Instructors at an event working with sticky notes.

Events, Workshops, and Communities

WMU Teaching and Learning hosts a variety of events and communities throughout the academic year. These opportunities are geared toward instructors, graduate assistants, and any others involved in creating learning experiences at Western Michigan University. Can't make it to an event? No problem! Check out our past event archive, which includes materials shared during the session and/or a session recording.

Do you not see what you are looking for here, or would you like a training or event more specific to your needs? 

Our team is available to come to a department or group meeting to facilitate specific or targeted teaching and learning training. Reach out and let us know what challenges you are hoping to solve for instructors, learners, or both and we can support you by connecting you with resources and facilitating conversations around curriculum, course design, or instructional best practices. These can be single meetings or extended workshops depending on your goals.  

Contact the Teaching and Learning Team to discuss your needs.

Upcoming Events

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals Part I: Setting up Your Homepage & Building Modules and Content

Date:  Monday, August 25     Time:  1 p.m.      Location: Online

Our Elearning Fundamental workshops are perfect for anyone looking to build or expand their knowledge of Elearning. These sessions cover the essentials across a range of topics, helping you create a welcoming and functional online space that enhances teaching and learning.

Whether you're teaching online, hybrid, or in-person courses, these workshops are designed to support all modalities. Attend one session, or join us for the entire series—it's up to you!

Our goal is to help you connect with your students and make the teaching experience more engaging and enjoyable.​ 

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals for Students

Date:  Tuesday, August 26     Time:  11 a.m.      Location: Online

The Elearning Fundamentals for Students workshop is designed for any student who wants to learn how to use Elearning effectively.

We'll guide you through the basic areas in Elearning that you may encounter in your courses, such as discussions, dropboxes, gradebook, groups, and the content area. Whether your classes are online or in person, this workshop will help you make the most of Elearning. Each session covers the same material, so you only need to sign up for one.

Join us to build your Elearning skills and set yourself up for success!

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals Part II: Creating Discussions & Dropboxes

Date:  Tuesday, August 26     Time:  1 p.m.      Location: Online

Our Elearning Fundamental workshops are perfect for anyone looking to build or expand their knowledge of Elearning. These sessions cover the essentials across a range of topics, helping you create a welcoming and functional online space that enhances teaching and learning.

Whether you're teaching online, hybrid, or in-person courses, these workshops are designed to support all modalities. Attend one session, or join us for the entire series—it's up to you!

Our goal is to help you connect with your students and make the teaching experience more engaging and enjoyable.

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals for Students

Date:  Tuesday, August 26     Time:  3 p.m.      Location: Online

The Elearning Fundamentals for Students workshop is designed for any student who wants to learn how to use Elearning effectively.

We'll guide you through the basic areas in Elearning that you may encounter in your courses, such as discussions, dropboxes, gradebook, groups, and the content area. Whether your classes are online or in person, this workshop will help you make the most of Elearning. Each session covers the same material, so you only need to sign up for one.

Join us to build your Elearning skills and set yourself up for success!

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals Part III: Quizzes & Quick Eval

Date:  Wednesday, August 27     Time:  1 p.m.      Location: Online

Our Elearning Fundamental workshops are perfect for anyone looking to build or expand their knowledge of Elearning. These sessions cover the essentials across a range of topics, helping you create a welcoming and functional online space that enhances teaching and learning.

Whether you're teaching online, hybrid, or in-person courses, these workshops are designed to support all modalities. Attend one session, or join us for the entire series—it's up to you!

Our goal is to help you connect with your students and make the teaching experience more engaging and enjoyable.

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals Part IV: Gradebook

Date:  Thursday, August 28     Time:  1 p.m.      Location: Online

Our Elearning Fundamental workshops are perfect for anyone looking to build or expand their knowledge of Elearning. These sessions cover the essentials across a range of topics, helping you create a welcoming and functional online space that enhances teaching and learning.

Whether you're teaching online, hybrid, or in-person courses, these workshops are designed to support all modalities. Attend one session, or join us for the entire series—it's up to you!

Our goal is to help you connect with your students and make the teaching experience more engaging and enjoyable.

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals for Students

Date:  Friday, August 29     Time:  10 a.m.      Location: Online

The Elearning Fundamentals for Students workshop is designed for any student who wants to learn how to use Elearning effectively.

We'll guide you through the basic areas in Elearning that you may encounter in your courses, such as discussions, dropboxes, gradebook, groups, and the content area. Whether your classes are online or in person, this workshop will help you make the most of Elearning. Each session covers the same material, so you only need to sign up for one.

Join us to build your Elearning skills and set yourself up for success!

Elearning Fundamentals

Elearning Fundamentals Condensed

Date:  Friday, August 29     Time:  1 p.m.      Location: Online

Couldn't join us earlier this week now is the time to get a crash course in Elearning. The ITC will cover a overview of Elearning including homepages, discussions, gradebook, quizzes and dropboxes.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Fall 2025 14-Day Writing Challenge

Date:  Monday, September 8     Time:  Ongoing      Location: Online

The 14-Day Challenge is an opportunity for you to experiment with daily writing, online community, and supportive accountability. NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Beyond Course Evaluations: Documenting Teaching for Tenure & Promotion

Date:  Tuesday, September 9     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

Join the NCFDD to learn about unfair teaching threats hiding in plain sight, the flawed teaching review process most people just go along with but shouldn’t, and tips for overcoming these obstacles to document your teaching excellence for retention, tenure, and promotion. NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Core Curriculum Workshops: SKILL #8: Overcoming Academic Perfectionism

Date:  Thursday, September 11     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

Do you struggle to share your writing at the early stages because it’s not perfect? Do you find yourself devastated by criticism of your work? Do you beat yourself up every time the tiniest thing goes wrong? Is it difficult for you to celebrate other people’s success because it reminds you of your own shortcomings?

If any of these things sound familiar, CONGRATULATIONS! You’re a perfectly normal perfectionist! The only problem is that the nature of the Academy is likely to exacerbate your perfectionist tendencies, as opposed to minimizing them. In this webinar, perfectionists will unite to get clear about:

  • The causes and consequences of excessive perfectionism.
  • The features of academic life that intensify perfectionism
  • Strategies to identify when your perfectionism is at work, assess whether it is useful or debilitating, and adjust your standards and behavior accordingly
  • The secret to finding real satisfaction in every step of the writing process

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

Office of Faculty Development

Early Career Faculty Seminar

Dates: October 6, November 3, December 8     Time:  1-2:30 p.m.      Location: In-Person

Western Michigan University invites new and early-career faculty to sign up for the 2025–26 Early Career Faculty Seminar (ECFS), a yearlong program hosted by the Office of Faculty Development. Through monthly sessions, participants engage with University leaders, senior faculty, and campus partners to support professional development, strengthen faculty networks, and promote early-career success at Western.
 
Fall sessions will be held in person from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, Nov. 3 and Dec. 8. Spring sessions will be held virtually, with dates and times selected by participants in December. The deadline to sign up is Sept. 22, 2025.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Core Curriculum Workshops: SKILL #9: How to Engage in Healthy Conflict

Date:  Thursday, October 9     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

Academics are notoriously conflict avoidant and the inability to manage conflict can result in negative physical, emotional, and relational consequences for tenure-track faculty. So why not learn early in your career to master the SKILL of healthy conflict so that you can effectively manage conflicts as they arise and avoid carrying around all of the negative energy, anger, and resentment in your mind and body. In this webinar, you will learn how conflict-management is an essential part of thriving in the Academy, how to decide when to push back and when to pull back in the face of conflict, and more.

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Building Strong Peer Communities: A Resource for Leadership and Advancement

Date:  Thursday, October 30     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

This interactive webinar will introduce a resource to build and sustain teams of peer support. Peer mentoring strengthens individual and institutional abilities to meet evolving challenges through enhanced personal and professional support leading to improved campus climate. A guidebook will be shared that provides impactful approaches to build community to combat isolation and tools to create systemic change.

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)

Core Curriculum Workshops: SKILL #10: How to Manage Stress, Rejection & the Haters in Your Midst

Date:  Thursday, November 13     Time:  2 p.m.      Location: Online

Are you stressed? Do you feel devastated when your articles and/or grant proposals get rejected? Is the pressure of publishing/funding your work making you sick? If any of this sounds familiar and you have difficulty managing the negative energy and rejection in your environment, please join us to learn the impact that stress and negativity can have if they are not managed, identify the most common areas of stress in academic life, and concrete strategies for managing the physical, emotional, and attitudinal effects of stress.

NCFDD virtual workshops are available through WMU’s institutional memberships. Activate your WMU NCFDD membership to access.