The Center for Instructional Excellence is run by an advisory board made up of faculty,  student-facing staff, an office manager, and a part-time faculty director who reports to the Vice President for Educational Services. CIE helps to administer professional development funding and programming for full-time and adjunct faculty, administers faculty sabbaticals, and facilitates the Faculty Excellence Awards. CIE partners with Ed Tech in the Center for Teaching and Learning and also works with the NMC Library and the Professional Development Institute (staff PD).  View the CIE Handbook to learn more.

Meet the Board

CIE Activities

New Faculty Institute

New Faculty Institute includes orientation in August and monthly meetings for provisional faculty and new adjuncts.  Provisional faculty are required to attend monthly meetings for their first two years and are welcome in their third year. New adjunct faculty receive a stipend for attendance during their first three years.

New Faculty Institute meets on the second Friday of the month. Programs include meetings with support staff and faculty from around the college. We focus on the logistics of teaching at NMC and best practices for college instruction. 

Friday Forum

Faculty meet monthly for programming on topical issues at NMC and in higher education, usually on the first Friday. Faculty and staff present on a range of issues from study abroad to generative A.I. to teaching controversial topics. Provisional faculty are required to attend; adjunct faculty and staff are always welcome. CIE provides lunch. 

Friday Forums meet from 12:30-2 p.m. Here are dates and locations for 2024:

• Oct. 15 October Conference — Creating a Caring and Connected Community
• Sept. 6 Friday Forum — A.I. is a Game-Changer. Let’s Write New Rules. 
• Oct. 4 Friday Forum — Canvas Pilots
• Nov. 1 Friday Forum — Confronting Racism: A Visit to the Jim Crow Museum

Coffee Club

Held in the cozy Library Reading Room, these meetings provide a discussion format for timely topics facing faculty and staff at NMC. CIE provides coffee and donuts.

Meetings the following Fridays from 10 – 11 a.m.

• Sept. 20
• Nov. 15
• Jan. 24
• Feb. 21
• March 21

Professional Development Days

The main professional development events of the year are three PD sessions required for all full-time faculty. Here are this year’s dates:

• AUG 20 – Opening Conference
• OCT 15 – October Conference
• JAN 7 – January Conference

CIE Books

New book coming soon!

Engaging Learners through Zoom delivers numerous practical strategies and helpful advice on how to engage students virtually. Many of the tools are also applicable in face-to-face and hybrid environments. Backed by cognitive neuroscience research, this book is a collection of dozens of active, synchronous online learning structures that can be used in any discipline, perfect for K-12 through higher education.

CIE Resource Library

CIE maintains a section of books and resources within the NMC Library for faculty use.  Browse the titles online.