Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Kresge Library, Room 430
100 Library Drive
Rochester,
Michigan
48309-4479
(location map)
(248) 370-2751
cetl@oakland.edu
Faculty Development Institutes
Faculty Development Institutes are small groups led by CETL Faculty Fellows. Like Learning Communities, FDIs spend an academic year exploring a teaching-related topic, but typically spend fall semester learning and brainstorming the topic and spend the winter semester implementing related practices into their courses. Learn more about and participate in FDIs.
Rebecca Malatesta, Psychology
The purpose of this FDI is to increase awareness of equity gaps in minoritized students in non-STEM majors, understand why the gaps exist (the real and perceived barriers to success), and discover ways to design courses and develop teaching practices/strategies to narrow this gap. The group will:
- Identify equity gaps, using the Student Success and Equity Dashboard and general higher ed research
- Identify evidence-based strategies that reduce barriers and increase inclusivity/belonging, and select and adapt 1-2 for your course
- Plan a method for assessing the effectiveness of their strategies
Lily Mendoza, Communication
In the midst of global and local crises such as climate change, economic disparity, and myriad injustices, we need to rethink long-held assumptions about our approaches to higher education. This FDI uses a story-based decolonizing framework that seeks recovery of excluded knowledges in the Western academy to transform ourselves, our scholarship, and our pedagogies for a more sustainable future. The group will:
- recognize different forms of supremacy in our social world as rooted in species supremacy, and find resources to enter into relationships and teaching practices that are more interdependent and mutually empowering.
- begin to recover what was more Indigenous and sustainable in our heritage as a species in general and in each of our ancestral lineages.
- find resources for decolonizing our disciplines and course syllabi.
Join Teaching for Sustainability and Transformation through Decolonization FDI
Valance Washington, Biological Sciences
The objective of this year's FDI sessions is to leverage institutional data in order to enhance the number of program grants submitted and successfully funded. We recognize that applying for a program grant can be a challenging endeavor. Our aim is to analyze grants that are accessible to our institution, identify shared components that can be assembled in a modular format, utilize the information provided by the Student Success and Equity Dashboard to develop these modules, and ultimately utilize them to create and submit program grants. By implementing this approach, we anticipate a rise in the number of funded program grants at OU, which will significantly enhance the quality of life and academic experience for both graduate and undergraduate students at our university.
- Create a team from diverse departments who have learned to use the Student Success and Equity Dashboard.
- Develop program grant common modules and make them available on Google Drive.
- Submit at least one team program grant.
What are Faculty Development Institutes (FDI)?
Faculty Development Institutes are sustained programs which run throughout the academic year and focus on developing a teaching strategy or approach. The FDI cohort (10-15 members) meets approximately once a month with a coach/mentor. Times and dates will be decided by group members. The program provides an opportunity to learn new skills and strategies and then have time to develop, implement, reflect and revise them throughout the year.
What is the difference between a Learning Community and FDI?
In many ways they are similar; a FDI can be classified as a type of Learning Community. The decision of a participant to enroll in a FDI or a Learning Community is usually based on interest in the offered theme or topic. FDIs tend to be more structured with the fall focusing on concept and skill development and then the participants working on their own projects in the winter such as course redesigns or teaching related scholarship. Learning Communities tend to evolve as they progress based on the interests of the participants. FDIs are aimed for faculty whereas LC are open to faculty, professional staff and graduate students. FDIs are facilitated by a CETL faculty member (Faculty Fellow or CETL Director) whereas other Learning Communities are run by interested university faculty or academic professionals.