The FCTL would like to extend a very warm welcome back to campus to all faculty members! As you begin to get into the swing of things this spring, consider giving yourself a path to community, development, and growth in the coming months by joining one of the spring 2026 faculty learning communities (FLCs). FLCs are communities of practice that invite MSU faculty members to join together to learn in depth about a stated topic related to teaching and learning. These groups are created and facilitated by faculty members, and foster connection, community, and development that can’t be found anywhere else on campus. If you’re interested in diving deeper into teaching and learning practices, increasing your scholarly productivity, and getting to know faculty from all across campus this semester, then take a look at our list of still available spring 2026 FLCs below and follow the instructions to sign up for your group now!

Teaching with AI Groups

Multiple Teaching with AI Groups are being offered this semester by different facilitators from across the colleges. Each college has their own set of applications for and challenges to overcome with AI in the classroom, and these groups provide you the perfect place to meet with others in your general discipline to explore your options and dive deeper into what AI can offer your area of expertise.

Each Teaching with AI group is facilitated primarily by one faculty member, and meets on its own schedule. Facilitators for the Spring Semester are:

Dr. Jeffrey L. Foster, Associate Professor in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Science

Heather L. Walters, Senior Instructor in the Communication, Media, Journalism and Film Department

Dr. Ximena Uribe-Zarain, Associate Professor in the School of Special Education, Leadership, and Professional Studies

Dr. Theresa Odun-Ayo, Program Director of the Cooperative Engineering Program

Dr. Matthew R. Siebert, Associate Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department

To learn more about these groups, find the individual schedules for the groups, and sign up through My Learning Connection, visit the FLCs webpage here. 

Exploring Open Educational Resources (OER) for Your Courses

Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials that are freely available to the public, and can be adapted, utilized, or redistributed by anyone without permission. These valuable yet underutilized resources contain the potential to promote equal access to education for all students in the classroom, cutting costs for instructor and student alike. This FLC, facilitated by Tracy Stout, will dive deeper into what qualifies something as an OER, what proper use of OER entails, and the broader world of open licensing and open pedagogy. Participants can expect to learn the benefits and barriers of OER, how to set goals for OER integration and use, and more about other zero cost resource options.

To learn more about this group, visit this blog post. To sign up through My Learning Connection, visit the FLCs webpage.

Information Literacy in an AI Era

Facilitated by John Turner and Dr. Cynthia Johnson, this FLC seeks to understand what exactly AI literacy is – and how to cultivate it ethically – in a world when the skill is quickly becoming highly sought-after by employers. This FLC guides participants as they examine their options as instructors and assists them as they make decisions regarding AI course policies.

To learn more about this group and sign up through My Learning Connection, visit the FLCs webpage here.

Sustainability Fellows

The Sustainability Fellows Program at Missouri State University is a learning community for faculty, staff, and students dedicated to advancing sustainability efforts at MSU. One goal of the program is to foster a shared understanding of sustainability and to recognize how the pillars of sustainability can be integrated into discipline-specific learning across disciplines. Facilitators for this FLC include Dr. David R. Perkins, Doug Neidigh, and Alan S. Tinkler.

Learn more about this FLC and sign up through My Learning Connection by visiting the FLC webpage here.

Questions?

For more information about these FLCs (or for answers to any inquiries you may have), visit the FCTL website or email us. We look forward to promoting community and learning in partnership with our inspirational faculty members this spring!