Modality: P (in person)
UCF Summer Faculty Development Institute
The UCF Summer Faculty Development Institute returned May 5-7, 2025, providing faculty members with opportunities to learn about UCF initiatives and to work on transforming specific courses and teaching practices to improve student learning and success.
You can view the Agenda here.
Following are descriptions of the separate tracks involved in the event.
FCTL Track: Revisiting Student Engagement: Strategies for a Changing Educational Landscape
Nationally, faculty report waning attention spans, declining motivation, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning behaviors and mental health. They seek new ways to engage students. Our theme explores practical, research-based strategies to re-engage students by addressing the realities of today’s students, their learning behaviors, and their learning environments. Topics will include fostering self-regulated learning skills, designing activities to capture and sustain attention, and building connections that reach all students, including those who may feel disconnected or overwhelmed. We will also explore ways to use AI tools appropriately to support creativity and critical thinking while preparing students for tomorrow’s workplace. Mental health concerns will be another key focus, with sessions addressing how to recognize and support students who may be struggling, while balancing faculty workload and expectations to maintain academic rigor. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to create inclusive, engaging, and resilient learning environments and strategies that help students thrive. Participants at the institute will gather ideas to address their specific challenges.
Classroom to Careers Track
How do we effectively leverage curriculum to help prepare students for what’s next? Faculty from all disciplines are invited to apply for the Classroom to Careers Track at the FCTL Summer Institute to help your department expand and strengthen course curriculum career readiness and prepare an undergraduate departmental course for the new Career Foundations course-level designation. Leveraging faculty expertise across disciplines, this track focuses on connecting departmental coursework to foundational career competencies to equip students with the skills and experience needed for a rapidly changing workforce. Participants will explore career readiness resources, collaborate with peers, and work independently (or as part of a department group) to develop career-focused activities and assignments that support updating a course for the new Career Foundations designation. Faculty will also meet one-on-one with course designation leads and participate in workshops, networking opportunities, and institute-wide events. By the institute’s conclusion, when appropriate, participants may elect to complete a draft submission for the Career Foundations Course Designation.
Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP) Track
Are you interested in teaching in prison? Would you like to learn more about mass incarceration in Florida and how our state colleges and universities are addressing it? The Florida Prison Education Project (https://cah.ucf.edu/fpep/) is sponsoring ten faculty to participate in the FCTL Summer Institute. In this track, you will learn best practices for higher education in prison and develop a syllabus for a prison-based course. Up to 12 faculty will be selected based on their interests and areas of expertise. Selected faculty will receive $500 for their participation in the Institute (including attending required FPEP workshops and training sessions) and the development of a course syllabus suitable for implementation at one of the following facilities: the Central Florida Reception Center, Polk Correctional Institution, and Lake Correctional Institution.
GEP Track: Sharing and Caring
The Sharing and Caring track invites UCF faculty to collaborate on creative strategies to improve General Education Program (GEP) courses and enhance student learning outcomes. Through dynamic sessions and hands-on workshops, participants will discover methods to refine their teaching practices, build effective community partnerships, and align their courses with institutional and statewide objectives for student achievement. This track opens with an in-depth overview of recent updates to General Education policies and UCF’s ongoing initiatives to address these changes. Faculty will then engage in sessions showcasing transformative classroom approaches, unique instructional techniques, and interdisciplinary lessons. Participants will connect with nonprofit organizations and colleagues who have successfully incorporated service-learning into their courses, gaining insights and practical resources to inspire meaningful student engagement. Later sessions will emphasize designing GEP courses that promote long-term success, including strategies for creating pathways that foster both academic and professional growth. For those teaching large online classes, the track offers expert guidance on cultivating a sense of community, addressing varied learner needs, and integrating technology to maximize student interaction. The track culminates in a reflective session, where participants will consolidate their key insights, share experiences, and develop actionable plans to implement during the 2025-2026 academic year. By the conclusion of the program, faculty will leave with fresh perspectives, valuable resources, and practical solutions to transform their GEP courses and empower students to excel.
HIP Course Designations Track
Apply for the High-Impact Practice Course Designation track at the UCF Summer Faculty Development Institute for the opportunity to spend focused, individualized time adapting a course to submit for one of UCF’s four HIP designations: Service-Learning (SL), Integrative-Learning Experience (IE), Research Intensive (RI – undergraduate courses only), or Global Learning (GL).
High–Impact Practices (HIPs) are educational strategies recognized by the AAC&U that give students opportunities to excel in and out of the classroom. The UCF HIP Course Designations are available to expand access to HIP opportunities; to help faculty document their innovative courses; and to allow students to identify HIP opportunities quickly during registration. Participants in the HIP Course Designation Track will learn about the HIP submission process, meet one-on-one with course designation leads, collaborate with peers, and work independently during conference hours to create or refine course plans and assignments to meet the criteria of their selected course designation. Additionally, faculty will attend institute-wide events, including informational sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities with colleagues.
Hispanic-Serving Institution Track
The Office for Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives invites faculty to participate in the HSI Track of the Summer Faculty Development Institute. This track is part of UCF’s POTENCIAL initiative funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title V grant and will guide faculty through Garcia’s (2023) Processes of Pedagogical Development at a Transformed HSI. The HSI track will consist of participants from Project POTENCIAL’s Spring 2025 Faculty Learning Community and newly selected track participants. Returning FLC participants are asked to complete the application as their registration.
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Track
The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Track engages faculty in the research-based principles of writing across the curriculum and invites them to reimagine their courses, programs, pedagogies, and research practices with these principles in mind. This year’s WAC Track invites participants to think about writing along three different threads: (1) how can writing be used to meet goals, outcomes, and standards in courses or programs, (2) how might faculty rethink existing writing assignments and strategies in light of the rise of artificial intelligence-powered content generators, and (3) what research projects might faculty develop that engage with writing as a mode of learning and development for students.
Learning Assistants Track
Learning Assistants (LA’s) are undergraduate students who support student learning in various interactive classroom environments. The main goal of the LA track is to facilitate collaboration and networking among faculty to enhance the impact of LA’s on student success. Whether you are a program coordinator, a faculty member with extensive experience working with LA’s, or just interested in incorporating LAs into your course, we welcome your proposal!
Participants in the LA track will develop plans for introducing LA’s into their courses; explore strategies to improve the impact of LAs already incorporated; and identify ways to assess the impact of LAs in their courses or programs. Funding is available for 10 College of Sciences faculty, 10 College of Engineering and Computer Sciences faculty, and 2 College of Medicine faculty.