For many of us, 2025 feels like it may be a difficult year. Higher ed is facing many challenges, and the weight of everything we cannot control can feel heavy. However, in moments such as these, we think that it is worth finding small, meaningful ways to make things better for your students, your colleagues, your community, and yourself. 

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Because this year is likely to be very distracting, we suggest being all the more intentional about where you focus your attention and your energy. What do you want to do in 2025 to make your program, department, discipline, institution, or community better?

To that end, we would like to introduce the Building Blocks for a New Academy 2025 BINGO card. Each square represents an action that you want to take in 2025 to work toward a more humane academy. Below we’ve included some suggestions (not all of which will apply to everyone), but we hope that you won’t feel limited to these. 

There are no “rules” for this, but here are some suggestions: 

  • However small or large, each action should be relatively concrete. For example, “Write more for nonacademic audiences” is too nebulous; “Write and place an op-ed in a nonacademic publication” is more concrete, and you’ll know when you’ve done it. 
  • Don’t keep your goals to yourself! Share your card with colleagues and encourage them to do one for themselves. 
  • Include some squares that are just fun. Perhaps there is a campus hike you’ve not done for a while, or grad school friends you’ve been wanting to get in touch with. Put those goals on there, too! They are very much in the spirit of building an academy that treats everyone within it as whole human beings. 
Ideas for Squares

    • Rewrite a course title/description to be more compelling

    • Add skills language to a syllabus

    • Add an assignment that combines creative and critical thinking

    • Add a professional development element to a course

    • Develop (or revise) a course to appeal to nonmajors
    • Develop (or revise) a course for inclusion in gen ed

    • Invite a colleague from a different department for coffee 2x per semester
    • Say yes to an initiative or committee you’re interested in

    • Say no to an initiative or committee you’re not interested in

    • Attend a talk outside of your department

    • Connect with a colleague doing change work (locally or at a different institution)

    • Be the humanist in a room full of STEM faculty
    • Hold a departmental town hall with students and faculty

    • Invite a guest speaker to talk about a curricular or departmental issue

    • Nominate a colleague for an award

    • Invite a junior colleague for coffee

    • Pitch an idea for a new minor or certificate
    • Reach out to three alumni and ask them about their careers

    • Volunteer to revise and teach a core course
    • Write an op-ed for a non-academic publication

    • Write an op-ed for the Chronicle of Higher Ed or Inside Higher Ed

    • Start a job hunting support group for students

    • Create a LinkedIn profile and connect with your advanced undergrads or grad students

    • Start a LinkedIn group for departmental alumni
Make Your Own Building Blocks for a New Academy 2025 BINGO Card
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