Welcome, new faculty!

The Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning would like to extend a warm welcome to faculty new to The Ohio State University this autumn.

The Drake Institute advances evidence-based teaching practices, research and professional learning opportunities for faculty at any level in their careers. We strive to position Ohio State as a national leader in teaching and learning within a research university setting. When our faculty are better instructors, our students are more likely to have transformational learning experiences in the classroom.

The Drake Institute has a number of resources to help new faculty get acquainted to Ohio State, refine their teaching practices and build communities of mentors and peers. Presentation slides and resources from New Faculty Orientation are also available for reference. For regular updates from the Drake Institute, including information about new workshops, events and grant opportunities, subscribe to our biweekly newsletter.

Teaching@OhioState: This self-guided online course provides an introduction to teaching resources at Ohio State, including opportunities for new faculty to reflect on their current teaching practice and learn evidence-based strategies for connecting with students. New faculty will be automatically enrolled in Teaching@OhioState and will see the program when they are logged into Carmen. (Make sure “other” and “student” are selected in your filters.)

New Faculty FIT program: Faculty Foundation, Impact, Transformation (FIT) is a yearlong program for new and developing faculty. Faculty FIT begins with a kickoff event at New Faculty Orientation. From there, new faculty have the option to join small mentoring cohorts of three to four new faculty and one experienced Ohio State faculty mentor who has been hand-picked and is known for excellent teaching. Cohorts typically meet monthly throughout the academic year. New faculty are also invited to engage in workshops, online courses and events sponsored by the Drake Institute and its partners.

Teaching Endorsements: Endorsements are credentials provided by the Drake Institute to reward and identify faculty who pursue teaching excellence and professional development opportunities. The Drake Institute offers endorsements for a variety of professional development opportunities including inclusive teaching, teaching online and course design.

Instructional Redesign: Instructional Redesign (IR) encourages Ohio State instructors to identify, implement and assess evidence-based teaching practices in their courses, with a goal of improving student learning outcomes. Instructors are required to test new instructional strategies or redesign a strategy they have used in the past, and submit a portfolio demonstrating their effectiveness in a course. Faculty who complete IR are eligible for one-time compensation every five years.

Consultations: The Drake Institute offers consultations on a range of topics including evidence-based assessment and instructional strategies, inclusive teaching in various learning contexts, instructional redesign (developing assignments to meet learning outcomes and student engagement) and classroom/learning context management. Contact drakeinstitute@osu.edu to schedule an appointment.