About The Rebecca O. Turner Faculty Commons

The Rebecca O. Turner Faculty Commons, named after retired Provost Dr. Rebecca O. Turner, was established in response to the 2014 Strategic Plan Objective 1.1 and serves as Jacksonville State University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The mission of the Rebecca O. Turner Faculty Commons (often referred to simply as Faculty Common) is to facilitate and support the professional development of JSU faculty members and academic administrators in the areas of Career Success, Teaching and Learning, and Academic Leadership. Within these three areas, Faculty Commons offers services and programs that promote successful career progression and professional recognition; evidence-based and transformative teaching practices in face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments; and skill development at all leadership levels within Academic Affairs.  Through a wide range of faculty-led professional development workshops and university-centric programs and training opportunities, Faculty Commons provides JSU faculty with numerous opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from various disciplines, to demonstrate best teaching practices and instructional strategies to enhance student learning, to support both academic and non-academic departments through customized trainings and workshops, to provide faculty a collaborative space to work together on specialized teaching projects, and to act as a hub for faculty to turn to when they have teaching concerns and questions. In addition, Faculty Commons, in partnership with Online@JSU, strives to fully support faculty use of technology and online instructional design techniques. Faculty Commons continually seeks to listen to the needs of the JSU faculty community and welcomes suggestions and/or requests from faculty concerning the programs offered.

In addition to our pedagogy-based teaching and learning workshops and our informational sessions that highlight beneficial university programs, Faculty Commons meets the needs of faculty by hosting or sponsoring several other important events for faculty. Faculty Commons plays a significant role in welcoming and orienting new faculty members to JSU each year by hosting New Faculty Orientation, and in the fall of 2022, Faculty Commons expanded this program to provide new faculty members with a workshop series designed to help them succeed during their first year at JSU.  Faculty Commons is also responsible for recognizing the achievements of JSU faculty each year at the annual Faculty Awards ceremony. Other services that Faculty Commons oversees include promotion and tenure training opportunities, Digital Measures and Evaluation Kit training, and the organization of the JSU Faculty Research Symposium, which showcases the scholarly and creative research of our faculty members. The Rebecca O. Turner Faculty Commons is an integral part of the Jacksonville State University campus community.