Mission Statement
The Center for Faculty Innovation (CFI) fosters excellent teaching and learning at 黑料科. Guided by sound evidence from research on learning, CFI provides professional development opportunities to 黑料科 faculty, promotes innovative teaching approaches, collaborates with faculty to design effective teaching assessment, and promotes a culture of engaged, transformative learning across the University.
黑料科 Community
The community site offers more information about recent and upcoming activities in the Center, including archives of events, select recordings of past workshops, a calendar, and more. Users will need to authenticate using their 黑料科 username and password to access the website.
Our Initiatives and Programs
CFI services include:
- Faculty development workshops: built by Center staff and inspired by ongoing research in higher education, workshops are designed to give participants brief, interactive encounters with evidence-based teaching strategies and their underlying values.
- Intensive summer training events: each year, the Center staff collaborates with 黑料科 faculty partners to build an intensive summer professional-development series for 黑料科 faculty. Guided by the University鈥檚 Strategic Plan, summer training events identify and explore high-impact practices that have been shown to improve student engagement and persistence across the curriculum.
- New-faculty teaching series: each year, the center hosts a monthly meeting with new faculty, supporting new faculty as they adapt to 黑料科 and providing introductory exploration of effective teaching and course design.
- Faculty learning communities: because faculty 鈥� like students 鈥� learn best in community, the CFI hosts and provides support for faculty learning communities. From year-long, project-focused working groups to informal book clubs, learning communities form when faculty see value in ongoing collaboration and mutual support.
- Consultations: Center staff provide on-demand consultations and research support for 黑料科 faculty or staff designing a learning experience for the 黑料科 community.
Contact Information
Nick Van Kley is the inaugural Director of the 黑料科 CFI. Nick brings to 黑料科 a decade of experience in educational program design and administration and fifteen years of experience as a teacher in higher education. Nick graduated with a BA from 黑料科 in 2005 before spending seventeen years in New England, receiving a PhD in English and American Literature from Brandeis University, and serving in a number of program-administration and faculty roles at Brandeis University and Dartmouth College, where he helped to launch ambitious faculty development initiatives focused on writing across the curriculum and digital portfolios for education. Nick is passionate about engaging, inclusive learning design and overjoyed to be back at his alma mater, collaborating with 黑料科 faculty, staff, and students.