Resources (Blog Post)

Faculty Development at Research Universities: What UTRGV’s Experience Reveals

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UTRGV faculty development case study

Author: NCFDD Faculty development has become a growing priority at research universities as expectations around scholarship, mentoring, leadership, teaching, and research productivity continue expanding across higher education. Many institutions already offer substantial professional development resources for faculty. Workshops, mentoring opportunities, writing support, leadership programming, and wellness initiatives often exist across multiple offices and departments. The … Read more

How AI Is Expanding Faculty Roles and Expectations

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ai faculty higher education

For many faculty, conversations about AI in higher education initially centered on teaching. How should instructors respond when students use generative AI tools in assignments? What belongs in the classroom? What policies are reasonable? What counts as ethical use? Over time, though, those conversations have expanded well beyond classroom policy. Faculty are now navigating questions … Read more

Why Academic Writing Productivity Breaks Down in the Summer

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Faculty member working on academic writing projects during the summer

Many faculty enter summer expecting academic writing productivity to return once the semester ends. Instead, summer often becomes a period of fragmented attention, stalled projects, and inconsistent writing routines. One reason is that academic writing productivity depends heavily on continuity. Momentum is easier to maintain than rebuild. When writing becomes sporadic, faculty spend substantial time … Read more

How to Choose the Right Faculty Development Opportunities This Summer

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Faculty reviewing summer faculty development courses for teaching, research funding, and academic writing

Author: NCFDD Summer can feel deceptively open at first. The semester ends, meetings slow down, and many faculty finally have room to think about the projects that have been difficult to sustain during the academic year. Writing goals return to the surface. Research plans that were pushed aside start demanding attention again. Fall teaching preparation … Read more

What Is Faculty Development?

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faculty development in higher education

Faculty development is often described as professional development for faculty. While technically accurate, that definition no longer captures the full scope of what development includes. For many years, faculty development was closely associated with teaching support through workshops, pedagogy training, and instructional resources. Today, the term is used more broadly. Faculty development increasingly refers to … Read more

How to Plan a Productive Summer Without Burning Out

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Faculty member planning summer academic productivity goals for writing and research

As we continue the Summer of Faculty Development series, one thing becomes clear quickly: summer rarely feels as open as faculty expect it to. After a demanding semester, summer can feel like the first real opportunity to make progress on research, writing, course planning, grant work, or professional development. Projects that sat untouched during the … Read more

5 Ways Institutions Can Support Faculty Research Momentum

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academic leaders supporting faculty research productivity and momentum

Faculty research often slows during the semester, even when there is strong commitment and clear goals in place. Teaching, meetings, and administrative responsibilities gradually take priority, leaving less time and energy for sustained research work. This pattern is widely recognized, but the way it is addressed tends to focus on individual strategies. Faculty are encouraged … Read more

Why “Catching Up” on Research Over the Summer Rarely Works

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A faculty member sitting at a desk writing, with an open notebook and coffee, planning summer research goals

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

Why Faculty Feel Behind Before the Semester Even Ends

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academic productivity during busy semester

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

How Faculty Lose Research Momentum (and How to Get It Back)

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faculty member losing momentum

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