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MC Exammer: U Can't Guess This! Designing Reliable Multiple-Choice Assessments with AI

Multiple-choice assessments are one of the most widely used tools in higher education, yet writing questions that accurately measure student learning is challenging and time-consuming. This workshop will explore evidence-based practices for developing high-quality multiple-choice items, including effective stem construction and strategies for assessing higher-order thinking. Participants will learn how large language models (LLMs) can be used to generate, revise, and create isomorphic question variants aligned with course learning outcomes. The session will conclude with an introduction to Rasch modeling as an approach for evaluating item performance, validating questions, and improving the reliability of assessment instruments.

Presenter: Johnathan Hugh Broome, Ph.D. Associate Teaching Professor, Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Thursday, October 15
12:30-1:30 p.m.
IC 319 & Teams

Coffee & Conversations

The Center for Faculty Development invites you to join us in the International Center 319 for a cup of coffee, bagels, and great conversations! The purpose of this event is to encourage faculty, staff, and graduate students to exit their silos and engage in meaningful, collegiate conversations with fellow academicians from across campus in an informal setting. We would love to see you swing by!

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 |  8:30 - 10:30 am
International Center, room 319 

Let us know below if you are coming! Email any questions you have to CFDFREEMississippi.

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: Excel Series

The Center for Faculty Development in tandem with the Office of Institutional Research are sponsoring the Excel workshop series. This series is open to all faculty, staff, or graduate students who are interested in expanding their skill level in Excel. There are 6 sessions or levels offered in this series, and you may choose to attend all 6 or choose the sessions that are of most interest to you. Attendees will need to bring their laptop to each session, as these workshops are designed to be hands-on and interactive.

*A hybrid alternative is offered. Virtual attendees are asked to have their laptop or desktop computers ready and be engaged in the session.

Presenter: Chris Lowe, Data Literacy Program Manager & Statistical Analyst, Institutional Research Office

Level 2 – Everyday Formulas and Sorting: Level 2 focuses on essential operations used in both basic and advanced datasets, including simple formulas and functions, cell referencing, and staple tools like sorting and filtering.

Tuesday, September 29, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Level 3 – Data Manipulation and Using Logic: Level 3 splits our attention into 2 areas: logical functions and manipulating data. This session will explore IF/AND/OR concepts, conditional formatting, transposition, and splitting.

Tuesday, October 6, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Level 4 – Tables and Pivot Tables: Tables, tables, tables! Level 4 is entirely dedicated to them, starting briefly with an introduction to in-sheet options and following up with a lengthy dive into their more advanced and functional cousins, pivot tables.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Level 5 – Basic Data Visualizations: Building from our previous session, Level 5 explores data visualization options in Excel, utilizing both in-sheet and pivot-based sources. Manual creation/formatting and more dynamic options like PivotCharts will all be covered.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Level 6 – Text Functions and Lookups: Level 6 will end our bootcamp with 2 mostly unrelated, but very important, function concepts. We will discuss text functions used to manipulate string data and finish strong by performing a deep dive into Excel’s ever-useful LOOKUP functions, VLOOKUP specifically.

Tuesday, November 17, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

*All six sessions are listed on the registration form.

Digital Accessibility: Making It Work for Everyone
 

You don’t actually have to be an accessibility expert to identify and remove many of the barriers in the digital content you use every day.  This practical workshop will help you learn to recognize common barriers in images, links, tables, videos, documents, and PDFs; understand how choices like color, alt text, captions, and document structure affect access; and discover simple steps you can take now to create digital content that works better for everyone.

Presenter:  
Subrina Cooper, Office of the General Counsel, USM

Tuesday, October 13
11:30 am -12:30 pm
Hybrid Session | IC 319 & Teams

 

Fix It Fridays

Fix It Fridays is hosted on the first Friday of the month as a hybrid session in IC 319 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD). The goal is to provide dedicated time to work toward remediating files and other course material to be compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2-AA. Join us for camaraderie, accountability, and collective effort to make our campus more accessible for all. Come with specific files and goals, and let's help each other to work toward this goal of accessibility by April!

Fix It Fridays will meet as a hybrid session in IC 319 and on Teams on the first Friday of the month this fall from 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. beginning September 4, and concluding December 4, 2026. 

Mark the dates on your calendar: 

October 2
November 6
December 4

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder/calendar invite along with the Teams information to join virtually.

Graduate Faculty Mentor Training Series

The Southern Miss Graduate School, in partnership with the Center for Faculty Development, is offering a Graduate Faculty Mentor Training Series during the 2026–2027 academic year. These workshops, led by experienced faculty trained through CIMER, provide practical guidance on effective mentoring, addressing disparities, and building strong mentor–mentee relationships. Faculty interested in enhancing their mentorship skills are encouraged to register.

Building Ethical Research Mentorship

Faculty mentors play an important role in helping graduate students navigate ethical research and scholarly collaboration. Led by Dr. Don Sacco, USM Research Integrity Officer and Professor of Psychology, this workshop will explore best practices for mentoring graduate students, with a focus on authorship, credit, intellectual contributions, and publication expectations.

Wednesday, October 21
12:00-1:30pm
International Center 319 (CFD) | Zoom (registration required)

Accreditation Rebranded: Updates to SACSCOC

Following the appointment of their new president, The Commission on Colleges and Universities, formerly known as SACSCOC, has updated their branding, communications, and standards. Despite this, the mission of The Commission remains the same – ensure higher education quality. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness invites faculty and staff, primarily School Directors, College Deans, and Program Coordinators, to hear about the ongoing and potential changes to USM's accrediting body.

Presenter: Dr. Douglas Masterson, Senior Associate Provost for Institutional Success

Friday, October 2, 2026
9:30-10:30 a.m.
International Center 101 & Teams

Mental Health First Aid Training

Hosted by the Center for Faculty Development and Student Counseling Services: Learn how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders. This training, provided through Student Counseling Services, gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem and help connect them to the appropriate care.

Seating limited to 20 participants.
Monday, November 2, 2026
8:30 to 4:30 *Lunch is on your own.
In person only - International Center 319

NOTE: Signing up for this training requires about 2 hours of work ahead of time in a self-paced course that will be sent to you directly from the MHFA Training organizers. This must be completed no later than 24 hours prior to the training event. The certification given by MHFA is good for 3 years. It is not mandatory, volunteer only.

Show Up & Write!

Show Up & Write! is hosted weekly as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD) and provides a quiet, physical or virtual space for dedicated writing time. The writing group aims to support faculty, staff, and graduate research by designating time for writing and increasing productivity through peer support and personal accountability. Plan to focus your time on productive writing for an article, book chapter, grant proposal, blog, or other project.  

Show Up & Write! will meet as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams every Friday this fall from 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. beginning September 4, and concluding December 4, 2026. 

Mark the dates on your calendar: 

September 25
October 2, 16, 26, 30
November 6, 13, 20
December 4

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder along with the location and a Teams link if you plan to join virtually.

Show Up & Write!

Show Up & Write! is hosted weekly as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD) and provides a quiet, physical or virtual space for dedicated writing time. The writing group aims to support faculty, staff, and graduate research by designating time for writing and increasing productivity through peer support and personal accountability. Plan to focus your time on productive writing for an article, book chapter, grant proposal, blog, or other project.  

Show Up & Write! will meet as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams every Friday this fall from 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. beginning September 4, and concluding December 4, 2026. 

September 25, 2026
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
IC 318 & Teams

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder along with the location and a Teams link if you plan to join virtually.

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: Excel Series - Level 2 - Everyday Formulas and Sorting

The Center for Faculty Development in tandem with the Office of Institutional Research are sponsoring the Excel workshop series. This series is open to all faculty, staff, or graduate students who are interested in expanding their skill level in Excel. There are 6 sessions or levels offered in this series, and you may choose to attend all 6 or choose the sessions that are of most interest to you. Attendees will need to bring their laptop to each session, as these workshops are designed to be hands-on and interactive.

*A hybrid alternative is offered. Virtual attendees are asked to have their laptop or desktop computers ready and be engaged in the session.

Level 2 – Everyday Formulas and Sorting: Level 2 focuses on essential operations used in both basic and advanced datasets, including simple formulas and functions, cell referencing, and staple tools like sorting and filtering.

Tuesday, September 29, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Presenter: Chris Lowe, Data Literacy Program Manager & Statistical Analyst, Institutional Research Office

*All six sessions are listed on the registration form.

Accreditation Rebranded: Updates to SACSCOC

Following the appointment of their new president, The Commission on Colleges and Universities, formerly known as SACSCOC, has updated their branding, communications, and standards. Despite this, the mission of The Commission remains the same – ensure higher education quality. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness invites faculty and staff, primarily School Directors, College Deans, and Program Coordinators, to hear about the ongoing and potential changes to USM's accrediting body.

Presenter: Dr. Douglas Masterson, Senior Associate Provost for Institutional Success

Friday, October 2, 2026
9:30-10:30 a.m.
International Center 101 & Teams

Fix It Fridays

Fix It Fridays is hosted on the first Friday of the month as a hybrid session in IC 319 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD). The goal is to provide dedicated time to work toward remediating files and other course material to be compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2-AA. Join us for camaraderie, accountability, and collective effort to make our campus more accessible for all. Come with specific files and goals, and let's help each other to work toward this goal of accessibility by April!

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder/calendar invite along with the Teams information to join virtually.

October 2, 2026
11:30 am -1:30 pm
IC 319 & Teams

Show Up & Write!

Show Up & Write! is hosted weekly as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD) and provides a quiet, physical or virtual space for dedicated writing time. The writing group aims to support faculty, staff, and graduate research by designating time for writing and increasing productivity through peer support and personal accountability. Plan to focus your time on productive writing for an article, book chapter, grant proposal, blog, or other project.  

Show Up & Write! will meet as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams every Friday this fall from 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. beginning September 4, and concluding December 4, 2026. 

October 2, 2026
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
IC 318 & Teams

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder along with the location and a Teams link if you plan to join virtually.

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: Excel Series - Level 3 - Data Manipulation and Using Logic

The Center for Faculty Development in tandem with the Office of Institutional Research are sponsoring the Excel workshop series. This series is open to all faculty, staff, or graduate students who are interested in expanding their skill level in Excel. There are 6 sessions or levels offered in this series, and you may choose to attend all 6 or choose the sessions that are of most interest to you. Attendees will need to bring their laptop to each session, as these workshops are designed to be hands-on and interactive.

*A hybrid alternative is offered. Virtual attendees are asked to have their laptop or desktop computers ready and be engaged in the session.

Level 3 – Data Manipulation and Using Logic: Level 3 splits our attention into 2 areas: logical functions and manipulating data. This session will explore IF/AND/OR concepts, conditional formatting, transposition, and splitting.

Tuesday, October 6, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Presenter: Chris Lowe, Data Literacy Program Manager & Statistical Analyst, Institutional Research Office

*All six sessions are listed on the registration form.

Coffee & Conversations  

The Center for Faculty Development invites you to join us in the International Center 319 for a cup of coffee, bagels, and great conversations! The purpose of this event is to encourage faculty, staff, and graduate students to exit their silos and engage in meaningful, collegiate conversations with fellow academicians from across campus in an informal setting. We would love to see you swing by!

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 |  8:30 - 10:30 am
International Center, room 319 

Let us know below if you are coming! Email any questions you have to CFDFREEMississippi.

Digital Accessibility: Making It Work for Everyone 

You don’t actually have to be an accessibility expert to identify and remove many of the barriers in the digital content you use every day.  This practical workshop will help you learn to recognize common barriers in images, links, tables, videos, documents, and PDFs; understand how choices like color, alt text, captions, and document structure affect access; and discover simple steps you can take now to create digital content that works better for everyone.

Presenter:  
Subrina Cooper, Office of the General Counsel, USM

Tuesday, October 13
11:30 am -12:30 pm
Hybrid Session | IC 319 & Teams

MC Exammer: U Can't Guess This! Designing Reliable Multiple-Choice Assessments with AI

Multiple-choice assessments are one of the most widely used tools in higher education, yet writing questions that accurately measure student learning is challenging and time-consuming. This workshop will explore evidence-based practices for developing high-quality multiple-choice items, including effective stem construction and strategies for assessing higher-order thinking. Participants will learn how large language models (LLMs) can be used to generate, revise, and create isomorphic question variants aligned with course learning outcomes. The session will conclude with an introduction to Rasch modeling as an approach for evaluating item performance, validating questions, and improving the reliability of assessment instruments.

Presenter: Johnathan Hugh Broome, Ph.D. Associate Teaching Professor, Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Thursday, October 15
12:30-1:30 p.m.
IC 319 & Teams

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: Excel Series - Level 4 - Tables and Pivot Tables

The Center for Faculty Development in tandem with the Office of Institutional Research are sponsoring the Excel workshop series. This series is open to all faculty, staff, or graduate students who are interested in expanding their skill level in Excel. There are 6 sessions or levels offered in this series, and you may choose to attend all 6 or choose the sessions that are of most interest to you. Attendees will need to bring their laptop to each session, as these workshops are designed to be hands-on and interactive.

*A hybrid alternative is offered. Virtual attendees are asked to have their laptop or desktop computers ready and be engaged in the session.

Level 4 – Tables and Pivot Tables: Tables, tables, tables! Level 4 is entirely dedicated to them, starting briefly with an introduction to in-sheet options and following up with a lengthy dive into their more advanced and functional cousins, pivot tables.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Presenter: Chris Lowe, Data Literacy Program Manager & Statistical Analyst, Institutional Research Office

*All six sessions are listed on the registration form.

Graduate Faculty Mentor Training Series

The Southern Miss Graduate School, in partnership with the Center for Faculty Development, is offering a Graduate Faculty Mentor Training Series during the 2026–2027 academic year. These workshops, led by experienced faculty trained through CIMER, provide practical guidance on effective mentoring, addressing disparities, and building strong mentor–mentee relationships. Faculty interested in enhancing their mentorship skills are encouraged to register.

Building Ethical Research Mentorship

Faculty mentors play an important role in helping graduate students navigate ethical research and scholarly collaboration. Led by Dr. Don Sacco, USM Research Integrity Officer and Professor of Psychology, this workshop will explore best practices for mentoring graduate students, with a focus on authorship, credit, intellectual contributions, and publication expectations.

Wednesday, October 21
12:00-1:30pm
International Center 319 (CFD) | Zoom (registration required)

Mental Health First Aid Training

Hosted by the Center for Faculty Development and Student Counseling Services: Learn how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders. This training, provided through Student Counseling Services, gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem and help connect them to the appropriate care.

Seating limited to 20 participants.
Monday, November 2, 2026
8:30 to 4:30 *Lunch is on your own.
In person only - International Center 319

NOTE: Signing up for this training requires about 2 hours of work ahead of time in a self-paced course that will be sent to you directly from the MHFA Training organizers. This must be completed no later than 24 hours prior to the training event. The certification given by MHFA is good for 3 years. It is not mandatory, volunteer only.

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: Excel Series - Level 5 - Basic Data Visualizations

The Center for Faculty Development in tandem with the Office of Institutional Research are sponsoring the Excel workshop series. This series is open to all faculty, staff, or graduate students who are interested in expanding their skill level in Excel. There are 6 sessions or levels offered in this series, and you may choose to attend all 6 or choose the sessions that are of most interest to you. Attendees will need to bring their laptop to each session, as these workshops are designed to be hands-on and interactive.

*A hybrid alternative is offered. Virtual attendees are asked to have their laptop or desktop computers ready and be engaged in the session.

Level 5: Basic Data Visualizations will build from our previous session. This level explores data visualization options in Excel, utilizing both in-sheet and pivot-based sources. Manual creation / formatting and more dynamic options like PivotCharts will all be covered. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Presenter: Chris Lowe, Data Literacy Program Manager & Statistical Analyst, Institutional Research Office

*All six sessions are listed on the registration form.

Show Up & Write!

Show Up & Write! is hosted weekly as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD) and provides a quiet, physical or virtual space for dedicated writing time. The writing group aims to support faculty, staff, and graduate research by designating time for writing and increasing productivity through peer support and personal accountability. Plan to focus your time on productive writing for an article, book chapter, grant proposal, blog, or other project.  

Show Up & Write! will meet as a hybrid session in IC 318 and on Teams every Friday this fall from 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. beginning September 4, and concluding December 4, 2026. 

November 6, 13, 20
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
IC 318 & Teams

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder along with the location and a Teams link if you plan to join virtually.

Fix It Fridays

Fix It Fridays is hosted on the first Friday of the month as a hybrid session in IC 319 and on Teams by the Center for Faculty Development (CFD). The goal is to provide dedicated time to work toward remediating files and other course material to be compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2-AA. Join us for camaraderie, accountability, and collective effort to make our campus more accessible for all. Come with specific files and goals, and let's help each other to work toward this goal of accessibility by April!

These sessions are come-and-go as needed for your schedule. Faculty, staff and graduate students from all disciplines and ranks are welcome to attend. If this peaks your interest, fill out the information below for a reminder/calendar invite along with the Teams information to join virtually.

November 6, 2026
11:30 am -1:30 pm
IC 319 & Teams

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: Excel Series - Level 6 - Text Functions & Lookups

The Center for Faculty Development in tandem with the Office of Institutional Research are sponsoring the Excel workshop series. This series is open to all faculty, staff, or graduate students who are interested in expanding their skill level in Excel. There are 6 sessions or levels offered in this series, and you may choose to attend all 6 or choose the sessions that are of most interest to you. Attendees will need to bring their laptop to each session, as these workshops are designed to be hands-on and interactive.

*A hybrid alternative is offered. Virtual attendees are asked to have their laptop or desktop computers ready and be engaged in the session.

Level 6: Text Functions and Lookups will end our bootcamp with two mostly unrelated, but very important, function concepts. We will discuss text functions used to manipulate string data and finish strong by performing a deep dive into Excel's ever-useful LOOKUP functions, VLOOKUP specifically.

Tuesday, November 17, 2026
10:00-11:15 am
IC 318 & Teams

Presenter: Chris Lowe, Data Literacy Program Manager & Statistical Analyst, Institutional Research Office

*All six sessions are listed on the registration form.