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
Teaching Spotlights
Read about our newest teaching spotlight and those from this past year. If you know an EMU instructor that you'd like to be recognized, consider nominating an outstanding faculty member!
Latest Newsletter
Take some time to read our weekly newsletter Happenings at the Faculty Development Center. Each issue features exciting FDC programming and events, blog posts, and much more.
Teaching Blog
We are excited to host the Teaching Blog as a platform for faculty to share their opinions and outlooks on teaching. Keep an eye out for upcoming entries and check out some of our posts from last year!
Upcoming Events
Stay up-to-date on all the upcoming programs and events that the FDC provides in support of excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarly activities here at Eastern Michigan University.
Happenings at the Faculty Development Center
Teaching and Learning Together
Through the Bruce K. Nelson Faculty Development Center’s new Teaching and Learning Together (TaLT) initiative, we aim to revitalize and institiutionalize student-faculty partnerships in new ways throughout our campus. This fund will help support this initiative and allow for expansions that offer meaningful educational opportunities for students and faculty. Learn more about the TaLT initiative.
Faculty Fellow Positions for GACET and COB
The Faculty Development Center, in conjunction with the GameAbove College of Engineering & Technology and the College of Business, welcomes applications for a one-course release for a Faculty Fellow from both respective colleges for the winter 2024 semester. To learn more about the GACET faculty fellow position, click here. To learn more about the COB faculty position, click here.
Summer Research Awards Workshops
During the fall 2023 semester, Alexis Braun Marks and Natalie Dove will host three sessions for those interested in applying for a summer research award (application deadline for that is October 31, 2023). The purpose of these workshops is to both inform attendees about the application process itself and provide feedback on any materials provided. This series will begin with an information session, followed by two workshops. Both workshops will cover similar material and we invite you to come for either of your choosing. The first session will be particularly useful for those in the humanities.
Flipping the Script Conference
This conference, hosted by the Faculty Development Center, will “Flip the Script” to empower the learners to become the teachers, and the teachers to become the learners. It offers all of us an opportunity for all of us to straddle both worlds, and to grow through that opportunity. The conference itself will take place on Friday, December 1st, 2023.
Research Writers' Collaborative
The Writers’ Collaborative is an annual opportunity for EMU faculty to support each other while achieving realistic writing goals (i.e. developing a conference paper, drafting an article, revising a book chapter, etc.). Giving and getting helpful feedback is also included in this program. This program will meet throughout the fall 2023 semester on Wednesdays from 1-3 PM. Sessions will take place virtually on Zoom.
Incorporating Indigenous Sources and Topics into Your Courses
Please join us for this session, hosted by Eric Hemenway, Director of Repatriation, Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, that will give help educators weave in native history into the classroom, with examples of primary sources, topics and historical events that have significant, native participation. The focus will be on the Anishnaabek of Michigan.
International Virtual Global Learning Workshop
Using a hyflex format, we are inviting 20 EMU faculty for an in-person one-day workshop, as well as virtual faculty participants from international virtual global learning networks. This international workshop will a) introduce new strategies and tools for virtual global learning, and b) give EMU faculty access to networks of international faculty they could collaborate with to integrate global exchanges and learning in their courses.
A Campus for diverse minds: Supporting Neurodiverse Students
Join us for this seminar, facilitated by Dr. Sally Burton-Hoyle, that focuses on inclusive resources to meet a wide range of needs in relation to neurodiversity in the university setting. Takes place October 18 @ 9:30-11 AM in 109B Halle or through Zoom.
Academic Leadership Community of Practice
Are you an EMU faculty or staff member interested in exploring academic leadership? Do you want to develop leadership skills to support any position you're in? If yes, the Academic Leadership Community of Practice (AL-CoP) may be a great opportunity for you to join! This new CoP will be facilitated by Julia Heck (University Ombuds in the Office of Ombuds), Andrea Zakrajsek (Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services), and Jeffrey Bernstein (Director of the Faculty Development Center and Professor of Political Science) this upcoming year.
Soup with Substance: Allyship
Join our new coordinator of the LGBT Resource Center, Emma Wuetrich, for discussion over a light soup lunch. This will be a roundtable to dialogue about our queer students and what allyship looks like in and outside the classroom. This event will take place on Wednesday, October 25th from 12:30-1:30 PM in 109B Halle or on Zoom.
Our Amazing Faculty
Rotesa Baker, Part-Time Lecturer, Leadership and Counseling
Rotesa Baker, Part-Time Lecturer, Leadership and Counseling
“Professor Baker is student-centered. She is passionate about counseling and about teaching, and she nurtures a passion for counseling in her students. She loves to teach and is happy to take on additional teaching assignments. She does an admirable job of respecting the stated objectives of a course and differentiating her instruction for the particular abilities, interests, and needs of students. She balances high expectations with a humanistic, empathetic approach. Students respond well to her. Professor Baker is responsive, kind, and approachable."