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Summarize resources, opportunities, processes, and outcomes regarding unit facilitation of
professional development.
Eastern offers a variety of resources and opportunities for professional development. These range from
academic and professional services to teaching mentorship to social support. Full-time and part-time
faculty are provided comprehensive orientation to university's procedures and support systems during
the first week of their starting at Eastern. See the faculty and part-time faculty handbooks provided to faculty
with the web-links for relevant information. The handbooks are living documents and are continuously updated
with current materials. At the EPP, new full-time faculty are assigned an EPP mentor who guides them through
the first year, offering assistance related to curriculum development, teaching, maintaining scholarship,
travel for conferences and committee work. Part-time faculty are mentored by the Chair, and supported
similarly by the program faculty and the Coordinator of Educational and Clinical Experiences, as
appropriate.
In addition to this, several offices on campus are dedicated to the continual support and professional
development of our faculty. The library serves as a central hub and is continually evolving in its efforts
to support faculty and students in their academics. Even as it continues to offer print materials, the
library has expanded its digital resources and offers newer and better access services each year. The
Curriculum Center at the library is a dedicated center for EPP faculty and serves to connect them with P-
12 classroom resources including curricular materials, equipment and teacher tools. The Center for
Instructional Technology (CIT) serves as a technology knowledge base and training center for all faculty
and staff and provides ongoing workshops and as-needed tutoring sessions. Media Services offers
support related to audio-visual equipment, video services for creating course curriculum, technology
resources for classrooms and training related to these.
Creative activity by faculty is supported by many resources within the campus-community. Eastern's
membership in COPLAC (Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges) and the renewed work within
Undergraduate Research has led to the development of a dedicated space for supporting faculty
mentorship of student research. This committee supports faculty and students with financial and travel
assistance and is instrumental in mentoring student presentations at conferences. The university's grants
office provides support in terms of accessing and applying for external grants. Internally, the Faculty
Development Committee offers annual grants to faculty for piloting and developing innovative teaching
practices. The Dean's office encourages curriculum development work for programmatic changes with
Summer Curriculum Development funds, and works with the EPP to offer targeted, professional
development periodically. The Board of Regents of the Connecticut State University System (CSUS)
offers competitive research grants annually for faculty to engage in research within their content areas.
The faculty union and university supports professional development by allocating travel funds for
conferences to participate and to present their work. To pursue research on an in-depth basis, faculty
may petition for research release time. These are afforded for the subsequent academic year and faculty
may receive release times from 3 to 6 credits of their load. Tenured faculty may apply for sabbatical
leave to pursue research or other creative activity, every six years. Faculty are encouraged to share their
research at weekly informal lunch forums.
Professional development of faculty and staff are mentored in many ways. The newly created Office of
Professional Development (under the Office of Equity and Diversity) supports continual renewal of
faculty skills and energy by offering relevant workshops and collaborative discussions. Center for
Community Engagement supports service learning projects and courses.
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