Faculty Learning Communities

Academic Year 09/10 Faculty Learning Communities:

New Faculty FLC (Fall 09)
Community-based Learning FLC (Fall 09-Spring 10)
Difficult Dialogues: Intersectionality in Our Teaching and Professional Lives (Fall 09-Spring 10)

Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are cross-disciplinary groups of faculty, numbering roughly 8 to 12 members, engaged in active, collaborative learning around a specific theme and toward defined outcomes.

FLCs share much the same philosophy as student learning communities: both reflect a changing philosophy of knowledge that values integrative and interdisciplinary approaches to learning and problem solving, and both fit what research tells us about how we learn. Faculty learning communities are ideally suited for bringing deep learning and change to faculty and are thus an especially effective means of providing faculty development.

Typically an FLC will meet regularly—every two weeks is a common frequency—for six to twelve months. FLC facilitators are responsible for guiding discussion and locating and distributing materials, i.e. pertinent articles or book chapters, or identifying and inviting a faculty member or other individuals who have expertise on the topic at hand. FLC members are responsible for contributing to the community and advancing the learning of all members. Qualities that are integral to an FLC and that all are responsible for include openness, respect, responsiveness, collaboration, relevance, challenge, and enjoyment.

FLCs can be cohort-based or topic-based, and the Center for Faculty Development sponsors both types. Following are descriptions of upcoming, current, and past communities.

New for academic year 2009/10: the Center for Faculty Development will offer mini-grants of $500 to support members of certain FLCs (First Year Success, Power and Privilege in Higher Education, and Course (re)Design FLCs). Mini-grants acknowledge the time and effort that faculty devote to their projects and to the community’s learning, and they reinforce innovation in teaching, scholarship, and engagement. Two conditions of mini-grant awards are:

A commitment to complete a project, and
A commitment to attend the meetings of the FLC.

As space allows, faculty who do not pursue or who are not awarded mini-grants can also take part in these FLCs.

New Faculty FLC

(Fall 2009 and Spring 2010)
Salary supplements available for FLC members who choose to continue with projects in Spring 2010.

This FLC is open to all new-to-Metro State (first-year) full-time faculty, either tenure-track or visiting. Whether you are newly out of graduate school in your first full-time position or pursuing a career change, your appointment at Metro State marks a significant turning point in your professional life. The contours and demands of academic life are rapidly changing, and the choices available or in many cases thrust upon you;can be overwhelming. This FLC will support your transition into your new professional role as teacher, scholar, and developing campus leader. Beyond sharing strategies in each of the categories of evaluation (teaching, professional development, advising, and service), we will also work broadly toward goals to advance your career objectives.

Specifically, we will

Work to bring self-awareness and intentionality to the practices that make up your work;
Help one-another negotiate through the policies, procedures, and culture of Metro State;
Build community and expand networking; and
Lay the foundation for a seamless and successful reappointment, tenure, and promotion (RTP) process.

The following texts, distributed at new-faculty orientation, will serve as the primary resources for this FLC:

“Academic Advising Syllabus: Advising as Teaching in Action.” NACADA Pocket Guide Series, 2007.
Bain, Ken (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Blumberg, Phyllis (2009). Developing Learner-centered Teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Boyer, Ernest L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Members of this FLC who attend through the fall semester (dates indicated below) will be eligible for a $500 salary supplement, payable at the end of spring semester 2010, in exchange for implementing a project or change plan informed by the readings and discussions of the FLC. Recipients of the salary supplement will also meet at least twice (dates TBD) during the spring semester.

Fall semester gatherings of this FLC will be at the Center for Faculty Development on the following dates and times (all Fridays):

8/21, 9-11am
9/11, 9-11am
10/2, 9-11am
10/16, 9-11am
11/6, 9-11am
11/13, 9-11am
12/4, 9-11am

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Community-based Learning (CBL) FLC

(Fall 2009 and Spring 2010)
Mini-grants available

Metro State has articulated a commitment to community and civic engagement. The classroom is one starting point in moving the College toward this goal. Members of this Faculty Learning Community (FLC) cohort will work together to deepen their understanding of community-based learning (CBL) and to develop or enhance their individual engaged courses. Faculty at all levels of development/experience with community engagement are encouraged to apply. Resources from the Center for Faculty Development and the Center for Urban Connections will be made available to assist faculty in both (re)designing their courses and pursuing community partnerships. The objectives of this FLC are:

To define course learning objectives suitable for a CBL experience.
To develop or expand a reciprocal partnership that both optimizes student learning and corresponds to the long-term interests of the community partner.
To design learning activities and assessment methods that align with objectives 1 & 2.

Community-based Learning FLC participants will end the year with a CBL course ready to offer in Fall 2010.

Participants will be paid a salary supplement ($500), in return for which they will be expected to attend the FLC meetings (missing no more than one) and developing a CBL course that aligns with the FLC objectives.

Gatherings of this FLC will be at the Center for Urban Connections (Tivoli 243) or at the Center for Faculty Development (AU-014), depending on the topic at hand, on the following dates and times (all Thursdays):

9/10, 2:30-4:30pm
9/17, 11:00-1pm, for a Webinar by Barbara Jacoby. Room TBD.
9/24, 2:30-4:30pm
10/8, 2:30-4:30pm
10/22, 2:30-4:30pm
11/5, 2:30-4:30pm
11/19, 2:30-4:30pm
1/28, 2:30-4:30pm
2/18, 2:30-4:30pm
3/11, 2:30-4:30pm
4/15, 2:30-4:30pm

A rough outline of topics includes:

Intro: What is CBL? What are its benefits? Mapping out Our Goals and Activities
Models of CBL (e.g., partnership model, consulting model, optional model, etc)
Existing Examples of CBL at Metro
Integrating CBL into Curriculum: Course Goals, Reflection, Discussion
Establishing Meaningful Connections with Community Partners
Facilitating Critical Reflection
Classroom Culture Community Culture in CBL
Addressing CBL Challenges
Syllabus Development
Outcome Evaluation of CBL: Assessing Student Learning and Community Response

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Difficult Dialogues: Intersectionality in Our Teaching and Professional Lives

(Fall 2009 and Spring 2010)
Salary supplements available.

Because issues of identity are infused with personal experiences and beliefs, it is often difficult to talk about them and even more challenging to teach them. Nevertheless, given our cosmopolitan world, the importance of integrating issues of race, class, gender and sexual orientation into our sphere of understanding and comfort as well as our curriculum is growing. This Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is an opportunity for faculty to work with one another to better understand the issues and approaches as well as develop concrete teaching methods. As a learning community, the group dynamic and collective interest of participants will dictate the contours of the learning that takes place. The facilitators will provide some common material for discussion around power, privilege, difference and intersectionality, but the trajectory of the conversation will be set by participants. The lens of contemporary intersectionality theory frames issues of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia as not isolated forms of oppression, but interrelated and mutually supporting. This is a learning community that is as much about ideas and coming to terms with the language of identity as it is about teaching methodology. The objectives of this FLC are:

To develop an understanding of intersectionality and its place in our professional lives.
To develop, implement, and assess one distinct change to a class, scheduled to be taught in Spring 2010, that is informed by the themes of the FLC.
To cultivate an ability to engage in difficult dialogue with members of the Metro State community.

Participants will be paid a salary supplement ($500), in return for which they will be expected to attend the FLC meetings (missing no more than one) and meet the objectives defined above.

Gatherings of this FLC will be at the Center for Faculty Development on the following dates and times (all Tuesdays):

8/25, 2:30-4:30pm
9/8, 2:30-4:30pm
9/22, 2:30-4:30pm
10/13, 2:30-4:30pm
10/27, 2:30-4:30pm
11/10, 2:30-4:30pm
12/1, 2:30-4:30pm
1/26, 2:30-4:30pm
2/23, 2:30-4:30pm
3/16, 2:30-4:30pm
4/20, 2:30-4:30pm

FLC members may decide, as a group, to attend relevant community events (e.g. MLK Peace Breakfast) instead of or in addition to a regular meeting.

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First Year Success

(Summer and Fall 2009)
Mini-grants available

This FLC is open to faculty (affiliates and full-time) who are scheduled to teach course sections as part of the First Year Success (FYS) program in Fall 2009.
Faculty whose Fall 2009 FYS sections are linked together with a single cohort of students are invited to join this FLC as pairs and will be given priority in selection.
Among the goals of the FYS program is to provide students with learning experiences proven to aid in the transition to college. In support of these goals, the objectives of this FLC are

To design integrated learning experiences (learning communities) across linked sections,
To leverage FYS resources (small class sizes; supplemental instructors; co-curricular opportunities) in the promotion of student learning, and
To design course sections and learning experiences suitable for the learning styles and aptitudes of first-year students.

This FLC is designed with the philosophy that all faculty teaching FYS course sections should approach their classes mindful of both the program goals of FYS and the particularities of teaching first year students.

Participants will be paid a stipend ($500), in return for which they must commit to attending the meetings (missing no more than one) and developing a course that aligns with the FLC objectives.

FLC meetings will be held at the Center for Faculty Development on the following dates and times:

July 14, noon-2pm
August 4, noon-2pm
September 8, 4:15-6pm
October 13, 4:15-6pm
November 10, 4:15-6pm
December 8, 4:15-6pm

Course (re)design FLC

(Spring 2009)

This FLC will include Metro State teaching faculty (full-time, visiting, and affiliates) interested either in designing a new course from scratch or in redesigning an existing course. Some examples of course redesign include, but are not limited to, turning an on-campus course into an online course, using instructional technology to enhance learning, incorporating service learning or research projects into a course, incorporating problem-based learning, or developing active learning opportunities.

The FLC will meet for one hour every other week in the Spring semester for a total of 6 meetings. Members of the FLC will assist each other on aspects of course (re)design that arise in our discussions and that pertain to your specific projects. The group will be facilitated by Mark Potter, Director of the Center for Faculty Development.

Outcomes from the FLC will include a course (re)design ready to implement, a plan to assess the course (re)design, and demonstrated understanding of a range of pedagogical options that will enhance student learning in your course.

This community will gather for discussion on the following Fridays from noon to 1pm: 1/30, 2/13, 2/27, 3/13, 4/3, and 4/17.

Space is limited, and selection of applicants will be made with the goal of balancing disciplines, faculty experience, and course (re)design projects. If you are interested in joining this FLC, please email Mark Potter (mpotte10@mscd.edu) by January 20, 2009 the following information: Your department, your faculty status (tenured, tenure-track, visiting, affiliate), the course you're interested in (re)designing, what changes you're considering making (if it's a course you've already taught), and when you intend to teach the course next.