Mount Royal Faculty Association
Championing collective excellence.
Professional Development Committee
The Professional Development Committee encourages and facilitates members’ professional development, with a focus on promoting excellence in teaching and scholarship. To this end, the Professional Development Committee organizes and promotes seminars, workshops, courses and other activities related to professional development.
Regular PD Events
- Triads: facilitated connections amongst faculty members to support each other and connect on various PD matters, social activities and other interests
- Member Facilitated Lunch and Learns: Informal opportunities for Members to share their expertise with colleagues on a wide range of topics (Members are invited to complete an expression of interest form to facilitate a lunch and learn)
- Winter Series: 3-5 formal PD sessions during the winter semester centered on a broad topic related to faculty roles.
- Get Cracking: occasional informal breakfast/brunch/lunch discusses sessions
- Spring Retreat: annual two day conference in Kananaskis with sessions presented by members across the University.
Committee Links:
- Professional Development Committee Charter
- Committee Contacts
- MRFA Event Calendar
- Spring Retreat Website
Reference Materials from Previous PDC Events:
- 2025 – 2026 PD Sessions
- Fall – Session on the Report from the Academic Accommodations Working Group Session Notes and Slides
- 2025-2025 Lunch and Learns
- Boosting Engagement with the Flipped Classroom – Slide Deck – Hosted by Tammy Sherrow
- Winter 2026 PD Series: Supporting Success in a Transforming Academy: Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity
- How to Use AI in Creative Ways in the Classroom (Jan 2026)
- AI Community Considerations and Environmental Impact (Feb 2026)
- AI Applications in Research and Professional Practice (May 2026)
- 2024 – 2025 PD Series
- Fall Lunch and Learns
- How to Prep
- Creating a Culture of Respect: Having a Difficult Conversation
- 3 Ways to Stop Overwhelm in 5 Minutes a Day – Session Notes
- Academic Filesharing
- Advocacy for Sexual Consent Education
- Winter Series
- Fall Lunch and Learns
- 2023 – 2024 PD Series – Bargaining for Collective Rights: A Collective Responsibility
- Collective Bargaining 101
- Scholarship and Research in Collective Agreements
- This session was presented by:
- Chantal Sundaram (CAUT Senior Labour relations Officer)
- Michelle Yeo (Director, MRU Mokakiiks Centre for SoTL)
- Marc Schroeder (MRFA Academic Policy and Governance Officer)
- The recording of the session is available here.
- This session was presented by:
- Compensation and Benefits
- View resources from this session to learn about what MRU faculty receive in compensation and benefits compared to other Alberta PSE faculty, how our salaries at MRU have fallen behind inflation, what external factors are impacting our success at the bargaining table, and what you can do to support your Negotiating Team
- Management and Member Rights
- 2022 – 2023 PD Events
- Winter 2023 Teaching and Learning Series
- Get Cracking on Tenure Dossiers
- Making the Most of your Peer Evaluations (Get Cracking Session Notes 2022-11-18)
- Notes from PD and FEC Session on Annual Reports (Fall 2022)
- October PD Day – (re)Connecting with and Supporting Students and Faculty
- Notes from Panel on Supporting Students
- Notes on Counselling Session on Support for Faculty
- Notes from Session on Collective Advocacy and Action
- Winter 2022 Scholarship Series
- Session 1 – What Constitutes Scholarship at MRU
- Session 2 – Grant Writing, An Insider Scoop on Where to Start
- Session 3 – Engaging Students in Research
- Slide Deck
- Resource Sheet
- Jamboard on benefits of student research partnerships
- Session 4 – to be held on April 26 at 10:30am at the Retreat – Juggling Multiple Demands – How to Ensure you Carve out Time for Your Scholarship
- Academic Freedom on the Table Event Summary – March 2021
- Online and Remote Learning – Fall 2020 PD Day Resources
- Mental Toughness – PowerPoint Presented by Brent MacDonald – Session Notes – Fall 2020
- Online PD sessions Spring 2020
- Wellbeing in the Learning Environment Notes (Feb 2020)
- Winter 2019 PD Day Notes
- Toolkit in the Classroom: Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in the Classroom
- Perks, Perils and Possibilities of Social Media (October 12, 2018)
- MRFA Social Media Guide
- Perks, Perils, and Possibilities of Social Media, How to Manage Your Social Media
- Social Media Training Master Slidedeck with Links to Resources
- Writing for Social Media
- Information Overload, Keeping Communication Professional in the Digital Age
- Coordinated Social Media Campaign and Event Planner
- Surviving Service: Making Service Effective, Efficient and Enjoyable (February 21, 2018)