Instructors at an event working with sticky notes.

Events, Workshops, and Communities

WMU Teaching and Learning hosts a variety of events and communities throughout the academic year. These opportunities are geared toward instructors, graduate assistants, and any others involved in creating learning experiences at Western Michigan University. Can't make it to an event? No problem! Check out our past event archive, which includes materials shared during the session and/or a session recording.

Do you not see what you are looking for here, or would you like a training or event more specific to your needs? 

Our team is available to come to a department or group meeting to facilitate specific or targeted teaching and learning training. Reach out and let us know what challenges you are hoping to solve for instructors, learners, or both and we can support you by connecting you with resources and facilitating conversations around curriculum, course design, or instructional best practices. These can be single meetings or extended workshops depending on your goals.  

Contact the Teaching and Learning Team to discuss your needs.

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

Office of Faculty Development

Applications Open for 2025 Faculty Advancement Awards

Date:  Friday, September 19     Time:  N/A      Location: Online

The Office of Faculty Development invites full-time, board-appointed early- and mid-career faculty to apply for the 2025 Faculty Advancement Awards to participate in Rethinking Your Research Funding Course, a four-week virtual course beginning on Oct. 6, offered by the NCFDD. The course supports professional advancement by helping faculty build sustainable research funding strategies and explore alternative sources of funding. Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the objectives of the NCFDD course and awardee commitment (linked below) before applying.
 
  • Three awards will be granted to support faculty participation in this opportunity. 
  • The deadline to apply is Sept. 19.
  • Awardees will be notified on Sept. 26 to ensure timely registration before the Oct. 2 deadline.
 
NCFDD virtual courses are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

Office of Faculty Development

Early Career Faculty Seminar

Dates: October 6, November 3, December 8     Time:  1-2:30 p.m.      Location: In-Person

Western Michigan University invites new and early-career faculty to sign up for the 2025–26 Early Career Faculty Seminar (ECFS), a yearlong program hosted by the Office of Faculty Development. Through monthly sessions, participants engage with University leaders, senior faculty, and campus partners to support professional development, strengthen faculty networks, and promote early-career success at Western.
 
Fall sessions will be held in person from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, Nov. 3 and Dec. 8. Spring sessions will be held virtually, with dates and times selected by participants in December. The deadline to sign up is Sept. 22, 2025.

NCFDD

Core Curriculum Workshops: SKILL #9: How to Engage in Healthy Conflict

Date:  Thursday, October 9     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

Academics are notoriously conflict avoidant and the inability to manage conflict can result in negative physical, emotional, and relational consequences for tenure-track faculty. So why not learn early in your career to master the SKILL of healthy conflict so that you can effectively manage conflicts as they arise and avoid carrying around all of the negative energy, anger, and resentment in your mind and body. In this webinar, you will learn how conflict-management is an essential part of thriving in the Academy, how to decide when to push back and when to pull back in the face of conflict, and more.

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

NCFDD

Building Strong Peer Communities: A Resource for Leadership and Advancement

Date:  Thursday, October 30     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

This interactive webinar will introduce a resource to build and sustain teams of peer support. Peer mentoring strengthens individual and institutional abilities to meet evolving challenges through enhanced personal and professional support leading to improved campus climate. A guidebook will be shared that provides impactful approaches to build community to combat isolation and tools to create systemic change.

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

NCFDD

Core Curriculum Workshops: SKILL #10: How to Manage Stress, Rejection & the Haters in Your Midst

Date:  Thursday, November 13     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

Are you stressed? Do you feel devastated when your articles and/or grant proposals get rejected? Is the pressure of publishing/funding your work making you sick? If any of this sounds familiar and you have difficulty managing the negative energy and rejection in your environment, please join us to learn the impact that stress and negativity can have if they are not managed, identify the most common areas of stress in academic life, and concrete strategies for managing the physical, emotional, and attitudinal effects of stress.

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.