On September 17, 2018 Stony Brook University and the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) opened a full-service faculty development space called the Faculty Commons. Made possible by the Presidential Initiative Fund and vetted through proof of concept papers and faculty focus groups, this space aims to foster creativity, cross-discipline collaboration, and innovation in teaching strategies and educational technologies.
This space serves Graduate Teaching Assistant and Faculty. Part work space, collaboration space, social space, and coffee bar, the Faculty Commons is in a high-traffic area of the university and aims to offer faculty a one-stop-shop for instructional support. Faculty can come to consult with CELT and Library staff, explore Virtual Reality for education, try out a Lightboard for making engaging videos for lectures, attend “Lunch and Learn” presentations on teaching innovations, hold events, collaborate across departments and more.
This presentation will explore the development, staffing, programming, challenges, and future aspirations of the new Faculty Commons at SBU. We will engage the audience with presentations from different viewpoints on Commons management, anecdotes about the challenges and opportunities of the process.
LOs: Learn about Faculty Development innovations; Become familiar with SBU's programming approach; identify potential modifications for the programmatic approach.