The Institute is open to any level of faculty and staff, from any discipline. This includes:

Junior and Senior Faculty 

Institutions are encouraged to send at least two faculty members—one early-career and one more established—who can collaborate and sustain momentum on campus.

Executive Directors of Teaching Learning Centers, Associate Provosts, and Provosts

Institutions prepared to scale this initiative to reach larger numbers of faculty are encouraged to send faculty in these roles. 

Faculty Seeking to Strengthen Their Teaching

Those who want to improve their ability to navigate complex discussions, integrate diverse perspectives, and help students engage in civil discourse should attend.

Institutional Champions for Dialogue 

Faculty motivated to lead initiatives that foster productive campus conversations, shape institutional culture, and develop new curricular approaches should attend.

Faculty Interested in Course Design or Revision

Participants will design or redesign a course that teaches students the skills of engaging across differences.

The Faculty Institute is interdisciplinary and designed for faculty across disciplines committed to fostering dialogue across differences and enhancing civil discourse in their classrooms and campus communities. Past participants have included faculty from a wide variety of disciplines; no disciplines are excluded from participating. Faculty in the humanities, social sciences, STEM, or professional schools can integrate these skills into their teaching and scholarship.

Institutions may send any number of faculty to the Faculty Institute. However, we recommend sending at least two faculty members from different disciplines—one early-career and one more established. This approach ensures:

Cross-disciplinary Collaboration 

Faculty can collaborate to weave dialogue across differences in various academic fields.

Sustained Impact

A team approach enhances the chances of long-term campus-wide initiatives and cultural transformation.

Peer Support & Institutional Buy-in

Faculty attending together can assist one another in implementing new strategies and advocating for broader adoption. After participating in the Institute, many faculty members have been invited to lead efforts at the institutional level. To accommodate such requests, faculty have found tremendous success with a peer to collaborate with and support from a dean and provost.

Larger institutions or those seeking to build a strong foundation for engagement across campus differences may consider sending three to five faculty members from diverse departments.

You can hear from Citizens & Scholars staff, as well as faculty who have attended, on our website to give you a better idea of what to expect. 

Janett I. Cordoves, Senior Program Director, will be in touch with more information and to schedule a virtual coffee hour for the incoming cohort. If you have questions before you hear from her you can email her at cordoves@collegepresidents.org.

Unfortunately, the Faculty Institute is only available for faculty whose president is a member of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness. You can inform your dean, provost, and president about the opportunity and request they join. Membership is free and more information can be found on our website.

We offer sessions at various times of the year, most often in summer and winter during typical school breaks. Our summer 2025 Institutes are taking place June 22-24 and July 20-22. 

Please email faculty@collegepresidents with your request, including your institution, context, number of desired participants, and your ideal timeframe.