Faculty Development and Support

The Office of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology (OFDIT) provides SPS faculty with support, training, and resources. We strive to build a community of practice that promotes greater teaching effectiveness, instructional innovation, and faculty satisfaction, all with the goal of improving the quality of the student learning experience.

CUNY SPS Faculty Community Site

The CUNY SPS Faculty Community Site is hosted on the CUNY Academic Commons. New and returning faculty can find here, in one place, many of the resources, tutorials and information they seek, as well as sign up for all faculty development workshops and trainings.

Faculty Development Workshops and Real-Time Training

• Faculty with interest in learning new Brightspace techniques or other technology tools can review Brightspace Essentials
• Online workshops focused on diverse topics, highlighting best practices in teaching, are offered throughout the year
• Real-time training sessions, both scheduled and one-on-one appointments, are available year-round from our Instructional Technology staff
• Faculty Development Day is an annual event offered each spring, organized around specific pedagogical and technology topics

Accessibility and Universal Design in Learning

To help make higher education available to as many students as possible, CUNY SPS is committed to ensuring our courses meet or exceed accessibility expectations, guided by principles of Universal Design in Learning (UDL). The OFDIT team maintains the Accessibility and UDL resources page on the SPS Faculty Community site, where faculty can find links to quick guides and video tutorials for creating accessible course materials. We also offer regular synchronous online trainings on accessibility-related topics as well as a facilitated online Accessibility and UDL Workshop a few times a year. Please contact us at facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu with any questions or for more information.

Multimedia Support

Faculty teaching at CUNY SPS are encouraged to add instructor-created video content to their online and hybrid courses. To support these efforts, they have access to the Media Studio, a professional space to create a variety of instructional content such as instructor or course introductions, complete or partial discipline-specific lectures, guest lectures, and interviews. The studio is equipped with a green screen, teleprompter, and an array of A/V equipment to create high-quality recordings.

In addition to managing the studio, the OFDIT Media Team support faculty using multimedia tools, such as Panopto and VoiceThread, which are integrated into our learning management system. These tools deepen classroom connections, create community, and enhance learning. Visit the support pages for Panopto for SPS Faculty or VoiceThread at SPS for details. To contact the Media Team with questions, please email facultysupport@sps.cuny.edu.

ePortfolios

ePortfolio is an online platform where students can select, reflect, and connect their coursework and skills gained to represent their unique academic experiences at the School of Professional Studies. ePortfolios are hosted on the Digication platform and can be found in the ePortfolio Directory.

OFDIT provides faculty and students technical and administrative ePortfolio support through individual or group support sessions, instructional workshops, and a robust student and faculty resource site that includes guided tutorials, ePortfolio samples, and support channels for all users. Faculty may seek support on platform use and setup, program-specific consultations, and/or program template design. Please email: eportfolios@sps.cuny.edu for more information.

OER@SPS

SPS supports faculty and programs in the use of Open Educational Resources and Open Pedagogy and in the creation and maintenance of Zero-Textbook Cost courses. We offer workshops on OER, Open Pedagogy, and the use of OER multimedia content. SPS faculty can keep up to date on all OER activities and workshop opportunities on our OER@SPS page on the CUNY SPS Faculty Community Site.

New Faculty

New CUNY SPS faculty and course developers are enrolled in the facilitated asynchronous online "Preparation for Teaching Online" (PTO) workshop. Offered throughout the year, the 2.5 week PTO workshop prepares faculty to teach or develop online courses for SPS.

The Faculty Peer Mentoring program provides one-on-one support to new or new-to-online faculty for an entire semester from a faculty member with experience teaching online for CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS). The program offers mentoring advice on an as-needed basis, but also sets up a series of scheduled interactions at key points in the semester. If you are a new faculty member or new to online teaching, contact your academic director about being paired with a mentor.