The College of Engineering Coffee & Conversation Series provide faculty and staff in the College of Engineering a casual setting to engage in respectful dialogue about an emerging topic of interest in the College affecting our learning and working environments.
Format: Sessions will be 1 hr in length, and provide an overview of the topic, questions for individual reflection and small group discussion, with a focus on concrete action; resources for additional exploration and learning will also be provided.
Snacks and beverages will be provided for in-person events.
Upcoming Events
Coffee & Conversation: Promoting undergraduate student mental health and wellbeing
Register here: https://go.wisc.edu/5g8q09
When: Friday, October 31st, 2025 from 8:30-10:00 am
Where: Engineering Hall rm 1413 (Cheney rm)
Audience: Faculty and staff who engage undergraduate students in classrooms and other College learning spaces
The Office of Inclusive Excellence & Educational Innovation in collaboration with the Office of Academic Affairs will be hosting a conversation about ways to effectively promote undergraduate student mental health and wellbeing. Join us to talk with your colleagues about current concerns and learn effective strategies from the College’s embedded mental health provider, Michelle Bond, and COE Assistant Dean for Student Services, Rachel Jones. Topics of conversation will include ways of promoting healthy classroom and other learning environments, how to recognize concerning situations, how to start a conversation with a student when you have concerns, and where to get help in the College and on campus.
Facilitators: Michelle Bond | COE embedded mental health provider, and Rachel Jones | Assistant Dean for Student Services
Coffee & Conversation: Navigating Expectations Around Ethics & Authorship
Register here: https://go.wisc.edu/cl0m3y
When: Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, from 8:30-10:00 am
Where: Engineering Hall rm 1413 (Cheney rm)
Audience: Faculty and staff who oversee graduate students in research environments
Join us to talk with your colleagues about effective strategies for navigating both ethics and authorship conversations with students and colleagues. Hosted by the Office of Inclusive Excellence & Educational Innovation, topics of conversation will include: (a) How do you communicate about authorship in your groups including who is included and in what order? (b) How do we mitigate the time, competition, and publication pressure that can lead to unethical decision-making around authorship? (c) What challenges can affect graduate students’ agency to speak up about problems in the lab? Coffee/tea, and light refreshments will be provided.
Facilitators: Laura Grossenbacher | Director of Technical Communication, & Anne Lynn Gillian-Daniel | Professional Development Co-Lead, Office of Inclusive Excellence & Educational Innovation
Coffee & Conversation: Digital Accessibility Lessons and Questions
Register here: https://go.wisc.edu/58r059
When: Monday, November 17th, 2025, from 8:30-10:00 am
Where: Engineering Hall rm 1413 (Cheney)
Audience: All COE faculty and staff
The Office of Inclusive Excellence & Educational Innovation will be hosting a conversation about digital accessibility. Learn how to leverage the resources and expertise in the College and on campus to keep designing your documents, websites, presentations, and course content to make them accessible to all your students and community! Topics of conversation will include: (a) What’s Working, What’s Not? (b) New tools (i.e., new and emerging, as well as new to your practice), and (c) Accessibility wins. Coffee/tea, and light refreshments will be provided.
Facilitators: Luis Loya, Shelly Burns, Erica Hagen, and Kristina Spannbauer | COE Digital Accessibility Liaisons and Mark Whittaker | campus Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Deputy Coordinator
Please contact Don Gillian-Daniel at <dldaniel@wisc.edu> with questions or if you need accommodation of any type.
Past Coffee & Conversation Events
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Navigating Language in Federal Grant Proposals
June 3, 2025
Discussants: Associate Dean for Research David Rothamer; Assistant Dean for Research Administration, Tamara Kuhn Martin; and Chrystin Schultz, BME Research Administrator
Navigating graduate student mental health and wellbeing challenges
March 7, 2025
Discussants: COE embedded mental health provider Michelle Bond; and COE Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies Joanna Gurstelle