It’s Dins Day!

Celebrate our 12th annual Dins Day on April 28th by making a donation of $5 or more to the FDC’s Beverly Osborne Williams Teaching Partnerships Fund. Now in its third of five years of development, the fund provides faculty, academic staff, and students with meaningful opportunities for collaborative teaching, learning, and professional growth. 

The fund honors Executive Director Diane Boyd’s mother, Beverly Williams, who invested 43 years as a public-school educator, fulfilling her calling to support transformative learning for thousands of primary school students. Beverly worked with children across the full spectrum of ability—as a Title 1 reading teacher, a gifted classroom teacher, and a Special Education provider. Throughout her career, she championed educational equity, worked to close achievement gaps, and regularly welcomed student teachers into her classroom, co-creating the kind of feedback-rich exchanges that foster a lifelong love of learning. 

The Beverly Osborne Williams Teaching Partnerships Fund carries forward that collaborative spirit through three FDC initiatives: 

• The SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) Scholars Program 

• The Peer Coaching Program 

• The Students as Pedagogical Partners Program, which supports faculty in the Enhanced Teaching Fellows Program as they mentor and co-design with students in course planning, in-class facilitation, assignment design, and small-group leadership. 

This year, an anonymous donor has pledged to match early gifts up to $1,000—and we’re working toward a goal of 43 unique donors, one for each year of Beverly’s service. An anonymous donor will match $1 for $1 up to $1,000 for those who make an early Dins Day gift to the Faculty Development Center (Beverly Osborne Williams Teaching Fund). Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us reach that milestone. 

To give, visit our donation link by April 28. Select “Make Your Gift Early,” complete the form, and search for “Beverly Osborne Williams Teaching Partnerships Fund (Faculty Development Center)” in the Designation field.