Kim Cotzias 
There are plenty of ways to spend more time on teaching. You can add another reading, create another resource, leave more comments on student work, redesign a lecture, answer email late into the evening, or add another office hour. Some of that work may help students. Some of it may simply add more to your … Read more
Author: NCFDD Artificial intelligence has become a regular part of conversations about productivity in higher education. From drafting emails to organizing research materials, AI tools offer opportunities to complete certain tasks more efficiently. For faculty balancing teaching, research, service, and administrative responsibilities, the possibility of getting some time back is appealing. Yet the relationship between … Read more
For faculty, one of the most immediate questions raised by generative AI is also one of the most familiar: How do I know what my students actually learned? That question has always been central to assessment, but AI has changed some of the evidence faculty have traditionally relied on to answer it. A polished essay, … Read more
Author: NCFDD Research funding can shape what faculty are able to study, build, test, and bring into the world. Yet pursuing funding is often added to an already full academic workload. Faculty are expected to identify opportunities, interpret funder priorities, develop competitive proposals, build collaborations, and respond to rejection. For researchers trying to build a … Read more
Finding a research funding opportunity that seems relevant to your work can create an immediate sense of possibility. The topic fits. The award could support something important. The deadline is close enough that applying feels realistic. But relevance alone does not make an opportunity worth pursuing. Faculty often have to decide whether a proposal is … Read more
Author: NCFDD At the beginning of a semester, it can be relatively easy to see where you want your time to go. You may have a manuscript you want to finish, a research project you want to move forward, or a professional goal you have been meaning to make room for. Before the semester fills … Read more
Authors: Carlton E. Green & Jazmin P. Pichardo Faculty are teaching in a moment when political violence, campus protests, and polarized public discourse regularly enter the classroom. Students and colleagues turn to faculty as trusted educators and mentors to help make sense of what has happened. What faculty do with that trust shapes both learning … Read more
Author: NCFDD A promising funding opportunity can take over your calendar remarkably fast. One call looks like a strong fit. The deadline is six weeks away. Suddenly, your research funding strategy is the proposal due six weeks from now. That kind of focus can be useful. Grants require concentrated attention. But when every funding decision … Read more
Author: NCFDD Faculty leadership roles often come with an unusual expectation: learn the job once you have it. A faculty member may spend years building expertise as a researcher, teacher, mentor, and colleague. Then they become a department chair, program director, center director, associate dean, or another academic leader. Almost overnight, the work changes. They … Read more
Author: Jennifer Henry, Launch Program Manager, University of Michigan Starting a faculty position is exciting—and overwhelming. New assistant professors are expected to quickly learn the “hidden curriculum” of academia: how things really work in their department, how to build networks across campus, how to navigate expectations for research, teaching, and service, and where to find … Read more