Kim Cotzias 
Author: NCFDD In this Summer of Faculty Development blog series, we keep coming back to one plan most faculty have made at some point: using the summer to catch up on research. By the end of the semester, the list is usually long. A manuscript that stalled. A proposal that needs more than a light … Read more
Author: NCFDD Academic productivity often feels hardest to sustain late in the semester. If you’ve caught yourself thinking, “I thought I’d be further along by now,” you’re not alone. As the semester moves into its later weeks, with deadlines and end-of-term demands starting to stack up, many faculty start to notice a gap between what … Read more
Author: NCFDD There’s a point in the semester when research starts to feel harder to return to. Not because the work isn’t important, and not because you’ve run out of ideas. More often, it’s because too much time has passed since the last meaningful step forward. What once felt like steady progress now feels stalled, … Read more
Author: NCFDD Faculty support systems are central to research productivity, mentoring continuity, academic leadership development, and long term faculty retention strategies. Any effective faculty development strategy depends on them functioning reliably across departments and career stages. The State of Faculty Development 2026 findings suggest that while many institutions have formal support systems in place, a … Read more
Author: Elizabeth Odders-White, PhD We all know how challenging life in academia can be, and it seems to get harder every year. The intense and varied demands lead to constant juggling, which can leave us feeling that we’re not doing anything well. Unhelpful stories like this further escalate our stress, setting off a vicious cycle. … Read more
Author: NCFDD For many faculty, Monday begins in reaction mode. Emails pile up. Meetings take over the calendar. Urgent requests quickly set the tone for the week. By Wednesday, it’s easy to feel busy without being sure what actually moved forward. This is where faculty weekly planning makes a difference. Highly productive faculty don’t necessarily … Read more
For many years, faculty development was positioned as enrichment. Valuable, but optional. Helpful, but not central. Something institutions offered to support individual growth rather than to sustain core academic functions. Findings from the State of Faculty Development 2026 survey suggest that framing no longer reflects faculty reality. Increasingly, faculty describe professional development as necessary support … Read more
Author: NCFDD Academic careers have always involved a degree of uncertainty. But for many faculty, the current environment feels especially difficult to navigate. Funding landscapes shift. Leadership changes. Expectations expand. Priorities move quickly. As a result, many faculty are asking a practical question: how do you maintain research productivity and steady progress in an academic … Read more
Author: NCFDD Balancing teaching and research during the semester is one of the most persistent challenges faculty face. Many begin the term with clear research goals, only to find their schedules quickly filled with course preparation, grading, meetings, and student support. As teaching responsibilities expand, research time often becomes harder to protect. Without intentional planning, … Read more
Author: NCFDD Faculty support systems are central to research productivity, mentoring continuity, academic leadership development, and long term faculty retention strategies. Any effective faculty development strategy depends on them functioning reliably across departments and career stages. The State of Faculty Development 2026 findings suggest that while many institutions have formal support systems in place, a … Read more