Faculty Development Center

The Faculty Development Center (FDC) seeks to support Tougaloo College by providing an ongoing series of workshops, seminars, and other opportunities that address professional, instructional, leadership, and organizational development for faculty. This center aims to advance excellent teaching, research, and service throughout the larger institution and also provide faculty with the opportunity to explore new pedagogical approaches as they engage students in the learning environment. Helping faculty keep up to date on current technologies to the development and support online and blended classes, which is crucial in meeting the needs of our students and keeping Tougaloo College competitive. The Faculty Development Center believes this can be accomplished by conducting a series of workshops and trainings on teaching and learning, with the aim of improving the learning experiences of our students, both inside and outside the classroom. This center aims to engage and cultivate faculty development from four standpoints: professional development, instructional development, leadership development, and organizational development.

AY 2019 – 2020 Theme: Complete the Agenda
AY 2019 – 2020 Theme: Complete the Agenda

The work and daily activities of faculty are guided by an agenda—an individual, departmental, divisional, and institutional agenda. The individual agenda should be driven by the departmental goals and SLOs agenda and so on until it feeds into the mission of the institution. Often, there is a disconnect between how classroom instruction, research planning, and service engagement are connected to the larger central mission and vision of the institution. How does your individual agenda align with the larger mission of the institution? Moreover, how does your individual agenda align with the QEP theme “Transforming Students in Preparation for Tomorrow’s Professions?” This year’s faculty development theme Complete the Agenda seeks to engage faculty in the process of answering these central questions and supporting faculty on their path towards personal and professional development—inside and outside the classroom. This theme views our faculty as team players with a plan for individual and group success. Join the Faculty Development Center (FDC) on this journey as we Complete the Agenda together.

Rationale

In a society where success rests on individual action, collaboration and teamwork can often be viewed as a distraction or hurdle toward progress. Organizations that fail to use teamwork as an approach toward achieving their goals often experience decreased productivity and reduced morale among their employees.  [1] The collective efforts of Tougaloo College faculty to work toward aligning their individuals’ goals with the mission and values outlined by the larger institution helps to foster a culture of mutual respect and cooperation. Furthermore, through this approach, Tougaloo College faculty can gain:

  • A deep sense of purpose and commitment to the fellow colleagues and to the mission and vision of Tougaloo College
  • Focused and driven professional development which encourages relatively more ambitious performance goals than previous years
  • An understanding of mutual accountability and a clear understanding of faculty’s' responsibilities to their department, division, and the larger institutional obligations
  • An awareness of their range of expertise that complements other team members' abilities
  • Interdependence and trust between colleagues

Understanding collaborative and team driven efforts help to push a group closer to their achieved goals—both individual and group goals. [2] Therefore, this year’s theme, Complete the Agenda, aims to challenge faculty to think about their own goals, in light of the larger institutional goals, to identify how faculty working collaboratively can achieve these goals together.


[1] Katzenbach, J. R. and D. K. Smith (2006). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (Collins Business Essentials). New York: HarperCollins.

[2] Covey, S. (2004). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.