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 (TaLT)
The TaLT initiative begins with a learning community, composed of students and faculty, that will work together to identify ways to gain back what we have lost in terms of connection-building and mentorship. This work is in part of Eastern Michigan University's strategic commitment to prioritize student-centered learning and academic success. If interested in learning about this project's mission and meeting the members of this learning community, read more here.
Student-Instructor Partnerships in Clinical Education Learning Community
During the 2022-23 academic year, the FDC hosted a learning community called Teaching and Learning Together that aimed to develop and nurture partnerships between students and faculty on EMU’s campus. For the 2023-24 academic year, the FDC returns with a second learning community, this one focused solely on clinical education and student-clinical educator partnerships.
Mini Grants to Support Student Wellness
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the Mini-Grants to Support Student Wellness for the Summer & Fall 2023 semesters. Here at the FDC, we believe that small adjustments to our teaching aimed at helping students build their strength and confidence can enable us to focus more on teaching course material, and on fostering intellectual engagement and curiosity, rather than spending so much time addressing students who are struggling with their wellbeing.
Summer Book Discussion: Small Teaching
Join Jeffrey Bernstein and Ann Blakeslee in a three-part discussion series surrounding the book Small Teaching, 2nd ed., by James M. Lang. In this book, Lang delves into strategies of small change that can be used to enhance student learning experiences. Readers will learn how to help students excel at retrieving knowledge from memory and make meaningful connections to course content, and how to build community and motivation in your classroom.
FDC Program Proposal Recipients
We are pleased to announce the program funding recipients for the summer and fall 2023 semesters! Each semester, we seek proposals for sustained learning communities or seminars, or for a more involved series of workshops, or for hosting a significant one-time event (such as bringing in a prominent speaker). Our budget provides funding for such activities, and we are grateful to the Office of the Provost for their generous supplement to this funding.
Textbook Affordability Workshop Series
This three-part Textbook Affordability workshop series, hosted by the Faculty Development Center and facilitated by Kate Pittsley-Sousa, Julia Nims, and Sara Memmott, hopes to encourage, assist, and develop skills in EMU instructors related to the adoption of free or more affordable course materials.
Engaging Jewish Studies at EMU
The Faculty Development Center and the EMU Center for Jewish Studies would like to invite you to apply for this seminar, which will bring together interested faculty and lecturers to develop EMU’s curricular offerings in Jewish Studies and to support faculty research on topics involving some Jewish Studies component. Topics convered will include ways to integrate insights and examples from the field of Jewish Studies to your research and teaching.
Disability is Diversity: Accessibility Change Agents Learning Community
The Disability is Diversity: Accessibility Change Agents Learning Community, facilitated by Dr. Audrey Farrugia, will bring together a group of educators to explore topics around providing accessibility for students with documented or undocumented disabilities in order to work towards creating universal design for learning on our campus. Participants in this learning community will work to become change agents and begin or continue disability accessibility work in their home colleges or departments.
Our Amazing Faculty
Jennifer Felts, Professor in the School of Communication, Media & Theatre Arts
Jennifer Felts, Professor in the School of Communication, Media & Theatre Arts
“Felts brings her huge personality to every class and makes the subject engaging from day one. Drama and Play in the Human Experience is a class that is so specific to Eastern and is one you don't see at many other schools. Taking this class with Felts presents the unlikely yet perfect opportunity to learn more about yourself and how your experiences shape you.”