Office of Faculty Development

What We Do

OFD supports faculty across career stages and academic disciplines and across the full scope of academic work, including teaching and mentoring, scholarship and creative activity, service, leadership, and professional growth. Through this work, OFD contributes to both faculty success and student learning and success.

We provide faculty-led and peer-based programs, workshops, seminars, working groups, and individual consultations, along with grants, awards, and leadership development opportunities, in collaboration with WMU partners. OFD also provides professional and instructional development opportunities for professional (part-time) instructors and graduate teaching assistants (GTA).

OFD Mission

The mission of Western Michigan University's Office of Faculty Development is to foster a culture of excellence at the University that promotes student success, faculty growth and vitality, and institutional excellence. The office will achieve this mission through collaborative efforts with WMU units, and with programs designed to:

• Provide leadership and support for innovation in teaching.
• Sustain growth among faculty across career span and across disciplines.
• Develop leadership capacity across all levels of the university.
• Support and engage in scholarship that extends knowledge base in these arenas.

Faculty-Led, Peer-Based Model

OFD is a faculty-led, peer-based office within the Office of the Provost. The WMU-AAUP Agreement establishes the OFD Advisory Board to represent faculty development needs, issues, and concerns from across WMU. The Board works closely with Faculty Senate and teaching and learning partners across campus to help ensure faculty support is comprehensive and integrated.