Faculty Learning Communities
We facilitate semester- and year-long learning communities for faculty who want to explore teaching research and develop new teaching strategies with colleagues.
Join a CETL Learning Community
CETL offers a variety of learning communities for instructors who are interested in exploring specific teaching topics or practices more deeply. These groups, which comprise small cohorts of faculty, typically meet once a month for the duration of a semester or a year. Together, members of the community consider scholarship on teaching and learning and develop a plan for applying it to their courses or to other university teaching initiatives.
The Course (Re)Design Community, which comes with a small stipend for participants, is offered annually. Other communities convene on an ad hoc basis, depending on the current needs and interests of faculty.
Student Reading Learning Community, 2026-27
Meeting Dates: TBD
Facilitator: Liz Norell
Faculty report today’s students are not engaging in course readings beyond a few pages in length. Recognizing that this is a complex challenge in the current environment, CETL aims to bring together a group interested in examining the scope of undergraduate attitudes about course readings. This group will set its specific agenda, but we broadly expect that it will:
- Explore existing literature and research that discusses student reading compliance.
- Gather feedback from UM undergraduate students about their reading habits, preferences, and barriers.
- Inform CETL programming to help instructors introduce and structure course readings to improve student engagement with those materials.
Participation in this learning community is open to anyone in the University of Mississippi community (students/faculty/staff at any rank) interested in addressing this challenge. Learning community members should be available for approximately 2-3 hours per month (including one monthly meeting and 1-2 hours of asynchronous or small-group work) from September-November and February-April. If there is sufficient interest, members of this group may opt to generate publishable research out of their work.
Course (Re)Design Community
Each year, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning facilitates an interdisciplinary learning community for a small cohort of instructors interested in cultivating teaching strategies that support academic success and wellbeing for all students. The program offers a limited number of grants for the design, implementation, and reporting of course revisions to enhance teaching and learning for all students, with particular emphasis on those who confront obstacles to their academic success and wellbeing. Each participant receives a grant of $3,000 to support their course revisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
All University of Mississippi instructors, regardless of status, are eligible to apply for the learning community, and this includes staff who serve as instructors of record. We also designate up to two spots per cohort for graduate students who serve as instructors of record.
Faculty and/or graduate students may also apply as a team of instructors who co-teach or teach multiple sections of a coordinated course.
While we welcome any UM instructor or group of instructors to apply, we are most likely to prioritize proposed course revisions likely to impact the largest number of students over the longest period of time.
During the first semester of the learning community, instructors attend four meetings with each other and with CETL staff to discuss research on how we can support all students in our classrooms. They then redesign their chosen course using the evidence-based principles we discussed. In the second semester of the learning community, instructors teach the (re)designed version of their course and attend monthly meetings to discuss the progress of the course. They also observe each others' class sessions and use their observations as a starting point for larger conversations about teaching. In the final weeks of the semester, instructors develop a plan to share what they have learned with peers in their department and submit a final reflection on their time in the program to CETL.
Participants receive half of their grant funding at the end of the spring semester and the remainder at the end of the fall semester.
- Participate in the monthly meetings and activities of the learning community and individual consultations as appropriate.
- (Re)design a course or design a substantial course intervention.
- Implement your (re)designed course or course interventions during the second semester of the learning community.
- Observe a community member's class and invite other members of the community to observe your class.
- Discuss course progress and challenges and support learning community members as they work toward their own teaching goals.
- Share what you have learned with your department.
- Submit a final reflection to CETL on your time in the program and progress toward the goals articulated in your initial proposal.