Diane Filion Center for
Advancing Faculty Excellence

Advancing Faculty Excellence

Faculty Learning Communities

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CAFE funds faculty participation in learning communities each semester to explore teaching and scholarship. Each year, we will announce faculty learning communities on a range of topics related to student success, faculty success, and UMKC's strategic plan.

Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)

An FLC is a peer-led group of faculty members who engage in an active, collaborative program structured to provide encouragement, support, and reflection. FLC members work together to produce outcomes or products. Through FLCs, faculty members engage in scholarly teaching and student-centered learning, collaborating within a collegial framework that offers peer review and support. 

FLCs are inclusive spaces where members exchange experiences, ideas, and strategies about teaching, research, creativity, and engagement. They experiment with research-based practices, build skills, and reflect on their roles. Faculty members have a significant voice in shaping the program based on their needs, skills, and goals. Each community has two outcomes — individual changes to one's practice and a group give-back to the larger UMKC faculty community. 

 

 Expectations

  • Integrate new practices into their teaching — Related activities include actively preparing and participating in the FLC meetings (six times per semester) and reviewing and revising course materials (e.g., syllabi, learning outcomes, and class activities).
  • Build collaborative relationships with colleagues — Related activities include sharing experiences, successes, and challenges with peers in the FLCs.
  • Articulate the process for developing skills for reflective teaching. Related activities include writing reflections about the FLCs' outcomes on teaching, networking, and scholarship.
  • Disseminate practices and scholarship within and beyond UMKC — Related activities include sharing work by providing a presentation, instructional resource materials (e.g., a classroom activity) or publication of findings at a UMKC event or external venues.

A faculty facilitator will lead each FLC with logistical support from CAFE.

Stipends are available for each participant for $500, which participants can receive either as extra salary, transfer to a research account for travel, technology or teaching tools; or give to a student scholarship fund of the faculty member's choice (when unfrozen). Each FLC will have a minimum of five and a maximum of 10 participants.

FLCs support student success by allowing faculty to connect with colleagues from across the university and engage in professional learning. All UMKC faculty members, regardless of tenure status, are encouraged to participate in FLCs.