Career Moves in Educational Development

How does one move from faculty member to faculty developer? What are the pathways into professional roles at centers for teaching and learning? And why are educational developers so important to higher education with

This week on the Intentional Teaching podcast, I talk with Leslie Cramblet Alvarez and Chris Hakala about their book Understanding Educational Developers: Tales from the Center and about the state of the field of educational development in 2025. Leslie is assistant vice provost and director of the Office of Teaching and Learning at the University of Denver. Chris is director for the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship and professor of psychology at Springfield College.

Leslie and Chris share their own stories of moving into first faculty and then faculty development roles, and we talk about that faculty-to-faculty-developer pathway as a common but not universal way into the field. They make a strong pitch for the value of centers for teaching and learning during this challenging time for higher ed, and they offer advice for faculty considering a move into a faculty development role, as well as for those of us current working at CTLs trying to plan our careers.

​You can listen to my conversation with Leslie Cramblet Alvarez and Chris Hakala here, or search for "Intentional Teaching" in your favorite podcast app.

Research Student Perspectives on AI

One of my co-authors on the forthcoming Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, Annette Vee, is leading an online workshop next week sharing some of her strategies for better understanding how students use and think about generative AI. It's a free workshop hosted by Norton, and it's scheduled for Tuesday, November 11th, at 2pm Central.

Here's what Annette posted about the workshop: "There's a lot of data out there now on student uses of AI, but the best data is *your* data. Join the workshop to get access to survey questions, study methodologies and ideas for learning more about your students and AI!"

I would totally attend, but I'll be flying to Virginia for my fall visit to UVA! But I hope you can make it. You can register for the free workshop here.

Thanks for reading!

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