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Studies & Degrees in Faculty Development

Faculty development is the training and support that universities and colleges give to their own teaching staff. Its purpose is better teaching and a sustainable academic career. It is not a first degree: participants are lecturers, professors, doctoral students who teach, and professionals who are about to start teaching in higher education.

The POD Network, the association of this field in the United States, describes three areas of work. The first is the instructor as a teacher: class organisation, evaluation of students, teaching methods, active learning and learning technologies. The second is the instructor as a scholar and professional: skills such as grant writing, publishing, committee work and supervision. The third is the instructor as a person: wellness, interpersonal skills, and stress and time management. The association itself prefers the wider term "educational development", which also covers instructional development, focused on the course and the curriculum, and organisational development, focused on the structure of the institution.

Qualifications and levels

Most faculty development takes place inside the institution, as workshops, mentoring, peer observation of classes and short courses. Several countries add a formal framework.

  • United Kingdom. Advance HE awards fellowships in four categories: Associate Fellowship, Fellowship, Senior Fellowship and Principal Fellowship. They are based on evidence of professional practice that meets the Professional Standards Framework 2023, and holders may use the letters AFHEA, FHEA, SFHEA or PFHEA. Advance HE states that employers increasingly use fellowship as a condition of recruitment, probation and promotion.
  • Spain. Universities are responsible for the qualification and teaching competence of their staff, including their training. The national agency ANECA launched the DOCENTIA programme in 2007 to support universities in evaluating teaching. According to ANECA, around 90% of universities take part, and a certified evaluation model is valid for 6 years.
  • United States. Universities run their own teaching centres. For doctoral students, the POD Network mentions programmes of the Preparing Future Faculty type, which prepare them for an academic career.
  • International programmes. Some business schools and universities offer short programmes for lecturers from other institutions. Content, length and certificate differ from school to school.

The underlying academic qualification is separate. In the United States, teachers at 4-year colleges and universities typically need a PhD or other doctorate in their field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Faculty development adds teaching skills to that subject knowledge.

Where to study it

This is a small category. The directory lists 2 active schools: one in Spain and one in the United States. The Spanish entry is IESE Business School in Madrid, which has campuses in Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, New York and São Paulo and lists a PhD in Management among its programmes. The US entry is Accent Reduction Training Academy, an online academy based in Los Angeles whose target groups include teachers.

Most lecturers do not travel for this training. They use the teaching centre or staff training unit of the university where they work. Before paying for an external programme, ask what certificate it gives and whether your own university or national agency takes it into account for accreditation or promotion.

Careers

Faculty development serves two groups. Teaching staff use it to improve their classes and to document their teaching for evaluation and promotion. A smaller group makes it a profession, as educational developers, instructional designers or heads of a university teaching centre.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,378,200 jobs for postsecondary teachers in the United States in 2025 and projects growth of 7 percent from 2025 to 2035. Instructional coordinators, a related occupation that covers curriculum and teaching standards mainly in schools, held 248,700 jobs in 2025, with projected growth of 2 percent. They typically need a master's degree and related work experience, such as in teaching.

Frequently asked questions

Is faculty development a degree?

Usually not. It consists of workshops, short programmes and professional recognition such as the Advance HE fellowships. Ask the provider what certificate it issues and what recognition it has.

Who can take part in faculty development?

People who teach or are about to teach in higher education: lecturers, professors, doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.

Is teacher training compulsory for university lecturers?

It depends on the country and the university. In Spain each university is responsible for the competence and training of its staff. In the United Kingdom, Advance HE states that employers increasingly ask for fellowship.