We offer several campus-wide Professional Development opportunities throughout the year.
For an up-to-date list of all events related to FurmanFlex instruction, please see here.
Although our recent unexpected move to remote instruction this spring required that we adapt our courses and student engagement opportunities rapidly, we thankfully have more lead-time to invest in the intentional design of hybrid flexible course and research experiences for students for the months ahead. To support the intentional and strategic design of your courses and/or student research experiences, we’ve developed FurmanFlex Learning so that we can journey together as a community to design learning experiences that highlight the unique and transformative value of a Furman education.
Our Lunch & Learn events bring together people from across our community in an informal atmosphere to collaborate and learn from each other. Event topics range from very practical tips for the classroom to more reflective discussions about student support, professional challenges, or the scholarship of teaching and learning. All Lunch & Learns take place in the Trustees Dining Room*. You just need to sign in and spend an hour with us listening to different speakers and sharing ideas.
Information about upcoming Lunch ‘n’ Learn events is forthcoming.
Propose a Lunch ‘n’ Learn for Fall 2020.
*Location subject to change, see our newsletter for updated information.
To meet, dialog, and learn with (and from) our colleagues on campus, the Faculty Development Center hosts periodic Faculty Interest Groups inspired by the group study approach of Roxå and Mårtensson (2009). A faculty interest group (FIG) is an informal faculty-initiated and faculty-led forum that brings together an intentional group of people of mutual interest for approximately one month, although the duration is up to the group. Any faculty member can propose and lead a FIG of a particular topic and every faculty member can participate in a FIG.
Propose a faculty affinity group.
The goals of the First Year @ Furman program are:
The First Year @ Furman program encompasses two central elements:
Click here for programming dates and descriptions for Fall 2020.
The goal of our reading groups is to enable small but sustained communities of scholars at Furman to work together to explore particular problems or themes through established research/literature, with outcomes that might range from new or revised courses to published work inflected by the reading and discussions that have taken place. Are you looking to expand your intellectual horizons through discussion with peers in related disciplines? Ideally, this includes at least 2-4 faculty from at least two departments/programs.
Propose an interdisciplinary reading group.
Each year, during spring study day, the Faculty Development Center facilitates the Furman Learning Exchange, an annual gathering of faculty, instructional staff, and students to exchange teaching and learning strategies, professional development hacks, and research in support of high impact practice in and beyond the classroom.
Details about this event will be posted in early Spring 2021.
This series of engaging professional development short courses is designed to provide space for important but time-consuming collaborative work that is often difficult to accomplish during the busy school year. During each MayX session, we sponsor several opportunities for concentrated professional development activity. Each hands-on, individualized course is designed to facilitate focused, guided activities that allow participants to meet individual goals and objectives. Course participation involves 3-4 concentrated sessions during the MayX term each year.
The Faculty Development Center will be welcoming our new colleagues to Furman University. New Faculty members have the option of participating in-person or remote (meeting details will be sent via email). If you are a new faculty member, please register here and if you have...
According to the AAC&U, liberal education is “an approach to learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. It provides students with broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g. science, culture, and society) as well as in-depth study in...
What do you do when a classroom discussion gets out of hand, or a student makes a derogatory comment in an online discussion board? How do you navigate group assignments when course members have substantial personal conflict? How do you respond when a student becomes...