Founded in 1994, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development (CAT+FD) is a dynamic unit that promotes Xavier University of Louisiana’s mission through the development of faculty across all career stages and areas of professional responsibility. Although our initial focus was primarily pedagogical, we now provide support for teaching, scholarship, service, and work-life balance. We do this through our comprehensive facilities and resources, creative and relevant workshops and initiatives, and expert staff. (Read our full statement of Mission, Vision and Values.) We enjoy broad participation from faculty in both colleges and all academic departments.

CAT+FD is a busy unit. We facilitate a year-long Teaching Portfolio Working Group in which faculty create a foundational collection of teaching materials. We run a Faculty Writing Group each semester that seeks to create a community of teacher-scholars supporting each other, investing in the practice of daily writing, and increasing their scholarly output. CAT+FD implements an annual mentorship education program, both in-person and online, that is designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to mentor and advise undergraduate students, especially those engaged in research. We provide faculty development support for our Learning Management System (Brightspace) with custom-designed tutorials and online courses plus regular workshops and one-to-one consultations. We also organize and implement New Faculty Orientation as well as monthly brown bags to integrate our new colleagues into the Xavier community. Finally, our reach goes beyond Xavier faculty with the content in our (nationally recognized) blog and (long-running) podcast. This is not an exhaustive list of our activities. We haven't even mentioned almost weekly workshops offered throughout the semester on various topics. Hopefully this gives some indication about what keeps our four full-time and two part-time staff busy.

Contact Information

Staff

Dr. Joseph Drexler-Dreis
Teaching Portfolio Working Group Leader

Bart Everson
Creative Generalist for Faculty Development

Janice Florent
Technology Coordinator

Dr. Mark A. Gstohl
Associate Director for Programming

Dr. Raven Jackson
Faculty-in-Residence for New Faculty Support

Dr. Elizabeth Manley
Xavier Faculty Writing Group Leader

Carla Simmons
Administrative Specialist

Dr. Jason S. Todd
Director

Mr. Jeremy Tuman
Faculty-in-Residence for Part-Time Faculty Support