Landing a job teaching at a community college or university is highly competitive in today's budget conscious environment. This program will help you develop the pedagogical knowledge and instructional skills you need to stand out to prospective employers or move up the pay scale with current employers.

Participants will leave the program with:

• A deeper understanding of the unique challenges and roles required to be successful in the higher education environment
• Teaching strategies and techniques for developing a student-centered model for learning, tailored to your area of expertise
• Hands on experience connecting educational theory with classroom practice
• Opportunity to grow their professional network through interaction with Humboldt instructors, mentors on college campuses and fellow students in program
• A portfolio of professional artifacts for use in future job applications.

Anyone with a Bachelor's degree who is interested in a career in higher education might benefit from this program. In particular, this program is ideal for:

• Community college instructors looking to enhance their knowledge of higher education practices, looking for a competitive edge while seeking full-time employment or simply a way to obtain credits to move up the pay scale in their current position
• Professionals interested in transitioning their careers and/or sharing their content expertise in a higher education setting
• Graduate students completing their master's degree and preparing to move into the education workforce
• K-12 teachers interested in learning more about teaching at the college level

The Faculty Preparation program instructors are sensitive to the fact that most participants must balance full-time work or graduate school, families and other responsibilities. Depending on your teaching experience, the courses will take about 10 hours of time each week. Most instructors use a consistent pattern of requirements and assignments each week to offer flexibility while maintaining active participation. For example, a typical week might look like this: The week begins on a Sunday with assigned reading for the first few days followed by student interaction through a discussion forum (online) midweek and, finally, weekly assignments due by the next Sunday evening.

Currently, only one of these classes requires a textbook. EDUC X509, Instructional Planning and Pedagogical Practice, the third course in the series, requires that students purchase the book, Tools for Teaching, 2nd edition, by Barbara Gross Davis (ISBN: 978-0-7879-6567-9, Jossey-Bass).