Since semesters are busy, then summers, weekends, or other breaks from teaching are often the ideal time when faculty can make progress on their scholarship and reinvigorate their passion for the profession. CELT offers various retreats and summer institutes for faculty to have dedicated time in a comfortable setting to recharge as educators.

Check back regularly for confirmed dates and updated descriptions as they may change.

Faculty Write Away! Retreat 

Has your scholarship been sidelined by the daily demands of teaching this year during the pandemic? Do you want to research and write over Spring Break? The literature on faculty development shows that having a dedicated space for writing, and being around colleagues who are also committed to research and writing, can help faculty get their work done.

For two consecutive days during Spring Break, ßÏÀÖÔ° faculty can participate in the Faculty Write Away! Retreat at CELT. The entire building is reserved for ßÏÀÖÔ° faculty to "get away" from their offices or homes so they can have a quiet and comfortable space to convene, research, and write together.

Write Away Retreat Spring 2019

Faculty can use a desktop computer in CELT or bring their laptop, tablet, or pen to research, write, and share goals, struggles, and accomplishments with fellow faculty. Individual and collaborative work spaces are available. Participants receive complimentary lunch along with light beverages and snacks throughout the two days of the retreat. Come one day or two days, whichever suits your schedule and needs.

Dr. Jamie Landau (Professor of Communication Arts and Director of CELT) facilitates the Faculty Write Away! Retreat at CELT. Here is the retreat daily schedule that will be repeated this year:

  • 9 a.m.: Everyone meets for coffee, light breakfast snacks, and goal sharing.
  • 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Individual research and writing time.
  • 12:30–1:30 p.m.: Everyone reconvenes for lunch together and conversation.
  • 1:30–3:30 p.m.: Opportunities to convene in writing groups for feedback and problem-solving, receive one-on-one mentoring, or return to individual writing.
  • 3:30–4 p.m.: Everyone reconvenes to report progress, celebrate accomplishments, and plan for the next day’s work or action steps after retreat.

If participants need to step out for any reason during one day of the retreat or cannot make both days, then that’s fine, too. However, research on faculty writing retreats reveals that building community with colleagues is key to having a productive scholarly agenda.

CELT Faculty Write Away! Retreat will be held on Monday, March 17 and Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Faculty can register in .

 

Faculty Renewal Retreat

“Teaching is a vocation that requires constant renewal of mind, and heart, and spirit...”  ~ Parker Palmer, Ph.D. and author of Courage to Teach (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998) 

Reflect… Reframe… Renew is the theme of this summer faculty development retreat.  

  • Are you feeling burnt out from the pandemic or stuck in your career in some way?  
  • Maybe you’re wondering what’s next after promotion or tenure? 
  • Is your passion for teaching fading and in need of rejuvenation?  
  • Are you interested in learning contemplative practices that recenter the personal/internal self to better navigate the professional/external world? 
  • Do you long for community with colleagues? 

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you are not alone. This retreat is for you! 

During the two-day Faculty Renewal Retreat over the summer at CELT, midcareer and advanced career stage faculty from across colleges have the unique opportunity to reflect on, reframe, and renew themselves in community with colleagues at ßÏÀÖÔ°. Highlights include mapping of goals for the next stage of one’s life and career, identifying teaching strengths, leadership development, contemplative practices for combating burnout at work, and affirmation from students (see schedule below). Complimentary drinks, breakfast treats, and lunch are provided each day of the two-day retreat. Participants will also receive free copies of books and a journal to use during the retreat, and which will help them implement renewed goals this summer and next academic year. A follow-up gathering with a guest speaker will occur during the following semester and/or there is a possibility to join a CELT faculty learning community just for this cohort. 

Eligibility and Expression of Interest Form: 

Interested full-time faculty who have worked at ßÏÀÖÔ° for seven or more years (whether you’re an instructor, lecturer, senior lecturer, associate professor, or full professor) should sign-up by filling out online this brief “” form. The deadline to fill out the form is TBD. Space is limited to 15 faculty. Notices of acceptance will be announced within a week, and those faculty will be automatically registered for the retreat in ßÏÀÖÔ°’s employee training portal.   

 Objectives of the Retreat:

  • Rediscover and appraise our strengths and capacities as teachers 
  • Recognize and demonstrate contemplative practices that combat burnout at work
  • Compare and contrast the layers within oneself and the self in community  
  • Increase faculty sense of self and belonging to reinvigorate, empower, and persevere through midcareer, achieve the next promotion, become a leader, and/or to leave a legacy on campus after retirement  
  • Build relationships and community among midcareer and advanced career stage faculty that bridges disciplines, departments, and colleges at ßÏÀÖÔ° 

The CELT Faculty Renewal Retreat aligns with ßÏÀÖÔ°’s Strategic Planning Goal 1.5 to retain quality faculty and staff.

Dr. Jamie Landau (Professor of Communication Arts and Director of CELT) will facilitate the Faculty Renewal Retreat with assistance from a CELT Intern and CELT’s Administrative Coordinator. 

Retreat Schedule: 

Day 1:  

9-9:15 a.m.   

Coffee, Comfort, and Collegiality: Enjoy coffee, tea, and breakfast treats, chat with colleagues, and engage in a contemplative practice together to relax at the workplace.      

9:15-10:30 a.m.  

Why Are You Here? Why We’re Here. We’re Not Alone: “I’ve taught at ßÏÀÖÔ° for a long time. I got promoted. I have tenure. I’m exhausted from work. I’m burned out from the pandemic. I’m not sure what’s next for my career.” Discussion activity about what brings us to the retreat and review of research on common experiences of post-tenure, midcareer, and advanced career stage faculty in the context of national data as well as current events locally and in higher education (before and since the pandemic). 

10:30-11:45 a.m.  

Mapping Me: Drawing on psychology and sociology, such as words of wisdom from Parker Palmer, rediscover the layers of who you are and return to the heart of your inner teacher.   

12-1 p.m.  

Lunch Together: Enjoy a healthy catered lunch while getting to know everyone. 

1-2:30 p.m.  

Renewal Role Models: Be inspired by award-winning teachers at ßÏÀÖÔ° who reinvigorated their vocation and watch an interview with Parker Palmer to identify their “seeds of vocation.”