Transforming Teaching to Generate Student Success
Mission, Philosophy and Strategic Planning
Our Mission
The Office of Faculty Development strives to foster a culture that promotes excellence in teaching, advances inclusion, equality, and equity, fosters collaboration, and supports faculty in their efforts to explore innovative, evidence-informed teaching methods that generate student success.
To fulfill its mission, the Office of Faculty Development in collaboration with other institutional partners seeks to provide learning and support to the faculty of the University of California at Riverside School of Medicine and transform teaching through training, workshops, professional learning communities, and consultation.
Philosophy
We believe that great educators have a passion for learning and that the best faculty are life-long learners who strive to improve their teaching practice. To foster teaching excellence within the SOM, faculty need ongoing and regular faculty development opportunities. An inclusive faculty development program must encourage the involvement of different segments of the college community. An effective faculty development program must address the needs of the faculty while remaining flexible and innovative enough to move with changing times. Faculty development programs should foster a learner-centered model and be grounded in evidence-based teaching practice. To ensure our efforts are effective, the Office of Faculty Development places a high value on sustainability.
Strategic Initiatives
The following strategic initiatives help define the direction of the Office of Faculty Development and inform programmatic decision making.
- Needs Assessment: Regular, ongoing needs assessment is a key factor in ensuring that the Office of Faculty Development provides programs that consistently meet the needs of the UCR SOM growing and diverse faculty. Informal needs assessment derives from conversations with key stakeholders and attendance at key School of Medicine meetings. Formal assessment is done on an annual basis and includes surveys and other metrics.
- Develop high-quality faculty development programs: Creating dynamic faculty development programs is a clear and ongoing purpose of the Office of Faculty Development. To achieve this key goal, programs need to focus on creating a learner-centered approach to teaching. To ensure we maximize available resources, the Office of Faculty Development is committed to developing ongoing and sustainable partnerships both within and without the UCR community.
- Developing resources for the Office of Faculty Development: A sustainable source of funding must be secured to meet the needs of a growing medical school. Developing an ongoing method for funding the Office of Faculty Development operations is a key component of long-term growth and sustainability.
- Active outreach: To meet the needs of a diverse faculty the Office of Faculty Development engages in active efforts to reach out to both the campus and the local community. Utilizing education as a focal point, the Office of Faculty Development seeks to demonstrate our commitment to equality and equity by developing programs and partnerships that will further our mission and the mission of the UCR School of Medicine.
- Evaluation of Programs and Services: Evaluation of program effectiveness is vital in maintaining and measuring the impact of the Office of Faculty Development. Evaluations are provided for all formal faculty development programs. Data from these evaluations are collected, analyzed, shared and used to inform programmatic decision making. The Office of Faculty Development partners with the Office of Assessment and Evaluation to ensure that programs are assessed in a manner that generates meaningful, actionable data.