In Summer 2023, Worcester State sponsored 4 Distinguished Graduate Fellows through a Massachusetts Department of Higher Education pilot program that aims to support early career development for ALANA/BIPOC (African, Latinx, Asian, Native American and/or Black, Indigenous, People of Color) graduate students on the path to professorships.The 10-week “Welcoming, Inclusive, and Supportive Environments Program,” or WISE, is open to any doctoral or MFA student in any U.S. program outside of Worcester State doing research or creative work. Supported by the Department of Higher Education’s Higher Education Innovation Fund, fellows are paired with a Worcester State faculty member for mentoring with a focus on diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice. Check out the WSU News celebrating the Summer 2023 cohort.
2023 WISE Fellows
2023 WISE Mentors
New faculty development kicks off with an intensive August workshop and is then anchored in a year-long “New Faculty Seminar Series” that serves as both an induction to the WSU community and cultivation of a personal pedagogy toolkit. In participating, new faculty experience a cohort community while also gaining exposure to a wide range of experienced colleagues across disciplines.
New Faculty Fall 2025 Series
Thursday, October 23 @ 2:30PM
Friday, October 24 @ 11:00AM
Thursday, October 30 @ 2:30 PM
Topics and questions TBD! Questions? Contract cteachlearn@worcester.edu
This tenure-track faculty development program focuses on teaching effectiveness and innovation, while also cultivating faculty leaders and building connectedness across the university community. As part of a competitive application process, each participant commits to a three-semester learning community that results in a teaching and learning project. Funding is provided by the President’s Office strategic planning initiative.
2022 Fellows
Project- Flipping the Classroom: Increasing Student Engagement in an Introduction to Functions Course; Joint Mathematics Meeting 2024 Abstract
Project- Developing Online Teaching Tools for Online for Continuing Education Classes
Project- The Fiction of Fluency: Teaching Disability Studies through Literature
Project- Pathways to Belonging in Science: Including Diverse Scientists and Health Disparities in the Anatomy & Physiology Classroom; Human Anatomy and Physiology Society 2024 Abstract
2023 Fellows
Project- Redesigning the Introduction to Programming Course Using a Project-Based Learning Approach; Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Northeast Region Poster & Talk 2024
Project- Developing Coloring and Drawing Activities for Undergraduate Neuroscience Courses; National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology Poster 2024
Project- The Role of the Global South in Creating and Shaping the United Nations
Faculty Mentors
The Mid Career Leadership Learning Community invites tenured faculty to prepare for the myriad of higher ed leadership roles: department chair, director of a professional organization, editor of a journal, academic affairs administrator, or program facilitator. Within this learning community, participants engage in a leadership curriculum that values different leadership styles, network with WSU colleagues outside their departments as well as external higher ed stakeholders, and collaborate on inter-disciplinary projects aligned with institutional priorities. In Summer 2025, Mid Career faculty traveled to Washington, DC to participate in the Teaching Professor Annual Conference thanks to support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Student Success Funds.
Mid Career Leadership Learning Community 2024-25:
The importance of the legacy stage of the professoriate is often overlooked. This program spotlights faculty members approaching retirement and provides them opportunities to continue their involvement with the institution in meaningful ways. The program includes a faculty learning community for those nearing retirement or with 20 years or more of service, allowing them to share their expertise, mentor others, and exercise their leadership skills. The program aims to preserve and disseminate the knowledge, expertise, and experiences of the retiring faculty members for the benefit of future generations of faculty and students. In 2025, Mary Fowler, Faculty Fellow for Equity, facilitates a pilot for this program with her Data Analysis w/R and Tidyverse initiative. Leading her colleagues, Mary is building a foundation of data analysis from a social justice lens while also promoting open source statistical software R. This programming is made possible by Commonwealth of Massachusetts Student Success Funds.
