Faculty Take Part in Innovative Professional Development Programs

The University of Saint Mary launched a Summer Teaching Academy in 2025 to strengthen teaching effectiveness and course design. The academy supported new, mid-career, and veteran faculty members from various disciplines in redesigning courses, strengthening teaching practices, and implementing the research into the courses they teach.

Participants completed self-paced learning modules and engaged in individualized coaching sessions with the goal of adapting new strategies to an existing course. Faculty who completed the program received a stipend, certificate, and recognition at the August Faculty Institute.

“Participating in the Summer Teaching Academy was time well spent,” one participant said in a survey. “The Teaching Fundamentals module was excellent, easily one of the most helpful training experiences I’ve had as a newer faculty member. It gave me a more structured understanding of what good course design actually looks like, especially the value of backward design, well-written course outcomes, and purposeful alignment between teaching, learning, and assessment activities. One of my primary goals was to develop a better grasp of instructional theory, and this course absolutely delivered on that.”