Advancing Success, Innovation and Inclusive Excellence
Mizzou Engineering is committed to building a culture of evidence-based, forward-looking teaching. Our professional development ecosystem supports faculty at every stage, from small course refinements to comprehensive redesign, aligned with the pillar our Strategic Plan to Educate Future Engineering Leaders.
Through structured cohorts, targeted workshops, and individualized consultations, we equip faculty to strengthen engagement, reduce attrition in foundational courses, and prepare students for an AI-enabled engineering workforce.
Our professional development opportunities include:
- Faculty Learning Community (flagship redesign initiative)
- Lunch and Learn Series (focused, practical workshops)
- Individual Course Consultations (confidential, course-specific support)
Together, these offerings support rigorous neuroinclusive and technologically sophisticated teaching across the college.
Flagship Initiative: Faculty Learning Community
The Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is the primary vehicle for advancing our NSF RED vision to build Neuroadaptive Learning Ecosystems in Engineering.
This initiative integrates:
- Neuroinclusive teaching
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- Responsible and strategic use of generative AI
The goal is for faculty to work together towards systemic improvement in high-impact courses, particularly those that serve as gateways to engineering persistence and identity formation. Participants are compensated for with a $5,000 stipend upon completion of the two components of the FLC, the Course Redesign Institute and the Summer FLC program.
Summer launch: T4LC Course Redesign Institute (July 14-30, 2026)
Selected Engineering faculty participate as a cohort within the university’s Course Redesign Institute. During this three-week intensive program, faculty:
- Identify learning bottlenecks in foundational courses
- Align outcomes, assessment and instructional design
- Embed UDL principles from the outset
- Develop AI-aware course policies and assignments
- Establish metrics to measure student engagement and performance
Following the summer institute, the Engineering cohort meets biweekly throughout the summer to further develop activities and materials for course implementation. Faculty engage in structured peer review, analyze student data, and iterate on course materials in real time. Last year’s FLC demonstrated measurable gains in engagement and course outcomes, confirming that sustained collaboration drives durable change.
A detailed Description of the Summer 2026 FLC is provided here.
Lunch and Learn Series
Throughout the academic year, we offer focused sessions on high-priority topics, including:
- Reducing DFW rates in gateway courses
- Designing AI-resilient assessments
- Building executive function supports into course structure
- Measuring engagement and belonging
These sessions provide practical tools that faculty can immediately apply.
Spring 2026: coming soon
Individual Course Consultations
Faculty may schedule one-on-one consultations with Project Manager Shannon Locke for confidential, course-specific support. Consultations can address:
- Syllabus and assignment redesign
- Accessibility and UDL alignment
- AI integration strategies
- Early-term feedback mechanisms
- Data-informed course improvement