Faculty Learning Communities
Faculty Affairs offers financial support for Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) each year. These structured communities of practice includes the key goals of building community, engaging in scholarly (evidenced-based) inquiry, and working toward a shared goal. Information about the FLCs can be found on the Center for Teaching and Learning website.
Advancing the Scholarship and Praxis of Transformative Mentoring: The purpose of this faculty learning community is to explore models of mentoring that improve capacity- building mentoring relationships by utilizing proven strategies that encourage buy-in, engagement, and growth. The group will continue work done in previous years, exploring opportunities to support effective mentoring relationships across campus. (Facilitated by Brandy Burgess & Sherry Clouser, financial support from Faculty Affairs)
Becoming the Best Research Mentor: This FLC will focus on strategies to implement mentorship training for faculty interested
in mentoring student research using theoretically-grounded, evidence-based, and culturally-responsive
practices. We will implement an interactive mentor training curricula that engages
participants in collective problem solving and connects them with resources to optimize
their mentoring practices. We will also engage in learning communities through activities,
assignments, case studies, and facilitated discussions to solve mentoring dilemmas
and share successful mentorship strategies.
(Facilitated by Leslie Gordon Simons & Laura Bierema, financial support from Faculty Affairs)
Non-Tenure Track Faculty: This ongoing FLC continues to work on action items supporting faculty in non-tenure-track (NTT) roles (e.g., lecturer, academic professional, clinical faculty, public service, research scientist, librarian, etc.). Building on prior years' work, the FLC will focus this year on topics including supporting new NTT faculty, building community, supporting a mentoring program, reviewing relevant UGA and USG policies, disseminating data and information on best practices for NTT faculty support, and providing relevant information more strategically to department heads and other campus leaders, including through the website, nontenuretrack.uga.edu. (Facilitated by Paul Matthews, & Julie Grainy financial support from Faculty Affairs)
Advancing the Scholarship and Praxis of Transformative Mentoring: The purpose of this faculty learning community is to explore models of mentoring that improve capacity-building mentoring relationships by utilizing proven strategies that encourage buy-in, engagement, and growth. Rooted in motivational, transformational leadership and mentoring theories, we will have critical discourse around topics that address larger, campus-wide questions around cultivating an ecosystem of mentoring at the University. If you've ever thought, "How can I reach this person and get them to buy into the vision?”, "How can I get my direct report(s) to be more independent and reach their fullest potential?", or "How can I help this graduate student develop critical thinking skills?"…then this FLC is for you! (Facilitated by James Anderson, II, financial support from Faculty Affairs)
Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: This ongoing FLC continues to work on action items supporting faculty in non-tenure-track (NTT) roles (e.g., lecturer, academic professional, clinical faculty, public service, research scientist, etc.). Building on prior years' work, the FLC will focus this year on topics including supporting new NTT faculty, implementing a mentoring program, reviewing relevant UGA and USG policies, disseminating data and information on best practices for NTT faculty support, and disseminating relevant information more strategically to department heads and other campus leaders. (facilitated by Paul Matthews & John Brocato, financial support from Faculty Affairs)
Advancing the Scholarship and Praxis of Transformative Mentoring: Facilitated by James Anderson, II, with financial support from Faculty Affairs. The purpose of this faculty learning community is to explore models of mentoring that improve capacity-building mentoring relationships by utilizing proven strategies that encourage buy-in, engagement, and growth. Rooted in motivational, transformational leadership and mentoring theories, we will have critical discourse around topics that address larger, campus-wide questions around cultivating an ecosystem of mentoring at the University. If you've ever thought, "How can I reach this person and get them to buy into the vision?”, "How can I get my direct report(s) to be more independent and reach their fullest potential?", or "How can I help this graduate student develop critical thinking skills?"…then this FLC is for you!
Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: Facilitated by Paul Matthews & John Brocato, with financial support from Faculty Affairs. This ongoing FLC continues to work on action items supporting faculty in non-tenure-track (NTT) roles (e.g., lecturer, academic professional, clinical faculty, public service, research scientist, etc.). Building on prior years' work, the FLC will focus this year on topics including supporting new NTT faculty, implementing a mentoring program, reviewing relevant UGA and USG policies, disseminating data and information on best practices for NTT faculty support, and disseminating relevant information more strategically to department heads and other campus leaders.
Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: Facilitated by Paul Matthews and Clair McClure; sponsored by Faculty Affairs. This ongoing FLC is sponsored by the Office of Faculty Affairs, and is continuing to work on action items supporting faculty in non-tenure-track roles (e.g., lecturer, academic professional, clinical faculty, public service, research scientist, etc.). Building on prior years' work, the FLC will focus this year on topics including supporting new non-tenure track (NTT) faculty, implementing a mentoring program, reviewing relevant UGA and USG policies, disseminating data and information on best practices for NTT faculty support, and disseminating relevant information more strategically to department heads and other campus leaders.
Resources for Diverse Faculty Retention: Facilitated by Megan Brock; sponsored by Faculty Affairs. Faculty diversity has been discussed at length for years (Taylor et al., 2010). Researchers argue that (beyond the need for faculty demographics to reflect the increasingly, culturally diverse U.S. student population) universities should be striving to integrate diverse perspectives that reflect the global community within our classroom. However, once welcomed on campus, institutions face another challenge: retention. In particular, researchers note that retention rates of ethnic minorities at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) are lower than national retention rates (Whittaker, Montgomery, & Acosta, 2015). Furthermore, researchers report that female faculty (in STEM fields in particular) were less likely to be promoted in 6 or 8 years in comparison to men and more likely to leave their institutions without tenure (Gumpertz et al., 2017). In this faculty learning community, faculty with interest in supporting faculty members who belong to underrepresented groups will explore research-based interventions and resources that cultivate resilience and promote retention rates at the University of Georgia.
