Faculty and Academic Staff
Enrich your teaching and research, and build a meaningful, sustainable academic career.
UCalgary Continuous Learning Model
Continuous Learning Model
The best faculty leaders are lifelong learners. Learning may happen through structured professional development, but just as often it emerges from reflective teaching, peer dialogue, collaborative research, or resources that continue to inform our practice over time.
The UCalgary Learning Model organizes development across four areas — Work, People, Formal, and Resources — with Personal Reflection & Application at the center. Use this framework to build a well-rounded development plan that fits your role, your goals, and the way you learn best.
Explore the resources below and consider how each area can strengthen your practice.
How do you want to develop right now?
Learning happens in different ways—through your work, your relationships, structured programs, and on‑demand resources. Start by choosing the approach that best fits your current goals.
Build capability through the work academics and leaders do every day
Choose on‑the‑job learning when responsibility can be shaped to support growth—not added on top of existing work.
- A person is capable but hesitant or building confidence
- A role or portfolio is evolving or expanding
- You want to test readiness for broader scope or leadership
- Capacity is already stretched
- Priorities or decision-making authority are unclear
- There is little space for reflection or feedback
- Match stretch to readiness—bigger is not always better
- De‑prioritize or delay other work during stretch
- Be clear about expectations and boundaries
- Check in on cognitive load, not just output
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Light lift (low risk, easy to sustain)
- Own a recurring decision instead of escalating it
- Rotate who leads a standing meeting or agenda item
- Represent the unit in a cross‑team forum
- Shift work from “execute” to “design and recommend”
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Medium lift (visible growth, some leader support needed)
- Lead a pilot or improvement initiative
- Take responsibility for a new stakeholder group
- Co‑lead work with a peer from another unit
- Manage ambiguity rather than escalating decisions
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High lift (significant growth, rebalance workload)
- Acting or interim roles
- Cross‑functional or institutional projects
- Leading work with unclear answers or contested priorities
- What was harder than expected?
- What did you learn about yourself?
- What will you do differently next time?
Leaders support learning through work by intentionally shaping responsibility, not by adding more tasks.
Effective support includes:
- Matching stretch to readiness rather than assigning the biggest opportunity
- Being clear about expectations, authority, and decision boundaries
- De‑prioritizing or delaying other work during periods of stretch
- Checking in on cognitive load and confidence—not just outcomes
Equitable on‑the‑job development means rotating opportunities over time, offering stretch before people ask, and separating potential from polish.
Small, regular reflection (even five minutes) helps experience turn into learning.
Build knowledge and skills through structured learning
This learning is best for:
- Building shared academic or professional language
- Learning complex concepts that benefit from instruction
- Seeking credentials or formal recognition
Keep in mind: Formal learning is most effective when connected to real academic or institutional work, applied soon after learning, and followed by reflection.
- Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning
- Academic Leadership Academy
Leaders strengthen formal learning by connecting it back to real work.
Effective support includes:
- Helping clarify why a course, workshop, or program makes sense now
- Creating space to apply and test learning soon after participation
- Encouraging reflection on what should change—and what should not
- Valuing learning outcomes, not just attendance or credentials
Formal learning has the greatest impact when it complements lived experience rather than standing alone.
Development happens through application, not completion.
Learn and grow through relationships and academic communities
This learning is best for:
- Navigating new, ambiguous, or high‑stakes situations
- Developing leadership presence or academic identity
- Benefiting from multiple perspectives beyond your discipline or unit
- Connections lack a clear learning purpose
- Learning remains conversational without application
- Engagement depends solely on informal access
- Asking peers how they approached complex decisions
- Observing meetings outside your usual context
- Participating in mentoring relationships or communities of practice
- Co‑leading initiatives or mentoring colleagues
Leaders enable learning through others by making connection purposeful, not incidental.
Effective support includes:
- Encouraging mentoring, peer consultation, and communities of practice
- Connecting people across roles, disciplines, or units when perspective matters
- Normalizing help‑seeking and learning through dialogue
- Encouraging reflection after conversations, not just connection itself
Equitable leadership means being intentional about who gets access to networks, introductions, and high‑value collaborative spaces.
Learning through others is most effective when insights are applied, not just discussed.
Strengthen your practice with on‑demand resources and support
Quick access:
Policies & governance:
Leaders support resource‑based learning by normalizing use and modelling it themselves.
Effective support includes:
- Pointing people to trusted resources when questions arise
- Encouraging just‑in‑time learning rather than perfection upfront
- Reinforcing that looking things up is part of good academic practice
- Making policies, tools, and supports easy to access and interpret
Equitable access means ensuring resources are visible, current, and usable—not just available.
Resources work best when they are part of everyday problem‑solving.
Cumming School of Medicine
The Office of Faculty Development is your go‑to resource for growth, support, and connection at the Cumming School of Medicine. Learn more
Faculty of Social Work
Professional development opportunities to enhance practice in mental health and human services. Learn more
What You Can Explore Next
Contact & Support
Our programs are managed by a range of faculties, departments, and external partners, each with their own dedicated team. Connecting directly with the right contact is the quickest way to get the help you need. For more specific support, see the resources below.