Faculty Development
In an effort to develop a dynamic faculty for our programs, instructors from Georgia are able to travel to San Diego to be paired with an SDSU faculty member in their same discipline. This mentorship is intended to help support the teaching and research interests of the visitor and to encourage collaboration between SDSU and SDSU Georgia.
Additional goals of these faculty-development visits are to:
- Build general familiarity with SDSU and its programs
- Develop teaching skills within specific courses that the visitor might later assist or teach in Georgia
- Develop laboratory skills in cases with laboratory courses
- Develop an understanding of SDSU’s assessment practices
- Build collaborations with SDSU faculty, both in terms of teaching and research
- Build awareness and familiarity with SDSU culture and function
- Train faculty to coach Capstone Projects
During their visits, faculty observe instruction and review required course materials, with a focus on the expectations of accreditation agencies for syllabi, course schedules, program and course student learning outcomes, exams and homework, course and student assessment, and advising.
Visitors also are given opportunities to observe interactions between SDSU professors and students in advising and course-related capacities. By observing the advising process, visiting faculty gain familiarity with SDSU curricula and the range of pedagogical methods used in informal settings.
Direct and indirect training on accreditation-related assessment instruments also is provided during the visits. The training also includes the use of online tools, such as Blackboard (course management system) and WEAVE (assessment archiving system), which are used in the SDSU-Georgia program.
Some visiting professors also have gained experience with asynchronous video casting platforms used at SDSU, which will support their participation in co-teaching in different modalities once they begin instruction.
In Engineering disciplines and when otherwise appropriate, visiting faculty also receive training in ABET accreditation standards.
All visiting Georgian faculty also meet with SDSU Department Chairs and Deans and with the SDSU Provost and other administrators at SDSU for discussions about administrative structure and shared governance involving administrators, faculty, staff, and students.