Welcome to the Faculty Development Center (FDC)
The Faculty Development Center provides a centralized place to support the teaching of all EMU faculty, lecturers, teaching GAs, and student success staff. The FDC promotes excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarly activities in accordance with the core values of respect, inclusiveness, care, and commitment. The Center grounds itself in awareness and support for cultural diversity and community-building.
Resources and Services
Happenings at the Faculty Development Center
Collaborative Course (Re)Design Learning Community
- Applications due Wednesday, August 27 @ 4 PM
- Open to Faculty & Lecturers
- Learning community of faculty-student pairs working together collaboratively to redesign portions of a course that you want to update and improve
Instructional Partnerships Learning Community
- Applications are due by Wednesday, August 27 @ 4 PM
- Open to Faculty & Lecturers
- One semester learning community including pairs of faculty and their student partners who will serve as their instructional partner for a class of their choosing
Student-Centered Online Teaching & Learning Pedagogies Learning Community
- Applications are due August 31 @ 5 PM
- Open to Faculty & Lecturers
- Learning community focused on research-based best practices in student-centered online teaching and learning pedagogies that promote Instructional Effectiveness
Creating Digital Narratives for Individual, Community, and Institutional Change
- Applications due by September 5
- Open to Students, Faculty & Staff
- Utilizing Participatory Action Research (PAR) and digital storytelling methodologies, this project brings together people at EMU to connect with one another and help the broader campus reflect on how to create a Culture of Caring
Community Building: National Ampersand Day
- Monday, September 8 @ 3:30 PM
- Open to everyone!
- Join us for ampersandish food (such as chips & dip, cake & ice cream, cheese & crackers), board games (such as Chutes & Ladders), fun videos (such as Abbott & Costello), and lovely music (featuring artists such as Hall & Oates, Brooks & Dunn, Simon & Garfunkel).
What’s the Scoop on the New Tutoring Program?
- Monday, September 29 @ 3:30 - 5:00
- Open to all Instructional Staff
- Ice cream social where you can meet EMU’s new team of tutors and supplemental instruction leaders and discover simple, effective ways to encourage your students to take advantage of these services
Research Writers' Collaborative
- Thursdays through the fall semester @ 11 AM - 12:30 PM on Zoom
- Open to Faculty, Lecturers, and Staff
- An opportunity for EMU folks to support each other while achieving realistic writing goals
Guest Speaker Event: Kevin Gannon
- Monday, September 15 through Wednesday, September 17, 2025
- Open to everyone
- The FDC and the Office of the Provost are excited to announce that Kevin Gannon, author of Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto, will be visiting EMU!
- During his time here, Gannon will spend time with various members of our community, and facilitate two events that we invite you to attend: (1) a workshop on radical hope; and (2) a talk about general education
Teach Well, Be Well: The SUSTAIN Learning Community
- Monthly Friday meetings during fall semester @ 10 - 11:15 AM
- Open to Administrators, Faculty, Graduate Students, Lecturers & Staff
- A high-impact, low-time-commitment space for higher education professionals to engage in reflective practice, cultivate resilience, and align personal well-being with their academic mission
Finding External Funding with EMU ORDA
- September 22 & October 23
- Open to Administrators, Faculty, Lecturers, Staff, and Graduate Students
- Learn about GrantForward, ORDA proposal submission processes, and strategies for how to determine which grants are worth pursuing, and how to pursue them
Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity Showcase
- Tuesday, October 21@ 3 - 5 PM
- Open to everyone
- Celebrate scholarship, projects, and creative activities recently completed, or currently being pursued, by EMU faculty and lecturers
Internal Research Awards
- Multiple dates in October
- Open to tenured or tenure-track Faculty
- Series of workshops designed to help those applying for Summer Research Awards or Sabbatical Leaves
2026 CONNECT Conference
- Conference Date: Friday, February 13, 2026
- Proposals due Monday, November 17, 2025 @ 5 PM
- Open to Faculty, Lecturers, Staff & Students
- Register to attend or present at the annual the CONNECT: Michigan Teaching & Learning Conference. This years conference is in collaboration with our local community college partners, including Henry Ford, Oakland, Schoolcraft, Washtenaw, and Wayne.
Spotlights
Dr. Chris Gellasch, Professor of Geology and Environmental Science
Dr. Chris Gellasch, Professor of Geology and Environmental Science
Nominate a Spotlight
Partnership Spotlights highlight student-faculty partnerships on campus. If you are interested in being featured in a Partnership Spotlight or know of a student-faculty pairing worth highlighting, please complete the short form below. To view previous Partnership Spotlights, click here.
Teaching Spotlights highlight lecturers and faculty from a variety of departments. If you know of an instructor that is worth highlights, please complete the short form below. To view previous Teaching Spotlights, please click here.