Physical Therapy Faculty Development Workshop - Virtual - 2026

Workshop Goals:

1. Introduce novice faculty to established roles in the academy.
2. Facilitate professional growth of developing faculty members.
3. Cultivate a network of academic colleagues among workshop participants and facilitators.
4. Create a professional development plan incorporating elements of teaching, scholarship and service.
5. Design instructional activities and assessment methods that reflect contemporary best practices.
6. Examine the integration of cultural humility within the physical therapy curricula.
   
   

Focused Learning Opportunities:

1. Discussions on balancing responsibilities of teaching, research and service as the new faculty member acclimates to a role in higher education.
2. Applying core principles of teaching and learning, using best practices in course development, student assessments, and student engagement.
3. Fostering professionalism and coaching.
4. Focusing on the unique role of the Director of Clinical Education (DCE) as a member of the faculty team.
5. Individual or small group consulting opportunities with faculty facilitators during the workshop.
6. Post course synchronous networking and follow-up for participants.
   
   

Participants:

This workshop is designed for full time PTA or DPT faculty who have less than 5 years of experience within academia. The virtual workshop is limited to 40 participants. The virtual workshop will be offered with a balance of asynchronous (i.e. on your own time) materials coupled with live synchronous sessions held via ZOOM scheduled March 2 – 4 from 10 – 6 EST with an optional half-day workshop for Directors of Clinical Education on March 5 from 10 – 2 EST. The majority of workshop materials will be shared via Box (a free Box account is available). To maximize your learning and be eligible for continuing education units (i.e., CEUs) participants must attend and fully participate in all synchronous sessions and complete all required asynchronous learning activities.   

Institutional Commitment:

With your registration you will be asked to include a signed statement of support from your program director for your participation in the full workshop including adequate release time to participate in live synchronous sessions.

Personal Commitment:

To enhance your learning and facilitate developing relationships with faculty facilitators and attendees, attendance and active participation in all synchronous sessions is required. This is also required for CEU purposes. In addition, participants must complete the asynchronous learning activities (e.g., video lectures and readings) on your own time to prepare for the associated synchronous sessions. You will be asked to sign a statement that you agree to abide by these guidelines as part of your registration.

Ethical and Confidentiality Commitment:

Given that there may be discussion about sensitive issues and difficulties faced by some participants in their roles as faculty, participants and faculty facilitators will be asked to agree to a promise of confidentiality.

CEUs:

• Main Workshop is 21 Contact Hours
• Optional DCE Session is 4 Contact Hours

FAQ:

Q: How will the virtual learning experience be delivered differently than the traditional in-the-seat workshop?

A: The very successful in-the-seat workshop has traditionally been full day experiences over three days in which you must travel to a location and stay in a hotel. For the virtual experience, you will stay at home or work and interact with the learning material during scheduled Zoom sessions as well as directed to do independent work on your own to prepare for the live sessions.

Q: Why did the Academy of Education develop a virtual version of this workshop?

A: This parallel workshop was developed because our membership has asked for it. The virtual option creates an opportunity for members to access the learning without physically having to travel to Chicago during the late summer each year.

Q: Why is the registration cost the same as the in-the-seat workshop?

A: This ties in closely to the same amount of CEU that are offered for both experiences (25 total if you attend both the regular and DCE workshops). The goal is to make these two branches of the same professional development tree provided by the Academy of Education with similar access to experts within the field and similar content. Overall costs in comparison are less as no travel or hotels are needed to complete this virtual learning experience.