Author: Laura Portwood-Stacer When attempting to publish an academic book, it can feel as if so many factors are beyond your control. Will an acquiring editor like your book idea? Will it take them forever to get back to you? Will peer reviewers understand and support the intervention you’re trying to make? What if they … Read more
Summer has a way of creating big expectations. By the end of the spring semester, it’s easy to imagine finally having time to focus on the work that has been pushed aside for months. By August, many faculty find themselves wondering where the time went. The summer wasn’t wasted; in fact, most people stayed busy. … Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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