Faculty Learning Communities are communities of practice formed around topics such as online teaching, writing groups, integrated learning, active learning, and others.

Early Career Faculty Learning Community

This year-long learning community consists of monthly 2-hour sessions structured around a central theme connected to MSU’s strategic plan, and complemented by webinars from the National Center for Diversity and Development, workshops throughout the month on different topics highlighted at New Faculty Orientation. The sessions will be hosted in a Brightspace course to allow new faculty to see the tool in action and become familiar with how it is used. As follow-up, faculty will be asked to submit a reflection on each topic and participate in online discussion forums related to the session theme.

New faculty will automatically be invited to the first learning community meeting in September.

Learn more about this community

Faculty Writing Groups

The Center for Faculty Excellence created writing groups using a research based model beginning Spring 2013 and they have been extremely successful!  We will conduct an information session at the beginning of each semester on the model we have used and begin putting people into groups.  By attending the information session, you are not committed to joining a group, but you will be considered as being seriously interested.

Participating in a writing group means committing to writing at least 15 to 30 minutes a day, keeping a log of your writing, and meeting weekly with the group to share your results. The group will be expected to provide substantive input – this is not an editing group.

Email cfe@montana.edu if you are interested in joining. Keep an eye out for the information sessions this semester by watching the Upcoming Workshops section.

Common Threads Network of Indigenous Communities' Research Partners 

Common Threads is an open-invitation network for faculty, grad students & staff who are engaged off-campus with Indigenous communities conducting research and/or providing service program support. This group liaisons with the Council on American Indian Programs which focuses on American Indian student success. MSU increasingly is a leader in partnership work with Indigenous communities.  We believe it helps all of our work if we know more about what each other is doing and have the opportunity to share best practices. Indigenous partners appreciate when different partners at the university are aware of each other’s projects, and where appropriate, are collaborating with each other, to reduce the burden and increase coordination and benefits for their communities.

Contact Elizabeth Bird (ebird@montana.edu) to get connected