faculty and administrators joining the sciences for the 2021-22 academic year. They bring to Loyola a wealth of experience, inspirational energy, and passion for education. Be sure to say hello and welcome when you see them on campus!

Learn more about our newest faculty and administrators in the sciences here >>>

Over the summer, a select group of undergraduate science students conducted research on campus and remotely with faculty mentors. Projects from a variety of disciplines ranged from immunology, to quantum computing, sustainability, statistical modeling, and more. Fellows presented their work to the community in person and via Zoom. Recordings will soon be available on the Hauber webpage. Fellows are also in the process of preparing research papers and posters that will be housed in the LNDL archives for the Loyola community. We look forward to sharing links in a future issue.

Please join us in congratulating our Hauber fellows and mentors for another successful summer of research!

Loyola’s Lightboard is a new tool housed in the LNDL that can be used to create videos in which the speaker is facing the camera while drawing/writing on the board or on PowerPoint slides. Reserve the new Lightboard for video lectures and meetings. Lecturers can make fully visible notes on the Lightboard without turning their backs to the camera.

Megan Olsen, professor and chair of computer science, demonstrated Loyola's new Lightboard technology during the fall teaching enhancement workshop. View Megan's video demo here.

Wondering how you might use Lightboard for teaching? Birgit Albrecht, associate professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry, has created some lessons utilizing Lightboard as well. View a few samples on Panopto here:

• Panopto sample 1
• Panopto sample 2
• Panopto sample 3
• Panopto sample 4
• Panopto sample 5

• First cruise leaves the Port of Baltimore this weekend after 18-month halt for COVID-19. Vaccination and negative test result required. featuring Christopher Thompson, Ph.D., associate professor of biology

• Why are we wasting time and money on education when so many choose willful ignorance anyway? Commentary by Joe Ganem, Professor of Physics (The Sun)
• What do the new COVID-19 vaccine developments mean going forward? featuring Christopher Thompson, Ph.D., associate professor of biology (WBAL)
• COVID safety during lunchtime has become point of concern for some parents as Baltimore-area schools resume featuring Christopher Thompson, Ph.D., associate professor of biology (The Sun)

Activities Fair

Tue, Sep 14, 2021, 4 PM – 6:30 PM

Quad

Community Engagement Fair

Wed, Sep 15, 2021, 4 PM – 6:30 PM

McGuire Hall

STEM Career Fair

Wed, Oct 6, 2021

Virtual

The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) is being hosted by Loyola and UB this October at Loyola. GCEC might be of interest to faculty and staff who want to learn and share best practices in entrepreneurship education and teaching innovation. More info about the conference, “Leading with Entrepreneurship: Succeeding in Revitalization” and the registration link are here https://www.gcecbaltimore.com/. CI&E has covered the GCEC membership fee for all Loyola attendees and a 10% discount is available for the registration fee (contact Wendy Bolger, webolger@loyola.edu, for more information).

Keynote speakers will include:

Nnadaga and Louise Isa, CoFounders, lor tush

Marcus Bullock, CEO, Flikshop

Allysa Dittmar, Co Founder, Clear Mask and Ryan Maliszewski, CEO Mozzeria

Philip Gaskin, VP Entrepreneurship, Kauffman Foundation

GCEC will take place October 13-16, 2021, with two days of sessions on experiential learning, university hubs and innovation spaces, and community engagement and revitalization. Key to the conference experience is lots of networking with other schools, including a gala and awards ceremony at AVAM.

For more information, contact Wendy Bolger, webolger@loyola.edu, Founding Director of Loyola's Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

The CUR Biology Division's Mentoring the Integration of Research into the Classroom (MIRIC) network is seeking new participants for the 2021-2022 academic year. MIRIC is seeking both new mentors and mentees in all CUR STEM-related divisions as it focuses on discussing strategies for effectively teaching science through research and for removing barriers faced by students and instructors in engaging in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). MIRIC's goal is to build affinity groups focused on specific challenges of CURE implementation (“starting from scratch,” online instruction, diversity, equity and inclusion, introductory vs. advanced coursework, etc.) that alternate meetings with network-wide discussions on common issues related to developing successful research experiences in undergraduate courses. MIRIC hopes to develop a set of strategies that network members can follow as they develop engaging class experiences for the coming year and beyond.

Visit the website for more information >>

Academic Calendar

• 2021-2022 Academic Calendar

Coronavirus Resources

• Loyola Coronavirus Updates - General university information for all students, faculty, staff including the fall 2021 COVID operations plan, COVID-19 dashboard, FAQs, policies, and resources.

Student Support Resources

• Counseling Center
• Campus Ministry
• Office of Student Life
• Center for Community, Service, and Justice

Employee Support Resources

• Human Resources website
• Employee Assistance Program
• Financial Crisis Assistance Program
• Employee Return to Work on Campus Guidelines & Training