Faculty Learning Communities
Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are cohorts of 8-12 faculty who meet regularly over the course of a semester or year to engage in collaboration and discussion about teaching and learning (based on a specific theme or topic).
2025-2026 Faculty Learning Communities
Alternative Grading Faculty Learning Community
Facilitators: Karen Bunch Franklin
Meetings: Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-noon, in-person
This faculty learning community centers around alternative grading and assessment. We’ll explore innovative, student-centered approaches to evaluating learning, such as specifications grading, ungrading, and mastery-based models. Through collaborative inquiry and shared practice, faculty members will critically examine traditional assessment methods and experiment with strategies that promote equity, motivation, and deeper learning.
In Spring 2026, we will build upon the foundations of alternative grading we studied in the previous semester.
Register here for the Alternative Grading FLC
Contact Karen Franklin with any questions
The Provost Teaching and Learning Initiatives collaborate with CTL faculty to lead and participate in faculty learning communities. In addition, our Class of 1969 Teaching Fellows for assistant professors and Hesburgh Award Teaching Fellows for senior faculty are annual cohort-based FLCs, and the Research Faculty Teaching Fellows program is an annual partnership with the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR).