NACEP, the Advanced Credit Program's accrediting body, requires all dual credit adjuncts to attend one professional development workshop every academic year. For this reason, the ACP offers a wide variety of PD workshops each year. A list of this year's professional development workshops will become available as events are scheduled.
Adjuncts who attend an in-person workshop receive a $100 stipend check (limit of one per academic year) plus one student scholarship (limit of two per academic year) which may be awarded to any ACP student to cover the tuition for one dual credit course. If you have questions about an upcoming event, please email Benjamin Andrews at bandrews@umsl.edu.
UPCOMING EVENTS...
Political Science/Gender Studies Professional Development - 2/17/2026
Date: Tuesday, 02/17/2026
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: UMSL North Campus, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Rm. 108
Speaker: Dr. Anita Manion
Topic: Teaching Politics in Today’s Classrooms
Description: This session will equip teachers with practical tools and strategies for navigating political topics in today’s polarized environment while maintaining academic rigor, neutrality, and an inclusive classroom climate. Participants will explore approaches for facilitating respectful discussion, addressing controversial issues, and supporting student civic engagement.
English Professional Development - 2/21/2026
Date: Saturday, 02/21/2026
Time: 9:00am - 11:00am
Location: UMSL Millennium Student Center, The Chambers
Speaker: Dr. Frank Grady
Topic: Coffee Talk with Dr. Frank Grady: Film Studies and Medievalism
Description: TBD
RSVP not yet available
Business Professional Development - 2/24/2026
Date: Tuesday, 02/24/2026
Time: 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location: UMSL North Campus, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Rm. 108
Speaker: Dr. Perry Drake, Department Chair & Associate Teaching Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship
Topic: Generative AI in the Classroom: Best Practices for Teaching and Learning
Description: This professional development session provides high school educators with a practical framework for implementing generative AI in the classroom to enhance instruction and student learning outcomes. Participants will explore best practices for teaching students responsible AI usage (critical thinking, revision, compare/contrast, verification, and reflection) while minimizing academic integrity concerns. The workshop also demonstrates ways teachers can use AI to accelerate lesson design, support differentiated learning, develop rubrics and assessments, and streamline feedback. Attendees will receive a curated set of prompt templates, classroom activities, and implementation strategies that can be applied immediately.
Spanish Professional Development - 2/28/2026
Date: Saturday, 2/28/2026
Time: 9:30am - 11:00am
Location: UMSL Anheuser-Busch Hall, Rm. 002
Speaker: Tim Abeln, Martha Caeiro, Amy D’Agrosa, John Trevathan
Topic: Community and Experience in the Spanish language Classroom
Description: Led by faculty liaisons in Spanish, we will explore experiential learning and community engagement, share sample assignments and activities that connect students with the community, and highlight reflective practices that help students make meaning of their experiences and deepen their learning.
Biology Professional Development - 3/07/2026
Date: Saturday, 3/07/2026
Time: 9:30am - 11:00am
Location: UMSL North Campus, Benton Hall, Rm. 102
Speaker: Dr. Ambrose Kidd and Dr. Marc Spingola
Topic: Cards on the Table: Modeling Life and Chance in Biology Classrooms
Description: Attendees engage in several low-tech, high-impact card games that help students define life, weigh biological criteria, and understand how random events contribute to diseases like cancer. We will also include time for attendees to share ideas for similar activities they use in their classrooms.
French Professional Development - 3/12/2026
Date: Thursday, 3/12/2026
Time: 5:00pm - 6:30pm
Location: UMSL North Campus, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Rm. 004
Speaker: Violaine White, Graziella Postolache, Sandy Trapani, as well panelists including learners, educators, and professionals
Topic: Francophone Education: Voices and Perspectives
Description: Join us for an engaging conversation about education in French-speaking contexts. Panelists will share their personal journeys, challenges, and insights as learners, educators, and professionals across the Francophone world. Event will be held in French with questions in French and English.
History Professional Development - 3/12/2026
Date: Thursday, 3/12/2026
Time: Happy Hour: 5:00pm (Grand Hall) | Lecture Begins: 6:30pm (Lee Auditorium)
Location: Missouri History Museum | 5700 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63112
Presenter: Teona Williams, PhD
Topic: Primm Lecture | Notes on Survival: Black Women’s Mutual Aid and Disaster Relief in the Long Civil Rights Movement
Description: The James Neal Primm Lecture in History is an annual speaker series that brings to St. Louis distinguished historians and scholars to share their current research through public lectures, seminars, and informal meetings. It is intended to honor James Neal Primm, Curators’ Professor Emeritus of the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
In this lecture, Teona Williams examines the overlooked history of Black women’s mutual aid as a transformative form of disaster relief in the American South during the long civil rights movement. Williams will trace how rural Black women confronted storms, floods, and systemic neglect through political, ecological, and imaginative strategies that sustained community life. Highlighting efforts such as cooperative farming, shared resources, and intergenerational environmental knowledge, Williams will illustrate how Black women’s mutual aid is not peripheral, but instead central to the history of disaster relief, offering a lasting blueprint for collective resilience.
Attendance: Laura Westhoff from the UMSL Department of History will be present to take attendance of ACP instructors. RSVP using the form below, and check in with Dr. Westhoff at the event.
Business Professional Development - Date TBD
Communication & Media Professional Development - Date TBD
Psychology Professional Development - Date TBD
Teacher Education Professional Development - Date TBD
PAST EVENTS...
Art & Design Professional Development - 9/29/2025
Date: Monday, 9/29/2025
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Ursuline Academy, 341 Sappington Rd, St. Louis, MO 63122, Rm. TBA
Speaker: Lisa Payne and Victoria Keller
Topic: Fiber Arts and Ceramics
Description: This in-person workshop is hosted by our partners at Ursuline Academy. Fibers teachers Lisa Payne will be leading a workshop in silk scarf painting and surface design. Ceramics teacher Victoria Keller will offer a lecture on the history of ceramics. Dinner will be provided in the form of Jersey Mike's Subs.
Event Capacity: 30
History Professional Development - 10/05/2025
Date: Sunday, 10/05/2025
Time: 4pm
Location: UMSL Millennium Student Center, Century Room A, 3rd Floor
Speaker: Dr. Paschalis M. Kitromilidis
Topic: American Ideas of Freedom in the Greek Enlightenment and the Greek Revolution
Description: How did the American Revolution echo all the way to Greece? In this lecture, Dr. Paschalis M. Kitromilidis shows how the ideals of liberty and constitutional government that shaped the United States also inspired the Greek Enlightenment and fueled the Revolution of the 1820s. Visionaries like Adamantios Korais turned to America’s bold experiment in democracy as a model for natural rights and self-rule, while Benjamin Franklin became an emblem of wisdom and freedom in the Greek imagination. These transatlantic connections helped spark a powerful liberal-republican vision for a free Greek state, that captured the hopes of a generation. Yet after independence was won, that Enlightenment dream soon gave way to the rise of romantic nationalism and the realities of authoritarian politics. The story, as Dr. Kitromilidis tells it, is one of inspiration, transformation, and the struggle to keep the flame of liberty alive.
Attendance: Check in with Peter Acsay to confirm attendance
Political Science/Gender Studies Professional Development - 10/08/2025
Date: Wednesday, 10/08/2025
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Location: The Chambers, UMSL Millennium Student Center, 3rd Floor; Zoom option available
Speaker: Jason Rosenbaum (St. Louis Public Radio), Mark Maxwell (KSDK News), and Joan Hubbard (League of Women Voters)
Topic: Who Draws, Who Decides: Rewriting the Rules of Representation in Missouri
Description: A panel discussion about redistricting and changes to the initiative petition process in Missouri. Panelists will include Jason Rosenbaum of St. Louis Public Radio, Mark Maxwell of KSDK News, and Joan Hubbard of the League of Women Voters. There will be a moderated discussion with time for Q&A from the audience. Lunch will be provided.
Attendance: Check in with Anita Manion to confirm attendance.
Teacher Education Professional Development - 10/09/2025
Date: Thursday, 10/09/2025
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: The Chambers, UMSL Millennium Student Center, 3rd Floor
Speaker: UMSL Gateway Writing Project
Topic: Movie Night with Gateway Writing Project (GWP)
Description: Did you know that UMSL's own Gateway Writing Project hosts some amazing events? If you are interested in seeing what they offer, look at their full list here. One that stands out is a screening of The Librarians on October 9. This screening is hosted by GWP and part of their participation in Banned Books Week. This special screening of The Librarians, a film documenting how librarians “emerged as first responders in the fight for First Amendment rights” will take place at UMSL (MSC – Chamber Room) from 6-8pm. Popcorn and an invitation to add your voice provided! You are also invited to bring a favorite banned book and participate in their book swap.
Attendance: Check in with GWP Director Tracy Brosch to confirm attendance for ACP.
Mathematics & Physics Professional Development - 10/30/2025
Date: Thursday, 10/30/2025
Time: 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: UMSL Millenium Student Center, 3rd Floor, Century Room (BC)
Topic: Award-Winning Film Screening: Counted Out (2024)
Description: In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get—all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand or even notice.
Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what's at risk if we keep the mathematical status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don't consider ourselves "math people"? Where math proficiency goes down as students grow up? Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society-and can help shape it?
We will be watching a special screening of the movie, Counted Out, then debrief with a discussion about the film and mathematical literacy in our society. Additionally, we will discuss new UMSL syllabus requirements and the development of a MOTR statistics course.
History Professional Development - 11/15/2025
Date: Saturday, 11/15/2025
Time: 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: UMSL Millennium Student Center, Rm. 351
Presenter: Hellenic Spirit Foundation
Topic: Kyklos - 20 Years of an Athenian Olympic Tribute Born in St. Louis
Description: Join us as we celebrate two decades of artistic and cultural achievement marking the "Kyklos - Circle of Glory" tribute art's journey from St. Louis to its permanent home at the 2004 Athens Olympic Stadium. This event honors our heritage thorugh memories, awards, entertainment, and heartfelt recognition along with light refreshments.
RSVP: Register for the event on Eventbrite. (Capacity is limited.) Also register using the ACP form to confirm your plan to attend.
Attendance: At the event, check in with Peter Acsay to confirm attendance.
Philosophy Professional Development - 11/21/2025
Date: Friday, 11/21/2025
Time: 5:00pm - 6:30pm
Location: UMSL Millennium Student Center, 3rd Floor, The Chambers
Speaker: Dr. Waldemar Rohloff
Topic: What is Understanding?
Description: In this discussion, we will explore what understanding is using perspectives from the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. The debates are abstract, but we will take away concrete lessons that apply in the classroom.
Chemistry Professional Development - 01/08/2026
Date: Thursday, 1/08/2026
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: UMSL Benton Hall, Rm. 102
Speaker: Dr. Lynda McDowell, Dr. Meghan Burroughs
Topic: The Sound of Molecules
Description: Based on the work of Dr. Walker Smith, this is an introduction to “The Sound of Molecules”. Each element has a unique emission spectrum, containing anywhere from four spectral lines (hydrogen) to thousands (iron). The spectral lines were assigned musical notes based on their wavelength. An interactive musical periodic table allows for students to “listen” to the elements of the periodic table.