Faculty Professional Development (FPDI)

Faculty Professional Development Initiative (FPDi)

Click here to learn more about FPDi.

Columbus State Community College recognizes that the faculty of the College are among its most valuable resources. To successfully provide high-quality education to students and embrace the concept of continuous improvement, it is important to support faculty in their endeavor for professional excellence. The Faculty Professional Development Initiative (FPDi) was created with the purpose of ensuring the availability of resources and opportunities for faculty growth, encouraging collaboration, and supporting innovation in education. FPDi is led by Faculty Fellows Reuel Barksdale, Lydia Gilmore, Elizabeth Hammond, Elycia Taylor, and Dean of Digital Education & Instructional Services (DEIS), Dr. Tom Erney and Instructional Designer, Rini Saha.

This initiative focuses on exploring, implementing, and evaluating the principles and practices of Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL) and concentrates on these Tracks (major areas of instruction): Critical Thinking; Student Success in Higher Education; Alternative Assessment; Leveraging Teaching with Technology; and Student Conduct. The Critical Thinking workshops are run by Mark Bocija and the Technology workshops are run by DEIS Faculty Fellows Ann Palazzo and Jane Roberts. The initiative is housed in the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CT 339 Cleveland Ave).

See a list of our workshops and to register for the workshops, go to CougarConnect. Search for “FPDI” in the search box.

Structure of FPDi and ACL

Each department already has a professional development (PD) committee to monitor department professional development funds. Under the new PD plan, these committees will also be used to create department PD plans. All faculty--tenure-track, ACF, and adjunct--may serve on these committees and contribute to the department PD plans. One faculty member from each department will serve on the college-wide PD Advisory Group. The department PD plans will address traditional, web, and blended modalities. Faculty will determine the extent and use of ACL in their departments, forming a plan about how faculty can benefit from college-wide ACL trainings as well from the knowledge of their own "faculty experts.” The department PD plans will be aligned with annual appraisal, teaching observation, and tenure and promotion processes.

In addition to the academic department professional development process, FPDi will offer a centralized series of ACL learning modules in understanding and applying ACL strategies in their classrooms.