faculty development at CUSPS
The Columbia University School of Professional Studies (CUSPS) seeks to support every faculty member in achieving teaching excellence, whether you are returning to teach this semester or just joining us. We create resources and opportunities for our faculty community to share best practices and grow as educators.
Professional Development Opportunities
Professional development (PD) offerings are designed to highlight faculty innovation, best practices in pedagogy, and educational leadership via the following resources: workshops and pedagogy forums, observations and consultations.
SPS designs and delivers evidence-based workshops and trainings to prepare faculty to teach and address the needs unique to the SPS student body. Themes for these events reflect the school's focus on high-quality academic programming and thought leadership within our academic communities. Topics have included: Effectively facilitating courses and discussion, intercultural pedagogy, best practices in instruction, strategies for engaging students, assessment design, handling difficult situations in the classroom, teaching using the case method, and creating positive classroom climates.
Observations are intended to provide faculty with feedback on teaching methods. They involve an initial conversation with a faculty development consultant to outline teaching goals, learn about possible teaching challenges and pinpoint effective instructional approaches. This initial conversation is followed by at least one live classroom observation. Upon completion of the observation, there is a debrief for faculty to review feedback and plan the next steps.
If you would like to schedule an observation please contact:
Zach Kornhauser, Ph.D.
Director of Faculty Assessment and Development
(212) 853-1562
[email protected]
We embrace teaching and learning as iterative processes for both new and experienced instructors. As a result, we encourage all SPS faculty to participate in follow-up consultations, workshops, and forums as components of their ongoing commitment to academic excellence.
Contact Faculty Affairs for a schedule of upcoming PD events: [email protected]