Faculty Symposium

Due to the forecasted weather conditions, the Faculty Symposium originally scheduled for Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at University Crossing will be rescheduled. We will announce a new date as soon as possible.

Event Overview

The annual Faculty Symposium includes keynote presentations, lightning talks, a panel discussion, the faculty recognitions ceremony and more. We welcome broad participation from faculty at all career stages. Faculty are welcome to attend all or part of the Symposium. We hope you will join us to celebrate your colleagues' successes, learn more about their work, and catch up informally with faculty from across campus.

Tentative Agenda

*Strategic Pathways to Scholarship: Integrating Fulbright, Sabbatical and Research Plans: While faculty are encouraged to combine a Fulbright grant with a sabbatical leave whenever possible, understanding that different criteria exist for each award is key. This year’s panel will center on navigating overlapping timelines and planning for a successful application to extensive collections of Fulbright Scholar opportunities. Each speaker brings a unique lens to this conversation:

• Spencer Ross – Best practices for coordinating the Fulbright application deadline (September 15) with the UMass Lowell sabbatical application deadline (October 10), along with alternative planning scenarios
• Sheree Pagsuyoin – Insights on managing the complexity of the multi-country Global Scholar Award, including balancing international travel, data collection, and on-campus responsibilities, especially because the trips can be conducted within one academic year or spread over two consecutive years.

Lightning Talks

Each year, the Faculty Symposium includes lightning talk sessions where faculty and staff share 90-second presentations about their work and opportunities for collaboration. Please consider presenting a lightning talk. Examples of topics include:

• Current research or creative work
• Research idea in preparation for a proposal
• Community engagement project to encourage interdisciplinary participation
• Work of a Research or Engagement Center to foster collaboration
• Teaching innovation that can be adapted to other disciplines
• University-wide services such as a core research facility, library initiative, media teaching lab that can help faculty advance their teaching, research, and scholarship activities.

Those interested in presenting a lightning talk will be able to register once the rescheduled date of the Faculty Symposium is announced.