The UCF Summer Faculty Development Institute returned on May 6-8, 2024. The Institute took place across three days (Monday May 6 through Wednesday May 8) and workshops were offered throughout each day. Each Track had different expectations for deliverables and track-specific attendance. Note that normal tax withholding will apply.
Deadline to apply was March 1, 2024. As always, only full-time faculty are eligible to participate for funding (post-docs are not eligible).
View the agenda for the 2024 Summer Institute
FCTL Track: Student Success
The Faculty Center supports UCF initiatives to increase student learning and improve retention and graduation rates. We invite faculty to submit proposals that will address some aspect of improving student success. Proposals in our track will focus on identifying areas in teaching and student learning that could be improved, either at the course or program level. Participants at the institute will gather ideas to address their specific problems. Up to 100 faculty participants will earn $500 after full participation in the institute and delivery of a brief report that outlines how ideas learned at the institute will be implemented. Please commit to full participation in sessions for the purposes of learning and sharing. The selection to the FCTL track will be based on order of submission to the application survey. For more information, please see the FCTL Summer Institute website or email the FCTL staff.
Classroom to Careers Track
How do we effectively harness curriculum to help prepare students for what’s next? This working group will help Career Services and our new Division of Student Success and Well-Being develop a revised and updated plan to connect colleges, departments, and faculty with our central support team. The Classroom to Careers Track aims to ensure students can translate their college experience into skills and credentials that align with NACE Career Competencies for Career Readiness. Harnessing faculty expertise, the track will spend the institute learning about available career readiness resources and creating strategies to connect curriculum to careers. Knowing we have a rapidly changing global workforce, and the return on investment of higher education is under scrutiny, this work is more important than ever. Up to 15 faculty will earn $500 after full participation in the institute.
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 is sponsoring fifteen 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 15 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: Upskilling the GEP The General Education Program invites faculty to submit proposals to participate in the GEP Track of the 2024 FCTL Summer Institute. We aim to provide students with a rich and diverse educational experience that equips them with the perspectives needed for success in an ever-changing global economy. To this end, the focus is on retooling and revitalizing the courses we teach, with a focus on 21st century pedagogical innovations such as the latest multimedia tools, high impact practices, and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning. As an integrative general education program, we are especially interested in sponsoring faculty who make an active effort to collaborate across disciplinary lines and within/between foundational areas, and who intentionally communicate the integrative nature of UCF’s general education program. While a specific deliverable is not required this year, we ask that faculty write at least one article for the 2024-2025 GEP newsletter reflecting on course improvements as a result of the Summer Institute. Up to 12 $500 grants will be given to participants who attend all required sessions of the conference track.
HIP Course Designations Track
High-Impact Practices (HIPs) give students opportunities to excel in and out of the classroom. The UCF HIP Course Designations are available to help faculty document their HIP courses and to allow students to identify them quickly during registration. Apply for the HIP Course Designation track at the UCF Summer Faculty Development Institute for the opportunity to spend focused, individualized time adapting and preparing a course to apply for HIP designation in Service-Learning (SL), Integrative-Learning Experience (IE), Research Intensive (RI – undergraduate courses only), or Global Learning (GL). 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 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. During the institute, participants will complete a draft of submission materials for HIP Course Designation for one course and one PowerPoint slide summarizing your course. Final drafts must be submitted in Kuali by May 8 at midnight, 2024. All participants will receive a $500 compensation. If cohort participants successfully submit their course as a complete application in Kuali by May 8, they will receive an additional $300 ($800 total). We plan to have 20+ opportunities. Preference will be given to departments with few or no offered HIP designated courses. Address any questions to HIP@ucf.edu.
Hispanic-Serving Institution Track
The Office for Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives invites faculty to submit proposals 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 Dr. Gina Garcia’s Multidimensional Conceptual Framework for Understanding Servingness in HSIs in juxtaposition to Universal Design for Learning. The track will continue the conversation from the spring 2024 HSI Faculty Learning Community (FLC) and will bring forward new conversations on teaching practices and access across disciplines through panel discussions, faculty presentations, and interactive workshops. The HSI track will consist of returning FLC participants and newly selected track participants. Returning FLC participants are asked to complete the application as their registration. Faculty who are not participating in the spring FLC are asked to complete the application for consideration of track participation. 20+ newly selected faculty will earn $500 after full participation in the FCTL 3-day institute and delivery of a revised assignment or lesson plan reflective of “servingness” and universal design principles (due May 8 by midnight). Faculty will be selected based on a demonstrated commitment to strengthening pedagogy to better serve students by utilizing intentional and inclusive methods. Please direct any questions to POTENCIAL@ucf.edu.
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Track
The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Track introduces faculty to 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 track invites participants to think about writing along three different threads including (1) how writing can be used to meet goals, outcomes, and standards in your courses or programs, (2) how you might rethink your existing writing assignments and strategies in light of the rise of artificial intelligence-powered content generators, and (3) how you might develop a research project that engages with writing as a mode of learning and development for your students. Up to 15 faculty participants will earn $500 after full participation in the institute and delivery of a brief report that outlines how ideas learned at the institute will be implemented. We invite individuals to apply to work within their own interests, and we also welcome groups from the same unit to apply together to work toward common department/unit level goals. No previous WAC experience is needed to participate in this track. For more information, please contact WAC Director Laurie A. Pinkert.