Call for Facilitators! Faculty Learning Communities

Introducing Faculty Learning Communities

Launching in 2025-26, Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are a new and exciting opportunity for connection and professional growth at Dawson.  Miami University, which has been running a successful FLC program since 1979, describes an FLC as “a specifically structured learning community of faculty and staff in higher education that includes the goals of building community, engaging in scholarly practice, and developing the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).”

These new Faculty Learning Communities help advance several of the goals of Dawson’s strategic plan, including well-being for all, creating caring learning communities, and enhancing student success through “a coordinated, evidence-based approach to improving the quality of academic programs.” Research demonstrates that learning communities can decrease feelings of isolation and burnout for faculty, provide intellectual stimulation, and allow faculty to take ownership over their own professional development. All of this can have a tangible benefit to the students’ success and well-being.

The demands of an FLC are not overly taxing and need not add much to a teacher’s already strenuous workload. In fact, work done over the course of the FLC can have the dual benefit of increasing student success and saving teachers time and effort.

An FLC would run for one semester or one year, meeting approximately 3 times per semester. Each FLC would have a facilitator, who plans the agenda for meetings, chooses resources, and manages the group. Each group would have 5-10 participants who attend meetings, discuss resources, share ideas, and develop shared artifacts.

Through the process, each FLC will produce one group deliverable. All participants will contribute, and the facilitator will put everything together and disseminate the final product to the greater Dawson community. Examples of deliverables could be course documents (assignments, rubrics, activities, etc.), a workshop or other event, resource webpage, a blog, a podcast, etc. Something that can live on after the group has finished its process and continue to benefit faculty, staff, and students.

The goals and mandate of Faculty Learning Communities program are:

• Allow for as many faculty as possible to engage with the scholarship of teaching and learning
• Nourish the sense of community among faculty and professionals
• Allow for interdisciplinary collaboration to work together on common challenges and interests
• Nourish a culture of Dawson as a learning institution
• Advance the goals and mission of the strategic plan
• Investigate how difference can be an asset to enhance teaching and learning
• Employ self-reflection as a powerful teaching and learning tool

Each FLC will have its own specific goals and objectives, determined by its members in conjunction with the Office of Academic Development.

Interested in starting an FLC? Here is the Facilitator Application Form. You are encouraged to consult with a member of the FLC steering committee as you complete your application.

Here are some examples of current and past FLCs at Miami University.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please reach out to the FLC Steering committee: FLC@dawsoncollege.qc.ca

The FLC Steering Committee is Jeff Gandell, Robert Stephens, Selma Hamdani, Chantale Giguere, Cathy Roy, and Julia Lijeron.