At McMaster University a Teaching Stream Assistant Professor is a full-time, tenured instructor, typically within their first six years of appointment. In this role, a faculty member may wish to work to enhance their teaching practice, build their mentorship capabilities, develop pedagogical research and more.
Depending on academic and professional goals, an Assistant Professor can explore a variety of supports and services offered through the MacPherson Institute in the pursuit of growth and development or career progression.
The recommendations below are based on supports and services offered by the MacPherson Institute and aligned with the existing criteria for McMaster’s Tenure and Promotion Policy.
Growth and Development
This section is designed for Teaching Stream Assistant Professors who want to develop their knowledge and skills in their current position. Resources in this section are aligned with the promotion criteria but offer learning and support opportunities geared to instructors who are looking to grow and develop as an instructor and do not require a deliverable for a career progression evaluation.
Each criterion includes links to programs, activities and supports that help grow and develop expertise as an instructor. Whether you’re interested in a particular topic in teaching and learning, looking to refine your teaching practice, or exploring mentorship through a research project, this area provides structured guidance to help you enhance your skills as an Assistant Professor.
- Learning Catalogue: Self‑directed learning modules focused on teaching and learning in higher education. It is a targeted development toolkit, especially in your first few years balancing teaching, research, and service.
- Learning to Teach Online: A self-paced course where you’ll find the foundational building blocks in creating an engaging online learning experience. It provides a ready-made framework, weekly structure, activities and alignment for your online classroom.
- Assessment Development Workshop: An intensive, multi-day workshop that facilitates and supports the design and development of effective and inclusive assessments. Focus of the workshop is specifically on getting assessments right, constructive alignment and a new useable assessment.
- Instructional Skills Workshop: A multi-day workshop that’s offered in a small group setting and is designed to enhance teaching effectiveness. Efficient ways to build confidence, improve classroom presence, and generate strong, credible evidence of teaching development for your teaching portfolio.
- International Journal for Students as Partners: International peer-reviewed journal focused on Students as Partners research. Provides an opportunity to act as a peer reviewer and contribute to the journal’s publications or simply become familiar with the students as partners model.
- Teaching Refinements: Confidential, formative feedback from your students while the course is still running, allowing you to make meaningful improvements before end‑of‑term evaluations. Provides a high‑impact way to identify what’s working, fix issues early, reduce student frustration, and practice intentional, reflective teaching.
- Teaching Observations: Provides expert, confidential feedback on your real teaching practice, tailored to the specific areas you want to improve. An efficient way to refine your teaching overtime with concrete, actionable suggestions and to demonstrate reflective, intentional teaching development for professional growth.
- Teaching Portfolio Reviews: One-on-one consultation focused on the preparation and review of teaching portfolios. Provides confidential formative feedback aligned with McMaster’s SPS B2 policy so you can start to build out our portfolio.
- Writing Retreat: Multi-day mix of formal workshops and dedicated writing time. Provides guided SoTL writing workshops along with opportunities for one-on-one assistance with your SoTL writing and research.
- Writing Days: Weekly dedicated in-perosn writing time. Provides an opportunity for dedicated writing time and one-on-one consultations.
- Certificate of Attendance in Professional Development for Teaching: Asynchronous learning opportunity that offers flexible pathways for learners to develop their understanding of effective post-secondary teaching. Flexible self-directed way to intentionally develop your teaching without formal certification or credentialing.
- Teaching and Learning Certificate of Completion Program: Provides you with scholarly vocabulary to describe different pedagogical approaches, confidence in engaging with a range of pedagogical theories, and practice/ guidance in the preparation of teaching. Assists you develop the scholarly language, confidence, and practical skill set needed to explain, defend and develop your teaching choices.
- Open Education Resources Grant: Supports the use of open education resources to benefit teaching and learning by enhancing equal access to and discoverability of learning resources and contributing to student cost savings. Provides funded opportunities for open educational resource adoption and alterations within your existing course.
- Ed Tech Stations: Three dedicated spaces at the MacPherson Institute are designed to support creating or updating teaching and learning content with a lens for accessibility, digitization and other curriculum enhancements. These spaces offer access to various software licences and programs to create or edit course content and instructional materials.
- One Button Studio: An easy-to-use video recording suite with an automated recording system. Provides a space to develop and record educational content or resources with little to no recording experience necessary.
- Innovations In Education Conference: Virtual, multi-day event aimed to facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences, and best practices among educators, researchers, administrators, students and other key persons. Provides a national audience with a peer-reviewed process for multiple types of conference sessions.
- Students as Partners Community Forum: A forum aimed to enhance and enrich internal and external capacity by creating a platform for the dissemination, exploration and interchange of innovative ideas about student-faculty partnerships across institutions. Provides a space to present your research, innovations and practices in the students as partners model.
- Open Education Resources Grant: Supports the use of open education resources to benefit teaching and learning by enhancing equal access to and discoverability of learning resources and contributing to student cost savings. Provides a public forum for your educational resources to be adopted by other instructors across Ontario.
- Retreats or Workshops: MacPherson organized workshops or retreats at the departmental level. Provides a space for cohort peer mentorship and departmental leadership opportunities.
- Students as Partners Program: Provides grants that support teaching and learning projects that adopt the student partner model. Provides a framework, resources and community building for research projects that may go beyond the McMaster community.
Career Progression
This section is designed for Assistant Professors who are preparing for promotion to the Associate Professor level. Resources in this section are aligned with the promotion criteria to help instructors meet each requirement with a tangible outcome or deliverable that can be used towards the career progression evaluation process.
Each criterion includes linked MacPherson Institute programs, activities, and supports that align with and strengthen your progress toward promotion. Whether you’re developing your teaching portfolio, advancing your scholarly work, or deepening your service and leadership contributions, this area provides structured guidance to help you plan, document, and demonstrate your achievements.
- Instructional Skills Workshop: A multi-day workshop that’s offered in a small group setting and is designed to enhance teaching effectiveness. Efficient ways to build confidence, improve classroom presence, and generate strong, credible evidence of teaching development for your teaching portfolio.
- International Journal for Students as Partners: International peer-reviewed journal focused on Students as Partners research. Provides an opportunity to act as a peer reviewer and contribute to the journal’s publications or simply become familiar with the students as partners model.
- Students as Partners Program: Provides grants that support teaching and learning projects that adopt the student partner model. Provides a framework, resources and community building for research projects that may go beyond the McMaster community.
- Course Consultant Partnership Program: Provides grant support designed to foster partnerships between faculty members and students to improve course design, delivery, and the overall student experience. Connects you to a supportive interdisciplinary community and educational developers, giving you feedback, mentorship, and resources that make your teaching more effective.
- Course (re) Design Workshop: A multi-day workshop that aims to engage and support educators in designing or redesigning a singular course. Provides dedicated time, expert guidance, and peer feedback to design or redesign a single course in a coherent, learner‑centred, and evidence‑informed manner.
- Teaching Refinements: Confidential, formative feedback from your students while the course is still running, allowing you to make meaningful improvements before end‑of‑term evaluations. Provides a high‑impact way to identify what’s working, fix issues early, reduce student frustration, and practice intentional, reflective teaching.
- Teaching Observations: Provides expert, confidential feedback on your real teaching practice, tailored to the specific areas you want to improve. An efficient way to refine your teaching overtime with concrete, actionable suggestions and to demonstrate reflective, intentional teaching development for professional growth.
- DIY Feedback: Step-by-step guides on collecting feedback on your teaching and editable mid-term feedback survey templates on your own time. An efficient way to refine your teaching with concrete, actionable suggestions and to demonstrate reflective, intentional teaching development for tenure and promotion reviews.
- Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association, Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards: Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Award. Provides recognition of outstanding teachers and academic librarians in Ontario universities.
- Assessment Development Workshop: An intensive, multi-day workshop that facilitates and supports the design and development of effective and inclusive assessments. Focus of the workshop is specifically on getting assessments right, constructive alignment and a new useable assessment.
- 3M National Teaching Award: Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education partnered award. Provides recognition of excellence in educational leadership and teaching particularly in curriculum development.
- Open Education Resources Grant: Supports the use of open education resources to benefit teaching and learning by enhancing equal access to and discoverability of learning resources and contributing to student cost savings. Provides funded opportunities for open educational resource adoption and alterations within your existing course.
- D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning: Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education partnered award. Demonstrates a record of innovation(s) in pedagogical approaches, teaching methods, course design, curriculum development and assessment methods
- Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association, Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards: Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Award. Provides recognition of outstanding teachers and academic librarians in Ontario universities.
- 3M National Teaching Award: Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education partnered award. Provides recognition of excellence in educational leadership and teaching particularly in curriculum development.
- D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning: Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education partnered award. Demonstrates a record of innovation(s) in pedagogical approaches, teaching methods, course design, curriculum development and assessment methods
- Innovations In Education Conference: Virtual, multi-day event aimed to facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences, and best practices among educators, researchers, administrators, students and other key persons. Provides a national audience with a peer-reviewed process for multiple types of conference sessions.
- Students as Partners Community Forum: A forum aimed to enhance and enrich internal and external capacity by creating a platform for the dissemination, exploration and interchange of innovative ideas about student-faculty partnerships across institutions. Provides a space to present your research, innovations and practices in the students as partners model.
- Open Education Resources Grant: Supports the use of open education resources to benefit teaching and learning by enhancing equal access to and discoverability of learning resources and contributing to student cost savings. Provides a public forum for your educational resources to be adopted by other instructors across Ontario.
- International Journal for Students as Partners: International peer-reviewed journal focused on Students as Partners research. Provides a peer-reviewed way to translate innovative teaching practice into recognized scholarly output, often in collaboration with students, strengthening both your teaching profile and your scholarship of teaching and learning record. Journal accepts; research articles, case studies, opinion pieces, reflective essays and book reviews.
- Leadership in Teaching and Learning Fellowship: A two-year program designed to engage faculty in leading change, practising the scholarship of teaching and learning, and supporting faculty communities that provide mentorship and leadership in teaching and learning. Provides a space for faculty to act as leaders and mentors to advance improvement in teaching and learning and to enhance student-learning experiences.
- 3M National Teaching Award: Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education partnered award. Provides recognition on educational leadership within the university.
- Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association: Workshops, research supports, creating educational materials or other resources
- Students as Partners Program: Provides grants that support teaching and learning projects that adopt the student partner model. Provides a framework, resources and community building for research projects that may go beyond the McMaster community.