Why faculty development?
At present, higher education is the only segment of our educational system in which teachers are never taught how to teach. To address this gap, Metro College Success Program established faculty learning communities (FLCs) to foster engaging, top-quality instruction on a large scale. FLCs have been proven to decrease faculty isolation, enhance teaching and development, and improve student outcomes. Both students and their instructors gain the advantages of teamwork to steadily build their capacities. Among the strategies we rely on is strong faculty development.
Metro's Approach
All Metro faculty participate in the Faculty Learning Community, a 45-hour professional development and supportive program in their first year of teaching in Metro. The faculty community in the Metro College Success Program consists of cross campus collaboration between faculty at City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State University in the child development, cinema, communications, engineering, English, ethnic studies, health education, math, philosophy and science departments. Our community continues to grow and our broader Metro student support network includes faculty, program coordinators, advisors and other support service providers.
Explore Contract Grading
Curious about contract grading? Check out these video overviews. For an in-depth look at how you might implement contract grading in your classroom, contact metro@sfsu.edu.
Goals of the Faculty Learning Community (FLC)
Empower
To empower faculty with tools for integrating principles of critical pedagogy management and classroom culture with community building.
Build
To build concrete skills in teaching around critical thinking, writing, oral communication and quantitative reasoning.
Student-Centered
To foster a teaching philosophy that centers around student learning and an asset-based approach to students.
Community
To build community among Metro faculty throughout SF State.
Strategize
To develop an extended toolbox of strategies and techniques that are effective in the classroom.
Openness
To develop an openness to trying new things, break down fear and shift from scarcity and competitiveness to openness and collegiality.