Faculty Learning Communities

What are faculty learning communities?

A faculty learning community (FLC) is a group of faculty and professionals from various disciplines who meet over a defined period of time. The specific purpose of each FLC varies, but they all are based on the premise that the opportunity to work together in a supportive and collaborative environment contributes to successful faculty and staff development. FLC's can be topic or cohort based. Topic-based communities allow a group of faculty to explore their mutual interest in a specific area. Cohort-based communities focus on the unique needs of faculty and staff at a specific stage of their career or in certain roles (academic advisor, department chair, etc.). The learning community approach to faculty development is more structured, long-lasting and goal-oriented than brown bag discussions, book clubs and workshops. Learning communities are also small and flexible to the needs of their members. Perhaps most importantly, learning communities are a grassroots way to meet a wide variety of needs and interests.

Each learning community requires at least one member to serve as the facilitator of that group. The facilitator’s job is to help the community meet its objectives through scheduling meetings, retreats, and other events, selecting readings and other material for discussion, and working with other campus stakeholders involved with faculty development to help assess the effectiveness of their faculty learning community.

For more general information about FLC's visit the following website: http://www.units.muohio.edu/flc/index.php.

Why do we have faculty learning communities at Brockport?

As reported in its May 2006 report, the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Faculty Development found that many faculty and staff report feeling isolated and disconnected from their peers outside of their department. The primary goal of the FLC program is to address this sense of isolation. FLC's also address President Halstead’s initiative of “career span professional development for faculty.” While the cohort model obviously accomplishes this initiative, the topic model gives faculty at various stages of their career a way to meet their needs. For example, FLC's for faculty going up for tenure or full professorship can be proposed. FLC's decentralize faculty development thus helping faculty and staff take ownership over their professional development in a way that programs run directly by CELT and other departments cannot.

Faculty Learning Communities and Facilitators

2013-2014:
"The Flipped Classroom: Best Practices and Strategies for Implementation and Assessment" – Laurie Cook (Biology)
"Student-Faculty Collaborative Research" – Denise Copelton (Sociology)
"Integrative Learning of Global Perspectives" – Eric Kaldor (Sociology)
"New Faculty" – Michael Ray (Health Science)
"Hybrid Teaching and Learning" – Jie Zhang (Education & Human Development)

2012-2013:
"Chaos" – Gabriel Prajitura (Mathematics)
"GIS" – Jim Zollweg (Earth Science)
"Mid & Late Career" – Celia Watt (Health Science)
"New Faculty" – Jessica Sniatecki (Health Science)

2011-2012:
"The Sustainability Imperative: Investigating Approaches to Integrating Sustainability within the Brockport Curriculum" – James Cordeiro (Business Administration & Economics)
"Bringing Classes Alive with Case Studies" – Dale Hartnett (Communication)
"Maximizing the Student Internship/Practicum Experience" – Heidi Byrne (Kinesiology Sport Studies & Physical Education)
"New Faculty Learning Community" – Holly Perry (Recreation & Leisure Studies)

2010-2011:
"Large Classes" – Craig Mattern (Kinesiology Sport Studies & Physical Education)
"Student Leadership" – Lauren Lieberman (Kinesiology Sport Studies & Physical Education)
"Popular Culture" – Merrill Melnick (Kinesiology Sport Studies & Physical Education)
"Technology and Comprehension" – Pat Maxwell (Drake Library)
"New Faculty" – Jason Morris (Mathematics)

2009-2010:
"Conducting Qualitative Research and Analyzing Descriptive Data" – Douglas Feldman (Anthropology)
"Online Blended Learning: An FLC for Faculty of All Levels of Experience" – Pamela Haibach (Kinesiology, Sport Studies, & Physical Education)
"Exploring Service Learning" – Dale Hartnett (Communication)
"Dialogue on Diversity" – Chris Price (CELT Director)

2008-2009:
"Using Research as a Teaching Tool" – Jason Dauenhauer (Social Work)
"Writing College Textbooks" – Amy Guptill (Sociology/Delta College)
"Active Learning" – Dawn Jones (Mathematics)
"Quantitative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences" – Celia Watt (Health Science)