Unlocking Faculty Potential: The Impact of Professional Development on Course Quality and Student Success

 Please Note: While attending the webinar live is free for OLC members and non-members, on-demand recordings will be available post-webinar for Professional and Institutional Members only. Consider becoming an OLC member for access to these and many other great benefits!

The better prepared that faculty members feel about their courses, the more effective they believe them to be for their students. Faculty planning and preparation can take multiple forms, with institutional-provided professional development (PD) being one of the more common. Our research indicates that faculty professional development can be very impactful, and institutions should consider how to reach more faculty with quality professional development options.

We will review the most recent data on PD and discuss the implications with our panel. Topics include the impact of PD on faculty ratings of their materials, common reasons for high and low ratings, and administrator views. 

This research comes from the latest results on curricula adoption topics in the 2023-24 survey by Bay View Analytics. This is the tenth survey in the series of annual surveys focused on curricula adoption decisions. This survey included a national representative sample of higher education faculty and administrators.

Intended Audience: 

Centers for Teaching & Learning, Instructional Designers, Faculty and Instructors

Speaker Bio

 

Jeff Seaman, Ph.D.

Director – Bay View Analytics

Dr. Jeff Seaman has worked in education information technology for over 20 years and holds degrees in Demography/Statistics, Sociology, Electrical Engineering, and Housing, all from Cornell University. He has taught social science, information technology, and statistics at several colleges and universities, including Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and. Babson College. Dr. Seaman has been conducting research on the impact of technology on higher education and K-12 for over a decade, beginning with comprehensive national studies of technology use in U.S. Higher Education. Dr. Seaman has served on academic technology advisory boards for a number of information technology companies including Apple Computer, IBM, and Microsoft.
Julia Seaman, Ph.D.

Director of Research – Bay View Analytics

Dr. Julia Seaman has extensive experience in survey research as well as competitive intelligence and translational research. She has worked and published across a wide range of qualitative and quantitative projects. Along with her publications at Bay View Analytics, Dr. Seaman’s projects include publishing on statistical practices in ASQ, and consulting for several biotechnology start-ups. Dr. Seaman has published in scientific, statistical, and quality control journals, including Cell Death and Differentiation, BMC Anesthesiology, and Journal of Quality Progress, as well as serving as statistical and scientific reviewer for BMC journals and UCSF Health Awards.
 

Ellen Farr, Ed.D.

Assistant Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning – The College of New Jersey

Ellen Farr serves as the Assistant Director of The College of New Jersey’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, bringing with her over 20 years of experience in higher education. Ellen is deeply committed to supporting faculty in their pursuit of effective course design and pedagogical goals. Her research interests include designing inclusive learning environments and promoting digital literacy. Ellen collaborates closely with campus partners to foster a culture of teaching excellence and student-centered learning. Ellen leverages her broad expertise in educational and assistive technology, web and curriculum design, grant writing and administration, assessment, and professional development for faculty, staff, K-12 teachers, parents, and students to provide comprehensive support to faculty. Ellen’s dedication to promoting inclusion and equity has been evident in her roles as a graduate and undergraduate instructor, as well as in managing numerous state and federal grants. As a higher education change agent, she is committed to enriching student experiences.


Kiran Budhrani, Ed.D.

Director, Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation – University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Dr. Kiran Budhrani is dedicated to leading transformative change in teaching and learning to impact the future workforce and a better world. Her dynamic energy, creative systems thinking, and bold ideas drive her as the Director for Teaching and Learning Innovation at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) within the School of Professional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She leads strategic initiatives and extending capabilities within teams to drive growth, excellence and student success through faculty-centered programs involving teaching innovation, generative AI, personalized and adaptive learning, learning analytics, online learning, instructional design strategies, and academic technology solutions. Her approaches are guided by transformative, authentic, and design thinking philosophies, and she enjoys creative collaboration to reimagine learning experiences.

 

Josh Herron, Ph.D.

Director of Professional Learning – Online Learning Consortium

As Director of Professional Learning, Josh guides the strategy and operations of OLC’s Institute for Professional Development. He has over twelve years of higher education leadership and instructional experience. He has also published and presented widely on higher education practices, pedagogical research, and interdisciplinary scholarship. Josh holds a Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design from Clemson University and an M.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.