This report provides insights into VITAL faculty members’ engagement in sustained professional development (SPD) programs, such as faculty learning communities. Throughout the report, we examine how differences in VITAL faculty’s career characteristics (e.g., full-time or part-time, promotion opportunities and contract…

SEL is predicated on the idea that effective DEI leadership requires a collaborative approach rather than one that is siloed or isolated to a single leader or office. In this practice brief, we highlight some of the common challenges we…

College and university campuses need new and creative strategies for continuing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals amidst today’s challenging cultural and political landscape. One such strategy is shared equity leadership (SEL), which broadly distributes responsibility for DEI…

This guide was developed from recently conducted research on the importance of structured support in STEM PhD programs. The project, led by Drs. Ben Zwickl & Mike Verostek, highlights the challenges students face — whether they are exploring their research…

At Michigan State University (MSU), a public research institution and a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and AAU, the College of Arts & Letters has been working since 2016 to improve the academic environment for VITAL faculty and…

The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA), a public research university, has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving working conditions for VITAL faculty with a 20-year track record of progressive policies to improve the support for them. This commitment is manifested…

San Jacinto College (SJC) is a large, two-year, public community college located in Texas, serving a diverse student body with more than 64% identifying as Hispanic or Latino. The college’s mission is centered on student success, academic progress, four-year transfer,…

Over the past nine years, CTF have accounted for steadily increasing share of total faculty, from 19% in 2015 to 26% in 2023. CTF serve in roles primarily focused on teaching or service. This case study begins with an overview…

This report analyzes the design process that campus teams use to create sustained professional development (SPD) programs such as faculty learning communities for VITAL faculty. This report can be useful for educational developers and others who plan sustained professional development…

This report describes the two-year pilot study of how best to create a national study of faculty working at non-profit colleges and universities of all types across the country, given the social media and survey research environment of the 2020s.