Faculty Development

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

The central mission of Faculty Development at Eastern Illinois University is to develop and enable excellent faculty to provide high quality service and leadership across the University's integrated missions of teaching, research, scholarship and creative activities. The aim is to promote overall faculty excellence, morale, and collegiality and to facilitate superior and timely responses to changing external and internal circumstances and priorities.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

By supporting faculty with training, workshops, visiting scholars/ instructional experts, mentoring, reading circles, and writing groups, Faculty Development creates the conditions that enable faculty can flourish and better meet the University's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and a student-centered campus culture. Faculty Development programming serves as a significant resource for faculty to effectively fulfill their obligations in teaching, conduct research/creative activity and serve the campus and the wider community. 

Whom does the program serve?

Faculty Development serves the needs of all faculty at Eastern Illinois University, both Unit A and Unit B faculty. 

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

The Faculty Development office provides the following services to support scholarly productivity: 

Scholarly Writing 

• Write-on-Site
• Writing Partnerships
• Early Creer/Pre-Tenure Faculty Writing Course
• Post-tenure/ Mid-Career & Senior Scholars Writing Course

Research & Creative Activity

• Support Grants
• Partnership Grants
• Collaborative sessions with Research & Sponsored Programs, Booth Library

The Faculty Development office provides the following services to support excellence in teaching:

Let’s Talk Teaching sessions

• Sending faculty to Teaching & Learning Conferences (Wakonse, Desire2Learn, Faculty Women of Color)
• Visiting Scholars presentations and workshops 
• Just in Time teaching & learning: Videos online, access to Magna Commons
• Collaborative sessions with CATS, Campus Advising Network, Office of Student Disability Services
• Teaching Squares Program

Early Career/New Faculty

• New Faculty Orientation
• Follow-Up sessions with New Faculty
• Faculty Mentoring Program

 Diversity & Inclusivity

• Sending faculty to UIUC Minority Women of Color Conference
• Focus groups on diversity, and inclusivity
• Collaborative sessions with Student Disability Services, Civil Rights, Minority Affairs

Building Community

• Support for the Lumpkin College of Business & Applied Sciences Café for Faculty & Staff
• Faculty Mentoring Program
• Faculty Reading Groups

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

Established in the 1980s, the Faculty Development office sponsored a variety of seminars and workshops aimed at instructional improvement and other faculty needs. Funds were also available through a mini-grant program to aid faculty in the improvement of instruction, including registration fees for conferences and/or workshops. 

Faculty Development, in its current form, was reorganized following a Senate Resolution on Faculty Development unanimously approved on March 19, 2002, which called for the organization of faculty development at Eastern. Other components of the resolution called for: 

1. The designation of an appropriate location on campus to facilitate intellectual and social interaction among all faculty

2. The establishment of a Faculty Development office within Academic Affairs to offer faculty development opportunities and resources in teaching, research/creative activity and service 

3. The funding of a Faculty Development office and its activities 

4. The establishment of a Faculty Development council to advise the office on programming, and review and evaluate proposals for grants and awards 

Additionally, an ad-hoc Steering Committee was established to implement these recommendations and to recommend an appropriate administrative structure. Finally, an interim Coordinator was assigned in an 0.5 FTE Faculty Development Coordinator position. 

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

Following its reorganization in 2002, Dr. Mildred M. Pearson became Faculty Development's first Coordinator, later Director. Initially, the ad-hoc steering committee was tasked with providing by-laws and administrative structure, later formalizing into the Faculty Development Advisory Committee. This Committee is composed of voting members from each of the four academic colleges (selected by both Faculty Senate and the Provost), the Library Faculty, Dean's Council, the Council of Chairs, and Academic Affairs. With an operating budget, the Faculty Development office moved to a central location on campus, in Booth Library, and thereafter, hired two supporting staff members in 2007 and 2008. During this time, Faculty Development also hired two graduate assistants and several student workers. The Director position also became a full-time position. 

In 2010, following a transitional period in leadership and direction, Dr. Dagni Bredesen became the director of Faculty Development in a part-time capacity. At present, the Faculty Development office is comprised of the Director and two staff members. The role of Faculty Development remains primarily to offer opportunities and resources for faculty in teaching, research/creative activity and service, to initiate and sponsor faculty development activities and to coordinate and publicize all faculty development activities across campus. 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

Provide data, if available, on the numbers of students, faculty, staff, or others served by the program during the past four years. If no data are available, please estimate the numbers served annually.

All graphs are available here.

Graph 1 details total attendance at all sessions sponsored by the Faculty Development office in AY2010-2011 (134), AY2011-2012 (145) and AY2012-2013 (347). These include: New Faculty Orientation, teaching workshops, Visiting Scholar sessions, and collaborative sessions with other campus units. Graph 2 is the number of new faculty who participated in the New Faculty Orientation. 

Faculty Development office also provides a Faculty Mentoring Program, committed to building relationships with new and existing faculty. (Graph 3) Faculty Development seeks to enhance campus culture by encouraging interdisciplinary conversations about teaching and academic life.  To facilitate this, in AY2012-2013, the office acquired books which provided participants with rich fodder for discussion. 54 faculty were involved in the 2012-2013 faculty reading groups. (Graph 4)

In AY2011-2012 and AY2012-2013, Faculty Development hosted Write-on-Site, a unique space for faculty to get together and work on research and writing, in a shared space. 14 faculty participated in Write on Site in AY2011-2012, and 9 in AY2012-2013. (Graph 5) 

Faculty Development sponsors Support Grants, awarded to individual faculty for the purposes of improving instructional activity and course content. In Spring 2011, the Faculty Development office provided $2000 to each of the four academic colleges to support faculty travel. In Fall 2011, Faculty Development introduced Partnership Grants, designed to foster the development of interdisciplinary teaching and research projects and faculty/ community partnerships. (See Graph 6) 

Faculty Development sponsors faculty to attend teaching and learning conferences to support their professional development: The Wakonse Conference in College Teaching,  the Desire2Learn Regional User Forum (a collaboration with CATS), and UIUC Faculty Women of Color Conference. (Graph 7) 

Teaching squares is a pilot program for reciprocal classroom observation and self-reflection. (Graph 8) To meet the needs of faculty managing a heavy teaching load while pursuing an active program of writing for scholarly publication, Faculty Development provides faculty writing courses with 9 participants in AY2011-2012, and 17 in AY2012-2013. (Graph 9)

Does the program offer any co-curricular opportunities for students (e.g., internships, RSO support, service-learning activities)? Please describe.

N/A 

Does the program contribute to the delivery of academic programs (e.g., providing professional expertise, serving as adjunct faculty)? Please describe.

Faculty Development promotes effective teaching through various activities and services throughout AY2010-2013, including:

• Arranging Let’s Talk Teaching workshops, seminars, institutes, and related programs on teaching. Examples include:
  • Critical Thinking & Writing Assignments
  • Who Are Our First-Year Students?
  • Making it Last- Enduring Concepts & Transferable Skills
  • No Excuses for an Ugly Website
  • Conversations on Diversity: "Fish-Bowl" Style Follow-up to Town-Hall Meeting (Student Panel)
• Collaborating with various campus units to co-sponsor sessions and related programs on teaching and learning. Examples include:
  • Faculty Advising: Creating Positive Relationships with Your Advisees (with Campus Advising Network)
  • True Stories: Students with Disabilities in the EIU Classroom (Student Panel with Student Disability Services)
  • Living and Laughing by the Chopsticks-Fork Principle (with Asian American Heritage Month Committee)
  • Interdisciplinary lunches (with Center for Translational Humanities and Booth Library)
  • The Status of Africana Studies (with African American Heritage Month Committee)
• Providing access to resources on teaching
  • Web resources and other teaching and learning programs
  • Magna Commons – an online resource for faculty development
  • All videos and handouts from previous sessions available for faculty to view
• Inviting experts from outside EIU to present programs on teaching and related subjects
  • Dr. Michael Wesch (“The End of Wonder in the Age of Whatever,” “Inspiring Connections – Using New Media to Create Authentic and Engaging Collaborative Learning Environments”)
  • Dr. Lunden MacDonald (“Universal Design for Learning”)
  • Dr. Tara Gray (“Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar”
  • Dr. L. Dee Fink (“Designing Integrative Learning into Your Courses,” “The Joy & Responsibility of Teaching Well”)
  • Dr. Patricia McCubbin (“Fulbright Grants for International Teaching & Research Opportunities”)

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Please note that in Fall 2010, under the previous director, the cycle for support grants was temporarily suspended, but were reinstated in January 2011. 

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

N/A 

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

N/A

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

N/A

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

N/A

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

What are the two or three more important measureable outcomes tracked to assess program quality? Does the program conduct an outcomes assessment, and if so, what has been the impact?

• Significant Achievements that Document Quality/Improvement
  • Increase in total attendance at all workshops and sessions (AY2010-2011, 134 participants; AY2011-2012, 145 participants; AY2012-2013, 347 participants)
  • Instituted Partnership Grants in Fall 2011
  • Instituted Faculty Writing Courses in Spring 2011, and averaged 8 participants per course
  • Increase in number of faculty selected and sponsored to attend teaching and learning conferences
• Significant Achievements that Document Support of VPAA and/or University Goals
  • University Goals: Enhancing support for excellence in faculty scholarship and teaching, in particular faculty-mentored undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activities
    • Maintaining collaborative sessions with Research & Sponsored Programs
    • Recognizing faculty for teaching, research/creative activity through Featured Faculty website
    • Maintaining the Write-on-Site program and providing Faculty Writing Courses 
    • Supporting writing partnerships
    • Awarding support grants and partnership grants 
    • Launching a series of conversations with administrators and faculty concerning disabilities and diversity
  • VPAA Goals: To become a showcase for teaching and learning at a regional comprehensive university that emphasizes relationship-driven education
    • Providing “Let’s Talk Teaching” workshops, Visiting Scholar and collaborative sessions with other campus units
  • • Restructuring the New Faculty Orientation to include needs assessment and focus groups 
    • Restructuring the Faculty Mentoring Program
    • Establishing Faculty Reading Groups
    • Establishing the Teaching Squares program
    • Sending faculty to Teaching and Learning conferences
    • Inviting experts from outside EIU to present programs
    • Establishing close collaborations with the Center for Academic Technology Support, Research & Sponsored Programs, Student Disability Services, Minority Affairs, among other
    • Consultation with individual faculty
    • Providing online and print resources for faculty in teaching and learning
• Integrative Learning Opportunities
  • Sponsored Dr. L. Dee Fink to present “Designing Integrative Learning into Your Courses"
• Strategies to Improve P–16 Teaching and Learning (please see above on achievements)
• Collaborative Activities with Business/Industry
  • Reviewed submissions to the 2012 “To Improve the Academy”
  • Review conference proposals for the 2011 and 2012 POD Network in Higher Education conference, and committee work 
• Faculty Achievements – please see Presentations, Publications or Offices. 

What are the two or three most effective best practices that the program has implemented? What benefits have been gained from implementing these best practices?

Within the last three academic years, Faculty Development has: 

1. Revamped the New Faculty Orientation program - new and incoming faculty are surveyed to determine their needs and interests, which is then used to build the programming for the New Faculty Orientation and to determine the programs and priorities for the upcoming year. Additionally, the Faculty Mentoring program was restructured to incorporate feedback from previous mentors and mentees, and is now integrated into the New Faculty Orientation to help faculty start building networks from the get-go. While event evaluations are still collected, follow-up focus groups of new faculty are conducted to determine how best to provide them with efficient support, a semester after orientation. Check-in points with faculty mentors and mentees are also provided. 

2. Providing support for scholarly writing - Faculty Development has had a renewed focus on research and scholarly writing, by becoming a central location for scholars to engage in a community of writers for the Write-on-Site program. Additionally, Faculty Development has matched faculty for interdisciplinary writing partnerships, utilizing an approach suggested by a visiting scholar, Dr. Tara Gray. Another promising program has been the Faculty Writing Courses, which aims to take participants through Wendy Belcher's book, "How to Write Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks" in a semester. Of the participants in the last three offered faculty writing courses, approximately 80% either submitted for review or published a manuscript within a semester. 

3. Faculty Reading Groups were implemented in the 2012-2013 year with the goal of encouraging interdisciplinary discussions on topics related to teaching and learning. In the last year alone, 54 faculty members were involved in faculty reading groups. 

What external recognitions (e.g., awards, accommodations, professional certifications, references in trade publications) have the program and its staff received in the past three years?

The Faculty Development office has not received external recognition in the past three years. 

Is the program active with any regional, national, or international professional organizations?

Faculty Development  is an institutional member of the Professional and Organizational (POD) Network in Higher Education. Mrs. Thomas has reviewed conference proposals for its annual conference (2011, 2012), and has reviewed articles for "To Improve the Academy." (2012) Additionally, Mrs. Thomas is a member of the POD History committee. 

Dr. Bredesen is a member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, and successfully completed its Faculty Success Program (May-August 2012) and the Leadership Intensive Seminar (May 2012). Dr. Bredesen has also reviewed conference proposals for the 2011 Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education conference. 

Note any presentations, publications, or offices held in the last three years.

In addition to serving as Director of Faculty Development, Dr. Bredesen teaches in the English Department, and is an active scholar in her field of Victorian Studies. 

PUBLICATIONS

Review: Haia Shpayer-Makov, The Ascent of the Detective: Police Sleuths in Victorian and Edwardian England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). The Journal of British Studies, 52, pp 561-562 

“On the Trail of the First Female Detectives.”  The First Female Detectives in British Fiction: a new edition of The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester, Jr. (1864) & Revelations of a Lady Detective by W.S. Hayward (1864). Transcribed, edited and introduced by Dagni Bredesen. Ann Arbor: Scholars’ Facsimiles & Reprints, 2010.

The First Female Detectives in British Fiction: a new edition of The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester, Jr. (1864) & Revelations of a Lady Detective by W.S. Hayward (1864). Transcribed, edited & introduced by Dagni Bredesen. Ann Arbor: Scholars’ Facsimiles & Reprints, 2010.

FORTHCOMING

Article: “‘An Emblem of All the Rest’: Wearing the Widow’s Cap in Victorian Literature.” Habits of Being. Volume 3. Ed. Paula Rabinowitz & Cristina Giorcelli. St. Paul: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.

“Experimental Realism & Early Forensics: the Medical Man in The Female Detective.” The Doctor in Victorian Popular Culture. Ed. Tabitha Sparks & Louise Penner. (press pending).

RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS & PARTICIPATION

Presentation at the North American Victorian Studies Association  (NAVSA). Pasadena, CA. 2013.

Presentation at the North American Victorian Studies Association (NAVSA).  Madison, WI.  2012.

Presentation at the International Society for the Story of Narrative. Las Vegas, NV. 2012. 

Panel Organizer & Presentation at the Midwest Conference on British Studies (MWCBS). Terre Haute, IN. 2011.

Presentation at the International Society for the Study of Narrative Conference in St. Louis, MO. 2011.

Presentation at the Nineteenth Century Studies Association International Conference on “Money and Myths.”  Albuquerque, NM.  2011.

RECENT FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, & HONORS

• Mentored two student recipients for the Undergraduate Research/Creative Activity Award (2013) 
• Council of Faculty Research Summer Award (2013) 
• Achievement and Contribution Award: Balanced (2011)
• Women’s Studies Travel Grant (2011)
• Interdisciplinary Center for Global Diversity Travel Grant (2011)
• College of Arts and Humanities Travel Award (2011, 2013)

*Please see Dr.  Bredesen's webpage for presentation titles. 

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

N/A

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

Faculty Development does not receive support from donor gifts.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

Faculty Development is an institutional member of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, while Dr. Dagni Bredesen is a member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. While not only providing faculty development and instructional technology resources, the POD Network in Higher Education provides a community of like-minded professionals, and provides insight into current trends in teaching and learning. The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity provides resources for faculty scholarly writing and research, and offers numerous workshops related to teaching and learning.

Additionally, Faculty Development maintains informal networks with the Faculty Development & Instructional Design Center, Northern Illinois University, Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, Illinois State University. This regional network encourages the sharing of ideas and resources.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Faculty Development provides online access to all workshop videos for faculty use. 

Provide an executive summary of and link to any metrics or benchmarks that the program tracks to measure productivity.

Size & Scale of Operations: 

• Number of professional development activities 
• Number of sessions offered to faculty (Let's Talk Teaching, Visiting Scholar, collaborative sessions) 
• Total attendance at all events 
• Number of new/early-career faculty served
• Number of faculty mentoring partnerships
• Number of support grants awarded
• Number of partnership grants awarded
• Percentage of operating budget that is directly provided to faculty (grant funding, sponsorship of faculty travel, workshops, etc.) 
• Number of faculty participants in Write on Site
• Number of faculty participants in faculty writing courses
• Number of faculty participants in reading groups 
• Number of faculty participants in teaching squares 
• Number of faculty that are involved in consultation 
• Amount of funding provided to faculty to attend teaching and learning conferences

For attendance, please see attendance from AY2010-2013 here.

Effectiveness: 

• Number of publications facilitated by participation in Write on Site
• Number of publications facilitated by participation in Faculty Writing Courses 
• Results from workshop evaluations, by event, by semester, by year 
• Results from bi-annual Needs Assessment Surveys 
• Results from focus-groups 
• Number of committees that staff have been involved in as a resource 

For the above non-quantitative measures, with please see annual reports for the following years: 

AY2012-2013 Administrative Assessment Unit Profile Report  
AY2011-2012 Administrative Assessment Unit Profile Report 
AY2010-2011 Administrative Assessment Unit Profile Report 

What initiatives has the program implemented to enhance staff productivity (e.g., access to training, workflow improvements)? Briefly describe the costs and benefits of these initiatives.

Faculty Development has sponsored Dr. Dagni Bredesen and Krishna Thomas to attend the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education annual conferences. With an institutional membership of $700 annually, sending staff to this annual conference has averaged approximately $1,500 per staff. Access to this conference provides networking abilities with faculty development centers nationwide, encouraging the sharing of ideas to support and enrich faculty work. Additionally, this network also provides resources on recent trends in teaching and learning, including current issues being addressed, and future priorities and directions.  

Additionally, Wanda Kay Robinson has attended the Administrative Assistants Conference, among others, to enhance and supplement her work as the administrative aide for this unit, a position that she was just promoted to within the last academic year. These conferences has averaged approximately $843 per conference. As part of her attendance at the Administrative Assistants Conference, Mrs. Robinson had a one-year subscription to online training webinars in office productivity. 

In addition, staff have attended several on-campus workshops, and webinars on instructional technology, student demographics, best practices in student engagement, software training among others, to ensure that staff appropriately understand and are proactive in addressing current issues facing faculty. 

The Faculty Development Advisory Committee plays a key role in advising on programming and services that the unit offers. Faculty Development has also utilized simple project management processes to plan all programming, including efficient communication through weekly staff meetings, the sharing of resources on a single server, automated registration, utilizing evaluations for future directions, and efficient turn-around time on subcommittee work to award grants.  

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

While Support Grants were suspended in Fall 2010, they were reinstated in January 2011. Additionally, Faculty Development provided $2000 to each of the four academic colleges to support faculty travel. Finally, in AY2011-2012, and AY2012-2013, CATS has donated $10,000 to specifically support faculty work. 

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

With the tremendous growth of formalized faculty development programs and centers at institutions nationwide, Faculty Development at Eastern Illinois University not only seeks to share innovative ideas and programming with similar programs, but also to add to the extensive literature on teaching and learning. One of its foci emphasizes building relationships and community, as evidenced by a tradition of faculty mentoring. In 2006, Faculty Development received a POD Innovation Award for its Faculty Mentoring program, which continues to present-day. Additionally, while also cultivating a campus culture for teaching and learning, and providing funding for individual professional development, Faculty Development also supports scholarly writing by instituting a Write-on-Site program and faculty writing courses. 

In particular, Faculty Development is focused on ensuring faculty ownership, by seeking guidance on all its programming from faculty members, through the Advisory Committee, and focus groups, and by conducting periodic program assessment. 

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

Faculty Development provides the following unique and essential contributions to the University: 

1. Faculty Mentoring - Mentoring is both a formal and informal activity. While this program does not assign formal mentors in specific departments, the Faculty Development mentoring program complements mentoring within the department, and can address all aspects of academic life, from balancing professional and family obligations to advice about professional milestones that must be reached in order to advance through the ranks.  Faculty mentoring may include department social events, invitations to professional conferences, teaching and research collaborations, and developing individual career plans, in addition to one-to-one pairing of pre-tenure faculty with more senior faculty.  Ideally, pre-tenure faculty will have a network of peers and more senior colleagues as mentors and advisors to get a complete overview of the requirements for academic success.

2. Write-on-Site & Faculty Writing Courses: Faculty Development has hosted Write-on-Site, a unique space for faculty to get together and work on individual research and writing for two hours at least once a week, in a shared communal space. Although people worked on their projects, their writing together in one place provides a sense of accountability and cultivates participation in a community of writers. To meet the needs of faculty managing a heavy teaching load while pursuing an active program of writing for scholarly publication, Faculty Development provides faculty writing courses. The pre-tenure courses are designed to support early career faculty in revising and submitting a paper for publication in a scholarly journal. A second course, directed towards mid-career and senior scholars, was added. 

3. Faculty Groups: To encourage active dialogue on pedagogy and current trends in teaching and learning, Faculty Development sponsors faculty reading groups. Additionally, faculty are encouraged to participate in teaching squares, through reciprocal classroom observation and self-reflection.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

Size & Scale of Operations: 

• Number of professional development activities 
• Number of sessions offered to faculty (Let's Talk Teaching, Visiting Scholar, collaborative sessions) 
• Total attendance at all events 
• Number of new/early-career faculty served
• Number of faculty mentoring partnerships
• Number of support grants awarded
• Number of partnership grants awarded
• Percentage of operating budget that is directly provided to faculty (grant funding, sponsorship of faculty travel, workshops, etc.) 
• Number of faculty participants in Write on Site
• Number of faculty participants in faculty writing courses
• Number of faculty participants in reading groups 
• Number of faculty participants in teaching squares 
• Number of faculty that are involved in consultation 
• Amount of funding provided to faculty to attend teaching and learning conferences

Efficiency: 

• Visiting scholar session dollars per faculty FTE 
• Faculty Development expenditure per event 

Effectiveness: 

• New/Early Career Faculty retention rates 
• Average attendance at teaching-related workshops 
• Number of publications facilitated by participation in Write on Site
• Number of publications facilitated by participation in Faculty Writing Courses 
• Results from workshop evaluations, by event, by semester, by year 
• Results from bi-annual Needs Assessment Surveys 
• Results from focus-groups 
• Number of committees that staff have been involved in as a resource 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

Goals of the Faculty Development office:

Foster the development and continuance of excellence among the faculty.

• Promote the retention of our faculty
• Enhance faculty success in earning tenure and launching successful, nationally recognized careers
• Stimulate effective post-tenure productivity
• Strengthen interdisciplinary research and teaching activities
• Support faculty productivity in scholarly activities related to teaching and learning
• Highlight recognition of faculty excellence

 Foster a campus culture that supports, recognizes, and rewards teaching.

• Provide campus leadership across colleges and programs for excellence and innovation in teaching.
• Create mechanisms to share faculty teaching successes.
• Create diverse faculty development opportunities that address the needs of specific and varied teaching environments for faculty to learn about and share effective teaching practices.
• Develop venues for sustained, small-group conversations about teaching.
• Provide resources on best practices in teaching
• Work with instructional technology, library, and computing consultants to identify, document, and share effective ways to reinforce good pedagogical principles.

 Broaden and improve development opportunities.

• Conduct ongoing needs assessments and quality assessments (including surveys and focus groups) to improve programming and help determine future activities.
• Based on faculty and staff input, revise existing faculty development programs or design new programs.
• Work with other units to offer coordinated programming and support to faculty.

 Increase the visibility of and faculty participation in faculty development opportunities and Eastern Illinois University projects.

• Arrange visits to departments.
• Inform specific groups of faculty when relevant development opportunities arise.
• Develop effective communications strategies
• Partner with other units on campus, as appropriate.

 Encourage the scholarship of teaching and learning.

• Help faculty gain insight into the effectiveness of their teaching through formal and informal assessment of student learning.
• Design and disseminate tools that help departments and individuals conduct assessment activities.
• Encourage scholarly work on teaching and learning
• Develop methods for sharing assessment results, locally and externally.

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

Academic Excellence

Faculty Development will continue to create formal and informal spaces for discussion and collaboration between faculty, focusing on pedagogy, instructional activity and course content. Along with providing support for teaching and learning though workshops, Teaching Squares, Visiting Scholars, teaching and learning conferences, and providing resources on teaching and learning, Faculty Development will address the following in collaboration with other campus units: student-centered learning, pedagogies of engagement (including integrative learning), assessment of student learning outcomes, and scholarly reflection on practice.

Faculty Development will support the needs of early-career faculty through faculty mentoring. Given the increasingly complex and demanding nature of faculty roles, building faculty morale and community will continue to take precedence in the form of reading groups, focus groups and teaching squares. Support for scholarly writing, research and creative activity will continue in order to inform classroom practice, through grants, faculty writing courses and Write-on-Site.

Global Competition & Changing Demographics

Faculty Development will work with several campus units to host a series of conversations on questions of diversity and inclusivity, to cultivate teachers, students and campus environments that value diverse ideas, beliefs and worldviews, promote community, and cultivate inclusive student learning environments. Faculty Development will infuse diversity awareness into programs and services, including workshops and intensive seminars on teaching in the diverse classroom, and student panels.

Emerging Technologies

Faculty Development will continue to collaborate closely with the Center for Academic Technology and Support to support the appropriate, effective and innovative use of evolving, mainstream, instructional technologies that support students where they are – in a classroom, on campus, in transit, at home or work.

Campus and Community Life

Faculty Development will continue to work as a resource for faculty, to identify the array of opportunities available to faculty, publicize these options, and coordinate communication among institutional units offering opportunities.

In the next two or three years, what best practices, improvements in operations, or other opportunities to advance the university’s mission are likely to be implemented?

The Faculty Development office is currently discussing the following best practices: 

1. Implementation of Faculty Learning Communities - one of Faculty Development's goals is to foster an on-going community of learners, that integrate authentic, situated pedagogical issues. Faculty learning communities can be both cohort-based and topic-based. This will be able to connect faculty to national and international leaders, resources and best practices. 

2. Implementation of an online faculty commons - a web-based platform to provide resources for faculty in just-in-time teaching and learning, including journals, videos, links to national and international teaching and learning organizations 

3. Closer collaboration with the Center for Academic Technology Support - integrate workshops and training sessions on hardware and academic software to include discussion of authentic pedagogical issues that faculty face 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.