The Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) is a new resource at Missouri S&T designed to promote the success of S&T faculty as teaching-scholars throughout all stages of their career.

Led by Dr. Larry Gragg, chair, and Dr. Wayne Huebner, co-chair, CAFE was developed in Spring 2017 by the provost’s office, in conjunction with a campus steering committee.

Early tasks focused on determining specific challenges for faculty development at S&T through numerous interviews with S&T faculty as well as research on faculty development literature and best practices. The final product of this effort will be a comprehensive report on conditions at Missouri S&T, and recommendations on how to best enhance faculty development at all career stages. CAFE resources will be invested in addressing identified challenges and opportunities.

Since its inception in May 2017, CAFE has:

• provided two days of new faculty orientation for 18 faculty.
• hosted nine bi-monthly early career faculty forums for probationary faculty.
• hosted a four-hour workshop, “Walking Through Promotion and Tenure.”
• awarded nearly $18,000 of professional development travel funds for early career faculty to attend conferences or visit fund managers.
• launched its own website, cafe.mst.edu.

During this semester, CAFE will reinstate S&T’s educational research mini-grant program and eFellows mini-grant program.

Want more information about CAFE’s purpose and vision? Join the team for lunch and a discussion with the CAFE chairs at “What Is CAFE?” at noon, Monday, Jan. 22, in the Carver-Turner Room of Havener Center. Reserve your spot. Lunch will be provided.