About the CFD

The Centre for Faculty Development (CFD) is a partnership between the University of Toronto (UofT) and St. Michael's Hospital (SMH) - a fully affiliated teaching hospital. The CFD is committed to enhancing the academic development of faculty in the Faculty of Medicine, additional Health Science Faculties (i.e. nursing, pharmacy, etc.) at UofT, and other institutions through innovation, capacity building and scholarship in the design, implementation and evaluation of faculty development. In addition to this commitment, the CFD welcomes anyone, regardless of whether they have a faculty appointment or not, who has a role related to teaching, education and academic work in their healthcare organization or setting.

Locally, we work collaboratively with groups and sites to provide programs across the greater Toronto area and province. Nationally and internationally, we collaborate with other institutions and welcome the continued opportunity to work with others in the development, delivery and evaluation of faculty development, and in the creation of new knowledge and understanding about faculty development.

What is Faculty Development?

Our current working definition of faculty development is as follows:

Faculty Development is a broad range of activities that institutions use to renew or assist faculty, supervisors, preceptors, field instructors, clinical educators, and status appointees in their roles. These activities are designed to improve an individual'’s knowledge and skills in teaching, education, administration, leadership and research.

Vision, Mission and Values

Vision- Advancing faculty development across the health sciences to promote academic excellence

Mission- To enhance teaching, learning and leadership in the academic health sciences system through faculty development.

Values- As leaders who are committed to excellence and the well being of faculty, students and their communities, the CFD embraces the following core values:

• Collaboration – Valuing and recognizing the wealth of knowledge and expertise of colleagues and partner institutions.
• Critical inquiry and scholarship- Valuing ongoing questioning of what is done and striving to be scholarly in all programs and projects.
• Innovation and creativity- Valuing creative thinking and calculated risk taking in creativity, delivery, and evaluation.
• Adaptability and responsiveness- Valuing flexibility in addressing the needs of an ever growing, diverse audience.
• Social accountability- Valuing the support the CFD provides to the health care system and the communities it serves.

History

Organizational Structure

Committees

The CFD has 10-15 program or project committees active any given time. Our core committees are: Governance Committee; Executive Council and Education Development Committee.

Governance Committee

This committee is advisory to the CFD Director and the CFD Executive Council. The committee has the responsibility for oversight of the unit’s accountability and monitoring the quality of the educational and research activities of the Centre.

This is accomplished by:

• ensuring leaders in professional practice, research and education advise on and commit to the success of the centre’s strategy and operations
• facilitating links to major educational organizations that can help advance the CFD’s mission
• advising on the identification of potential funding sources and opportunities
• providing feedback and approval of strategic plans
• reviewing the annual budget, annual reports and externals review documents
• ensuring that the Centre functions in a manner consistent with the mission, values and ethics of the Hospital and the University

Executive Council

The Executive Council is responsible for overseeing matters of day-to-day success of the CFD.

This is accomplished by:

• advising on policies, practices, goals and objectives
• informing the CFD of pertinent external initiatives and developments
• assisting in the establishment and monitoring strategic plan implementation
• advising on strategic relationships with the university and hospitals, our partners in professional education, other hospitals and community health providers

Education Development Committee

The Education Development Committee advises on the planning and delivery of our innovative instructional development activities.

This is accomplished by:

• identifying and prioritizing educational needs of our faculty
• identifying opportunities to align and create synergy among faculty development initiatives and resources within and outside the CFD
• identify new ideas for faculty development and educational scholarship
• participating in the process of planning and delivery of faculty development sessions

Communications

Each year, the CFD produces program brochures and reports to apprize learners, teachers and colleagues of new projects, milestones and outcomes. Please feel free to review, circulate and share any of these documents.