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Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Professional Development Opportunities for STEM Faculty

CeMaST is working with the Center for Integrated Professional Development (CIPD) to offer workshop series for faculty on several topics. 

Professional Development Workshop Series

 

Student-Led Faculty Professional Development Series

Join CeMaST's Student STEM Ambassadors for an interactive presentation and Q&A panel. Each session includes opportunities for participants to discuss barriers students face and successful strategies for helping students overcome those barriers. You will learn about the program, effective practices for faculty/student partnerships, and create a plan to support STEM students. You will leave with a curated list of resources that you can use with your own students. Tenure-track faculty, non-tenure track faculty and course instructors, and graduate students are eligible to participate. A $125 stipend is available if you participate in two or more sessions. (Note: Compensation for GAs is dependent on pre-approval from their department/school and HR.) Registration is required for each session. This workshops are facilitated by CeMaST's STEM Ambassadors and their mentor, Matthew Hagaman.

Session 1: Supporting Students through Successful Life Transitions in the Classroom & Beyond

Description: Faculty support for students as they navigate transitions helps students thrive in college and beyond. Student researchers have developed a unique understanding of student perspectives on career transitions through research on Illinois State students’ experiences and the broader literature.

  • Wednesday, September 2nd, 12:30–1:45 p.m.

Session 2: Promoting Student Success through Faculty-Student Connections

Description: Strong connections with faculty lead to greater student belonging and greater student success. Student researchers surveyed Illinois State students and faculty to understand the indicators and implications of faculty-student connections. Suggestions from students and the literature will be shared during this session.

  • Wednesday, September 16th, 12:30–1:45 p.m.

Session 3: Small Steps to Set Students Up for Success

Description: Universal Design for Learning and related movements in education show that small course changes focused on overcoming obstacles can have positive impacts for all students. Student researchers surveyed Illinois State students to understand the stumbling blocks encountered in courses and identified small steps that faculty can take to ensure all students have a path to success.

  • Wednesday, September 30th, 12:30–1:45 p.m.

Session 4: Increasing Investment through Active Learning

Description: Student researchers surveyed Illinois State students to understand what aspects of teaching and learning lead to engagement and investment. Suggestions from these interviews and the literature will be shared during this session.

  • Wednesday, October 14th, 12:30–1:45 p.m.
  • Thursday, November 5th, 3:00–4:15 p.m.

Session 5: Study Skills that Meet Students Where They Are

Description: Student researchers surveyed Illinois State students to understand which study skills and strategies have proven helpful in various courses. Attend the session to learn the results of studies conducted at the University and in the academic literature.

  • Wednesday, October 28th, 12:30–1:45 p.m.
  • Thursday, November 19th, 3:00–4:15 p.m.

Please visit the Student-Led Faculty Professional Development Workshop Series page for registration and additional information.

 

Previous Professional Development Workshop Series

Little Ideas for Teaching (LIFTS): Strategies for Student Success (Spring 2026)

The continuing Little Ideas for Teaching (LIFTs): Strategies for Student Success online workshop series offers small, easy-to-implement strategies with big potential to improve student learning, engagement, and equity. Each session will provide instructors with opportunities to articulate key concepts, examine practical classroom applications, and collaboratively generate new approaches. Designed for instructors across disciplines and experience levels, the series supports reflective teaching practices that focus on student success and engagement. These workshops are facilitated by Mayuko Nakamura, Center for Integrated Professional Development, and Sarah Boesdorfer, CeMaST Associate Director.

  • Make It Stick: Making Course Materials Memorable — Friday, February 13, 11–12 p.m. on Zoom
  • Scaffolding for Learning — Friday, February 27, 11–12 p.m. on Zoom
  • Motivating Learners: Fostering Engagement and Persistence — Friday, April 10, 11–12 p.m. on Zoom

Please visit the LIFTS workshop page for registration and additional information.

 

STEM for the Public Good Workshop Series (Spring 2026)

This workshop series, supported by the Excellence by Design Strategic Initiative Fund, offers STEM faculty opportunities to explore how civic and community contexts can enrich teaching, research, and student learning. Participants will be invited to consider civic engagement as a flexible and practical strategy for advancing work they already care about—strong courses, meaningful scholarship, and well-prepared graduates. Faculty will learn from concrete examples and from one another as they examine how real-world problems and partnerships can deepen disciplinary learning, spark student engagement, and create new opportunities for impactful and fundable research. Through conversation, shared experimentation, and applied design, participants will leave with course ideas or research concepts that connect STEM expertise to the public good in ways that feel authentic, achievable, and professionally rewarding. Lunch will be provided. These workshops are facilitated by Ashley Waring-Sparks, CeMaST Interim Director, and Rachel Waring-Sparks, Center for Civic Engagement.

Note: Because of the specifications of the grant, only pre-tenure STEM faculty and all faculty from the College of Engineering are invited to participate (tenured faculty may participate on a case-by-case basis).

  • STEM for the Public Good: Disciplinary Pathways to Civic Impact — Thursday, January 29, 12–1:30 p.m.
  • Civically Engaged STEM in Practice — Thursday, February 19, 12–1:30 p.m.
  • Integrating Civic Engagement into STEM Courses — Thursday, March 5, 12–1:30 p.m.
  • Engaged Scholarship in STEM: Rigor, Recognition, and Impact — Thursday, March 26, 12–1:30 p.m.
  • Preparing Students for Socially Relevant STEM Careers — Thursday, April 9, 12–1:30 p.m.
  • Assessing and Communicating Your Civically Engaged STEM Work — Thursday, April 30, 12–1:30 p.m.

Please visit the STEM for the Public Good Workshop Series page for registration and additional information.

 

Student-Led Faculty Professional Development Workshop Series (Spring 2026)

In this three-part, student-led workshop series, you will learn about the program, effective practices for faculty/student partnerships, and create a plan to support STEM students. You will leave with a curated list of resources that you can use with your own students. Tenure-track faculty, non-tenure track faculty and course instructors, and graduate students are eligible to participate. A $125 stipend is available if you participate in two or more sessions. (Note: Compensation for GAs is dependent on pre-approval from their department/school and HR.) Registration is required for each session. This workshops are facilitated by CeMaST's STEM Ambassadors and their mentor, Matthew Hagaman.

Session 1: Supporting Students through Successful Life Transitions in the Classroom & Beyond

  • Tuesday, February 17, 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Session 2: Promoting Student Success Through Faculty–Student Connections

  • Wednesday, January 21, 12:30–1:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, March 3, 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Session 3: Small Steps to Set Students Up for Success 

  • Wednesday, February 4, 12:30–1:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, March 17, 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Please visit the Student-Led Faculty Professional Development Workshop Series page for registration and additional information.

 

Learning Communities

Interdisciplinary STEM for the Public Good Learning Community (Spring 2026)

STEM faculty across ISU have expressed a strong interest in learning with and from colleagues across the institution as they explore new ways to strengthen teaching and scholarship in interdisciplinary contexts. The Interdisciplinary STEM for the Public Good Learning Community, supported by the Excellence by Design Strategic Initiative Fund, builds on this interest by bringing together faculty from multiple departments to explore how civic and community contexts can enrich STEM courses and research. Participants will meet regularly to engage in conversation around foundational ideas in STEM civic engagement, share works in progress, talk through challenges, and offer peer feedback while co-developing civically engaged course modules and civically engaged research projects. A central goal of the community is for participants, either working independently or in partnership with institutional and/or community collaborators, to develop course modules to pilot in the 2026–2027 academic year or to move engaged research projects toward internal or external funding. Join us in shaping cutting-edge, impact-driven STEM work at ISU. Faculty, staff with teaching responsibilities, and graduate students from across the university are welcome to participate. These workshop sessions are facilitated by Ashley Waring-Sparks, CeMaST Interim Director, and Rachel Waring-Sparks, Center for Civic Engagement.

  • Monthly sessions will be held on Thursdays from 11–12 p.m. on Zoom on the following dates: January 22, February 12, March 19, April 16, and May 7.

Please visit the Interdisciplinary STEM for the Public Good Learning Community page for registration and additional information.

 

Request a Professional Development Opportunity

In addition to the current professional development opportunities, faculty members can also request professional development opportunities for your department, school, or unit. Professional development opportunities may include workshops, book clubs, or teaching lunch and learns.