What it Means to be an UMPI Professor

The Freedom to Teach

The freedom to teach includes the right of faculty members to select the materials, determine the approach to the subject, make the assignments, and assess student academic performance in teaching activities for which they are individually responsible, without having their decisions subject to the veto of a department chair, dean, or other administrative officer. Teaching duties that are commonly shared among a number of faculty members require a significant amount of coordination and the imposition of a certain degree of structure, often involving a need for agreement on such matters as general course content, syllabi, and examinations. ~AAUP

UMPI rigorously promotes academic freedom of faculty in their teaching responsibilities as defined by the American Association of University Professors. Our community of scholars has defined the teaching values at UMPI that make our institution unique and provide educational excellence for our learners in all modalities.

UMPI faculty teach across multiple modalities, which extends beyond our Presque Isle walls, into our online programming, to local high schools (with our Aspirations and Concurrent Enrollment initiatives), and into the working worlds of our non-traditional working student populations (with our YourPace programming). Our diverse faculty share their expertise in natural sciences, social sciences, arts, professional programs, and humanities. They include scholars, researchers, published authors, scientists, practitioners, experienced educators, and a Fulbright Scholar.

UMPI Faculty are dedicated academics and educators whose scholarship and dedication to excellence in the teaching and learning process push the boundaries of knowledge and pedagogy within and beyond the university.

The UMPI Teaching Ethic of Care

All faculty at UMPI are dedicated to providing rigorous and relevant learning experiences for our students, and in aligning our assessments and learning activities to our Learning Outcomes and our Academic Commitment contract with students. As an institution, we are also committed to supporting the following guiding principles in our classrooms (regardless of the delivery modality).

An UMPI education is:

We are student-centered in our methods when we:

  • meet students where they are.
  • encourage reflection on content and the learning process.
  • offer options and voice-and-choice.
  • allow room for student interest to inform learning.
  • provide a variety of ways for students to access content.
  • facilitate fieldwork & experiential learning opportunities.

We remain relationship-focused when we:

  • build trust & create safe spaces to take risks.
  • encourage cooperative learning.
  • respond in a timely manner.
  • get to know student names and interests.
  • keep class sizes small.
  • provide relevant learning experiences outside of the classroom.

We help students to be career ready after graduation when we:

  • invite guest speakers from the field.
  • create mock-interviews.
  • work on case studies and real-world simulated problem-solving.
  • create internships or field experience with local organizations.
  • encourage students to host community events.
  • assess effective communication skills.

We actively support character building when we:

  • allow opportunities for students to take ownership.
  • create reflective practices like journals.
  • outline professional dispositions & expectations.
  • create “professionalism” rubrics.
  • support diversity and inclusion.
  • use role-playing & active learning strategies.

We help foster individual student’s intellectual growth when we:

  • create critical thinking opportunities.
  • engage with peer-reviewed literature.
  • evaluate topics from multiple viewpoints.
  • encourage participation at conferences.
  • engage in the peer-review process.
  • provide rigorous, current content.

UMPI Instructional Responsibilities

UMPI Instructional ResponsibilitiesDownload