The NCFDD is an independent faculty development center that offers live and recorded webinars, courses, mentoring, and workshops on a wide variety of topics for faculty at different stages of their careers. Topics range from cultivating your network of mentors and sponsors, engaging in healthy conflict, overcoming academic perfection, mastering academic time management, the art of saying "no," and many others.
Access to Online Resources for Faculty, Postdocs and Graduate Students
The UM System has an institutional membership with the NCFDD that offers free access to the NCFDD’s online resources to all faculty members, postdocs, and graduate students at all four Universities, including UMSL. Eligible UMSL users can activate their memberships through the NCFDD website.
The NCFDD's Faculty Success Program is a 12-week, intensive bootcamp where academics work directly with a coach and small group of other faculty to implement the skills and strategies to maximize their success. The program is for advanced post-docs, tenure-track faculty and tenured faculty who are looking for coaching and peer support to propel their research productivity and work-life balance to new levels. The NCFDD runs the program in spring, summer, and fall semesters.
The program includes:
Weekly training modules where you learn the skills and strategies that increase productivity and promote work-life balance.
Small Group Support & Accountability Conference Calls that enable you to connect deeply with other academics and your faculty coach to receive individualized guidance, problem solving and support.
Access to an exclusive Faculty Success Program online community to track productivity, interact with other participating academics, ask questions, get feedback, share resources, exchange ideas, find support and more.
Access to private coaching with the program's Master Coaches.
UMSLtypically sponsors 3 tenure-track or tenured faculty to participate in the Faculty Success Program (FSP) per year. The deadline to apply for fullest consideration for support for for the 2025 programs is October 1, 2024. Please click on the "apply" button below. Scholarship recipients may choose which session they will take part in - spring (January to April), summer (May to August), or fall (August to November) – and will be notified in mid-October.
Tenured alumni of the Faculty Success Program may apply for a scholarship to participate in Post-Tenure Pathfinders, which is a 12-week program that builds on the principles introduced in the Faculty Success Program by using the same application form. Priority, however, is given to first-time participants the Faculty Success Program. Pathfinders usually runs only in the summer.
Goals of the Program
The goals of the Faculty Success Program are to increase:
Success in publication and securing external funding for research
Confidence as independent scholars
Healthy relationships with departmental colleagues
Job satisfaction and commitment to the University of Missouri System
Individualized support for under-represented faculty
Scholarships for the Faculty Success Program
UMSL Academic Affairs will provides a modest number of scholarships to faculty to cover the cost of attending the Faculty Success Program. Information about the scholarships is posted here and a distributed to faculty via email. For information about the application process, contact Alice Hall at halla@umsl.edu.
Program Registration
If selected for a scholarship to participate in the Faculty Success Program, Academic Affairs will work with you to coordinate your program registration. If you are not selected for a scholarship but would still like to register for the program on your own, please contact Alice Hall at halla@umsl.edu.
Yes, each of the following faculty members has taken part in the FSP and welcomes the opportunity to talk to others who are considering the program. You are encouraged to reach out to any of them directly for more information:
|
Name |
Unit |
|
|
Wilma Calvert |
College of Nursing |
|
|
Lauren Obermark |
English |
obermarkl@umsl.edu |
|
Aimee Dunlap |
Biology |
|
|
Amber Reinhart |
Communication & Media Academic Affairs |
|
|
Lara Zwarun |
Communication & Media |
Participating academics are expected to:
The program lasts 12 weeks and requires weekly training modules, small group calls and personal daily tracking. It is estimated that participation will require about three hours per week and a commitment to write (work on research output) at least 30 minutes a day during the 12-week session.
Participating academics are placed in a small group with three other faculty of the same rank from different institutions. Each group is led by a Small Group Faculty Coach who is a professor at a different institution. The groups are meticulously sorted by the program's coaching team around the grouping preferences stated in your intake survey, including: underrepresented status, gender, parenting, etc.
The UM System has an institutional membership to NCFDD, meaning any faculty member, post-doctoral fellow, graduate or professional student at a UM System university can access the breadth of NCFDD resources at any time. Details on how to access these materials can be found on the UM System website.
Resources for Institutional Members
