Thriving in the Academy | NCFDD Resources

Cal Poly faculty have access to professional development resources focused on enhancing scholarly productivity and successfully navigating life in academia. These resources are available online through an institutional membership in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), courtesy of the Provost's Office. The offerings include self-paced resources for individuals and scheduled collaborative-style workshops and events for groups of participants. Below are previews of the range of resources offered along with easy access links to account activation.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Program Overview

The resources and programs of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) bridge existing professional development support at Cal Poly for faculty and staff:

• The CTLT’s programs and services are designed primarily for campus faculty and staff in educational roles to support their effectiveness as educators.
• The Employee and Organization Development's (EOD) broad range of programs and services are offered to all Cal Poly employees (faculty and staff) to support their success and effectiveness as employees in the Cal Poly organization.
• The NCFDD's programs and events are designed for campus faculty (and staff in educational roles) to support scholarly productivity, effective navigation of academia, and improved work-life balance.

Highlights of the offerings are listed below to encourage faculty to activate their individual accounts as part of Cal Poly's institutional membership and take advantage of these resources.

Resources Overview

The professional development resources available online through the NCFDD site generally align with one of the following areas:

• Core Curriculum
• Inclusion and Equity
• Writing Productivity
• Navigating Academia
• Teaching Effectiveness

Samples of associated titles are provided below to illustrate the topics available in each area. All faculty are welcome to explore the entire site in depth to understand better the wide range of resources and topics available on-demand and learn about events scheduled in the upcoming months.

In addition, faculty can:

Core Curriculum

This is a collection of 10 webinars selected by the NCFDD as critical skills to help faculty in any discipline thrive in the academy. Each recording of a live event is between 1 hour and 1.5 hours. It is also possible to register for upcoming live webinars scheduled throughout the year. Examples of webinar topics include:

• SKILL #2: How to Align Your Time with Your Priorities
• SKILL #6: The Art of Saying No
• SKILL #7: Cultivating Your Network of Mentors, Sponsors, and Collaborators
• SKILL #8: Overcoming Academic Perfection

More information on the Core Curriculum
 

Inclusion and Equity

Among the collection of guest webinars and multi-session courses are titles of particular interest to those seeking to strengthen their knowledge and skills to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable campus culture. Sample titles include:

• "Cultivating Compassion and Collectivism: A Multi-Week Course to Facilitate Healing from Racial Trauma"
• "Bracing for and Embracing the Fall as a Blkademic"
• "Turning Chutes into Ladders for Women Faculty: A Roadmap to Equity in Academia"
• "Re-Thinking Mentoring: How to Build Communities of Inclusion, Support, and Accountability"
• "Parenting and Productivity"
   

Scholarly Writing Productivity

Among the collection of guest webinars and multi-session courses are a variety of resources and support opportunities for being more productive and successful in academic publishing. Sample titles include:

• 14-Day Writing Challenge (more information)
• "How to Develop a Daily Writing Practice"
• "Building A Publishing Pipeline"
• "From Project to Publication—the Art of Manuscript Revision"
• "How to Craft and Submit a Winning Book Proposal in 4 Weeks"
• "Scholarly Journal Writing: An Editor's Perspective"
• "Everything You Need To Know About Grant Writing"
   

Navigating Academia

Among the collection of guest webinars and multi-session courses are titles and topics important to advancing in academia. Sample titles include:

• "Preparing Tenure and Promotion Materials"
• "Navigating Faculty Career Transitions: Getting to Mid-Career and Beyond"
• "Moving from Associate to Full Professor"
• "Managing Multiple Roles: How to Be a Faculty Member and an Administrator"
• "Resting to Rise: Reduce Burn Out, Find Your Joy for Writing and Life, and Create a Just Academia"
• "Protecting Your Boundaries and Well-Being"
   

Teaching Effectiveness

Among the collection of guest webinars and multi-session courses is a modest list of titles that center on teaching-related topics. Sample titles include:

• "Teaching with Empathy and for Equity at the Graduate Level"
• "Empowered Teaching Toolkit" (multiple topics)
• "Strategies for Centering Instructor Identity in STEM Education"
• "Creating an Inclusive Classroom: Students with Disabilities"