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Jess Cook
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Each year, the Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) partners with faculty and staff from across the university to host Faculty Professional Learning Communities (FPLCs): intentionally small communities of practice where faculty, librarian, and staff participants have the opportunity to build relationships, engage in meaningful conversation, and learn alongside colleagues.
Thank you to everyone who shared their interest in proposed topics last spring. Your responses helped us determine the six FPLCs we are offering this academic year!
Signup Process
To sign up for an FPLC, please use the FPLC 2026-2027 Signup Form, even if you previously indicated interest during the spring survey. To create opportunities for as many colleagues as possible, we ask that participants join one FPLC per semester. You are welcome to choose a full-year FPLC or combine a fall-semester and spring-semester FPLCs.
Signup deadline: Friday, September 18, 2026.
Stipend and Participation
Faculty (full-time and part-time) and MSCA librarians are eligible for stipends, provided they meet all FPLC participation expectations. Participation includes:
- Attending FPLC meetings and events regularly, as determined by the facilitator(s)
- Engaging with readings, research, and related activities
- Collaborating on the shared outcomes or deliverables
- Completing a brief end-of-experience survey.
Please note: While administrators and staff are warmly welcomed to join FPLCs, we are currently unable to provide additional compensation to members of APA, AFSCME unions and NUP.
FPLC Topics and Descriptions
Fall 2026
Teaching within a Spiritual Life
- Facilitated by James P. Gubbins (Interdisciplinary Studies)
- Fall 2026
- Meeting Tuesdays 1:40-2:55pm every other week, virtually with possibility of 1 or 2 in-person.
Many of us faculty have some kind of spiritual life that has an impact on our teaching. That spiritual life may be belonging to a religion, practicing spiritual exercises such as meditation or yoga, or having a reflective habit such as keeping a diary. We already know our spiritual life informs aspects of what we cover in our courses and how we connect with our students. This Faculty Professional Learning Community affords us the opportunity to: (1) clarify our spiritual commitments and how we want to turn those commitments into learning objectives and (2) identify and experiment with pedagogical techniques that bring these commitments into our classrooms.
Eligible participants will receive a $500 stipend upon submission of FPLC deliverable.
Pedagogy for Part-Time Faculty
- Facilitated by Taylor Philcrantz (Psychology; CTI part-time faculty fellow) and Jess Cook (CTI; English)
- Fall 2026 (approximately October 1-November 30)
- Meetings: Asynchronous via Canvas, with options for Zoom meet-ups
As adjunct, temporary, and visiting faculty, we bring significant disciplinary and professional expertise to the classroom. At the same time, many of us have had limited opportunities for formal preparation in the theories and practices of college teaching. “Pedagogy for Part-Time Faculty” is designed to introduce faculty from all disciplines and backgrounds to current pedagogical approaches and evidence-based teaching practices that support our students’ learning and growth.
Connecting asynchronously via Canvas (with optional Zoom meetings), we'll learn about, discuss, and apply foundational concepts in higher education, including backward course design, inclusive and trauma-informed pedagogies, transparent assignment design, and authentic assessment, grading, and feedback. Together, we'll reflect on how these evidence-based approaches can help us develop teaching styles and classroom practices that respond to the needs of Salem State students while being grounded in our disciplinary contexts.
While this FPLC is designed with part-time and temporary faculty in mind, it is open to anyone interested in expanding their pedagogical toolkit.
Eligible participants will receive a $500 stipend upon engagement in at least four (of five) Canvas discussion boards and submission of a reflective artifact by the end of the semester.
Spring 2027
Embodied Learning Through Visual Language: An Interdisciplinary Approach
- Facilitated by Tereza Swanda (Art + Design)
- Spring 2027
- The FPLC will follow a hybrid format, beginning with an in-person session in a studio setting to establish community and introduce core concepts. Meetings will then alternate between virtual (Zoom) sessions—supporting those teaching online or hybrid courses—and in-person studio sessions focused on hands-on, embodied practice. The series will conclude with a final in-person gathering in the studio to share outcomes and reflect on the experience.
This FPLC explores how embodied, hands-on practice can be integrated with theory through visual language across disciplines. Grounded in the idea that visual communication can transcend time, space, and culture, this group will examine how making can function as a form of inquiry, critical thinking, and dialogue. As a collaborative learning community, participants will experiment with approaches that connect practice and theory—whether through studio-based methods, reflective exercises, or discussion-based frameworks. Drawing on models such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and projects that link art history and contemporary practice, members will develop strategies to engage students in more meaningful, experiential learning. This FPLC is especially suited for faculty interested in bridging making, thinking, and communication in ways that remain deeply human and accessible beyond AI-driven processes.
Eligible participants will receive a $500 stipend upon submission of FPLC deliverable.
Building Our Students’ Reading Skills: Supporting Disciplinary Literacy at the University Level
- Facilitated by Jacy Ippolito (Secondary and Higher Education) and Jim McGrath (Center for Teaching Innovation)
- Spring 2027
- Monthly meetings for ~2 hours. In-person desirable, but Hyflex/Zoom as needed. Exact days/times to be determined in consultation with participants.
Have you recently wondered, “Is it just me, or are my students struggling to read and understand course material more than in the past?” You aren’t alone! We are witnessing a perfect storm of reading challenges at the university level—the result of recent shifts in K-12 literacy instruction, the rise of AI (artificial intelligence), and the generational shift towards screens over books. Therefore, in this FPLC, we will collaboratively explore ways in which faculty can directly support students in acquiring high levels of discipline-specific literacy skills (i.e., reading like an artist, a biologist, a historian, a mathematician, etc.). “Disciplinary literacy” (DL) is the study of the unique ways that professionals read, write, and communicate in the various disciplines and related professions, to understand and share complex content. Participants in this FPLC will learn research-based DL methods for supporting students’ literacy skills as they tackle increasingly complex, discipline-specific texts.
Eligible participants will receive a $500 stipend upon submission of FPLC deliverable.
Full-Year FPLCs
Teaching Through Curious Questions to Foster Students’ Civic Identity and Engagement
- Facilitated by Jonathan Simmons (Childhood Education and Care; Faculty Fellow for the Center for Civic Engagement) and Sara Moore (Sociology; Faculty Fellow for the Berry Institute of Politics)
- Full year 2026-2027 (fall and spring semesters)
- Meetings: in person every two weeks for two hours (hopefully including lunch brought to us by CCE) and then in the spring 4 in person sessions and 4 virtual project collaboration sessions
Join us for a year-long faculty learning community to learn strategies and structures for bringing curious questions to your teaching, how to use discussion to deepen student engagement, and how to strengthen classroom relationships and engage with questions of ethics and the public good in your content area.
Participants will redesign elements of a course, using a “curious questions” approach to help students explore their civic identity. Additionally, participants will design a course-based project that helps students make connections between their own civic identities and community challenges. Faculty will receive support to develop these strategies and opportunities, and to build community connections they can use in their redesigned course if they choose. Learn the principles of equitable community-engaged partnerships and explore ways to foster relationship building and curiosity in your course and in the community!
Eligible participants will receive a $1000 stipend in Spring 2027, upon submission of FPLC deliverable.
Keeping the Continuum in Mind: Best Practices for Honoring Mental Health and Neurodiversity
- Facilitated by Kathleen Schlenz and Jean MacLachlan (Occupational Therapy)
- Full year 2026-2027 (fall and spring semesters)
- Monthly Zoom meetings in fall, and hybrid model in spring (2 in-person meetings)
Do you struggle with how to meet the individualized needs of others without compromising your own? Are you uncertain about how to create environments that support mental health and neurodiversity? We all live and learn on a dynamic continuum of mental health and neurodiversity. Embracing a “one-size-fits-none” philosophy, this FPLC will leverage reflective practice and evidence-informed resources to explore a breadth of options for authentically honoring difference. Through collaborative inquiry, members will meet to review and discuss readings, media, and personal testimony, with the intention that all members will identify mental health and neuro-affirming practices that serve students’ and their own unique capacities. Monthly Zoom meetings will be scheduled collaboratively in the fall. In the spring, we anticipate a hybrid monthly meeting schedule allowing for at least two in-person meetings formatted as work groups for the co-creation of a curated inventory of resources for faculty highlighting preferred mental health and neuro-affirming practices.
Eligible participants will receive a $1000 stipend in Spring 2027, upon submission of FPLC deliverable.