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.
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.
Our online conference program (in progress) is now live! You can view it here.
Our online conference program (in progress) is now live! You can view it here.
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.
Playing Around with Generative AI
Join Professors Raed El-Jarrah and Christine Clark for a hands-on session to explore generative AI and reach your own conclusions about its affordances and constraints. What can it do? What can it not do? How can you work with it to enhance what you do in the classroom? This will take place Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 2:30 PM at 109B Halle or Zoom. We will repeat this program early next semester for those who are unable to make it to this session.
Developing Gen-Ed Course Proposals
Join Gen-Ed Director, John Koolage and will also feature faculty who have successfully navigated this process. Participants will learn about the expectations and requirements for Gen Ed proposals and workshop ideas for creating new courses or revising existing ones. This will take place Thursday, November 30, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM in 109B Halle. Register here.
2024 CONNECT Conference
The 2024 CONNECT Conference will take place on Friday, February 9th. Join us to learn about what your colleagues are doing, to share your own insights on this work we share, and to think deeply about how we can be better at what we do when we do it together. We are especially excited to have Peter Felten join us to talk about the importance of relationships in higher education. Please consider attending, and consider submitting a proposal to share your ideas with others. We look forward to CONNECTing with you at the conference!
2024 Mini-Grants Winners
The FDC is happy to announce the 2024 Student Wellness Mini-Grant Winners. Each mini-grant awards faculty up to $250 and works to both support student well-being and to educate our community on the positive impact that these wellness practices can have on our students. Thank you so much to everyone who applied, and we hope to see you in our next round of Mini-Grants. Click here to see the winners.
Working on Applying for Sabbaticals and Faculty Research Fellowships
The Faculty Development Center strives to support EMU faculty in their applications for Faculty Research Fellowships (FRF) and Sabbaticals by hosting workshops focusing on helping you write a strong proposal. Facillitators Alexis Braun Marks and Natalie Dove will be helping attendees with the application process while giving strategies for writing a proposal. You will be able to recieve feedback from peers and the presenters as well as the opportunity to recieve feedback from those outside of your field!
Our Amazing Faculty
Michelle Belt, Part-Time Lecturer of Interior Design
Michelle Belt, Part-Time Lecturer of Interior Design
"Michelle is one of the most selfless and compassionate professors I have ever had. Her eagerness to inspire students and develop their passion for interior design is a quality I have always greatly admired while being in her classes. She is truly a remarkable and highly intelligent person who has impacted me on my journey toward success as a student in more ways than I can count."