Faculty Development Programs
City Tech faculty development activities will be headquartered at the college’s Faculty Commons: A Center for Teaching, Learning and Scholarship. The center will operate as a faculty think tank, a place where faculty members can collaborate (with other faculty members, staff members and students) on projects that will shape the City Tech curriculum for years to come. Competitive Faculty Commons Fellowships will support both projects that address discipline-specific curricula and projects that enhance and connect existing programs such as the learning communities program, the general education core text program, the e-portfolio program, the honors program, and the writing across the curriculum program.
Commons Fellowships and other faculty collaborations will lead to on-campus faculty development seminars and off-campus retreats designed to strengthen City Tech’s community of teachers and scholars. They will also lead to college-wide curricular and pedagogical innovation, which will enable the City Tech faculty to better serve populations underrepresented in American higher education, populations who constitute the majority of City Tech students.
In a college of technology, the relationship between teaching and research provides fruitful ground for development. Many City Tech faculty members come from research institutions. They bring to the college advanced understanding of new disciplinary directions and of related opportunities for students. Their research skills can benefit the college in two ways: through educational enhancement and grant-seeking. The connection between these two areas requires planned development to strike a balance between City Tech’s educational mission and growth as a professional institution.
With input from faculty, through its representative body, the Professional Development Advisory Council (PDAC), the Provost, the Dean of Instruction and Curriculum, and the CUE Director will coordinate the professional development activities at the Faculty Commons and, in conjunction with the Grants Office, will pursue external support.
