Smith Center for Faculty Excellence
Welcome to the Smith Center for Faculty Excellence Website!
We are so glad that you stopped by!
We are absolutely thrilled to launch this new hub for the Smith Center for Faculty Excellence, a resource made possible by the incredibly generous endowment from Kathy '71 and Alton Smith! This significant support allows us to deepen our commitment to your growth and provide two core resources: 24/7 faculty development support for every OWU instructor, and a single spot for all Smith Center event information (upcoming, recordings, and materials).
The two main goals for this website are to provide faculty development support that is available 24/7 for all OWU instructors, including part-time instructors, and to provide information about Smith Center for Faculty Excellence events, both upcoming events and the recordings and materials from prior events.
Over the next six months, we'll be sharing a series of posts highlighting how the Smith endowment is creating exciting new professional growth opportunities for you. Each piece will directly include specific needs faculty raised in the General Education Proposal (found here), ensuring our support is responsive to your priorities for the new general education program.
So, what's new and what's continuing? We're starting with two needs noted in the proposal. For each one, we detail the foundational support we've been offering, and then share the new, enhanced opportunities coming thanks to the generous Smith Center endowed funding. See details here.
Smith Center for Faculty Excellence Events
Great Lakes College Association (GLCA)
Subscribe to the Consortium for Teaching and Learning's "News of the Week"
Faculty Spotlight
November 2025
Goran Skosples
Economics & Business
Coming soon! An interview with Goran Skosples.
Faculty Blog
November 2025
Paul Dean
Sociology & Anthropology
Paul Dean explains how class culture differences affect student experiences and provides practical strategies for supporting students.
Teaching Tips
Tips for engaged discussions all semester.
Featured Tip:
A New Foundation: Four Research-Backed Principles to Re-Engage Today's College Students
Contact Information
Dr. Barb Bird
Ohio Wesleyan University
61 S. Sandusky St.
Delaware, OH 43015
E bjbird@owu.edu