46th Annual Faculty College 2026
Co-creating Healthy Learning Ecosystems
THE OSTHOFF RESORT at Elkhart Lake, WI
mAY 26-29, 2026
Our theme for Faculty College 2026 is Co-creating Healthy Learning Ecosystems. It recognizes the interconnection and interdependence of multiple university voices to ensure that all of our students experience academic success. Our theme also speaks to trauma-informed pedagogy, meaningful relationships, and evidence-based teaching and learning practices. Faculty College 2026’s guest facilitators are internationally known scholars Dr. Mays Imad (Connecticut College) and Dr. Bryan Dewsbury (Florida International University), both with disciplinary roots in STEM fields who apply pedagogical innovations to interdisciplinary spaces. Dr. Mays and Dr. Dewsbury will co-facilitate workshops that inspire reflection, discussion, and active implementation.
Dr. Mays Imad
Dr. Mays Imad received her doctoral degree in Cellular & Clinical Neurobiology from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. She then completed a National Institute of Health-Funded postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona in the Department of Neuroscience. She joined the department of life & physical sciences at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona as an adjunct faculty member in 2009 and later as a full-time faculty member in 2013. During her tenure at Pima, she taught Physiology, Pathophysiology, Genetics, Biotechnology, and Biomedical ethics. She also founded Pima’s Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). She is currently teaching in the biology department at Connecticut College as an associate professor and the director of the neuroscience program.
Dr. Imad is a Gardner Institute Fellow for Undergraduate Education, a Fellow with the Mind and Life Institute, a Scholar-in-Residence at The Red House, Georgetown University, a Senior STEM Fellow with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ). Dr. Imad’s research focuses on the social determinants of student success. Specifically, she is interested in investigating bio- and neurofeedback in relation to stress, trauma, mental health, and student learning. A nationally-recognized expert on trauma-informed teaching and learning, she passionately advocates for institutions to make mental health a top priority and to systematically support the education of the whole student. In addition to her work on trauma, emotional regulation, and mental health.
Dr. Bryan Dewsbury
Dr. Bryan Dewsbury is an Associate Professor of Biology at Florida International University (FIU). He is the Principal Investigator of the Science Education And Society (SEAS) research program, which blends research on the social context of teaching and learning, faculty development of inclusive practices, and programming in the cultivation of equity in education. He is an Associate Director of the STEM Transformational Institute where he directs the Division of Transformative Education. He is also a Fellow with the John N. Gardner Institute where he assists institutions of higher education cultivate best practices in inclusive education. He is the creator and executive producer of the Massive Open Online Course called Inclusive Teaching. He is a co-editor of the book the Norton Guide to Equity Minded Teaching. He is host of the podcast ‘Knowledge Unbound’ where he interviews people who do transformative work in education. He has led faculty development workshops in over 150 institutions across North America, Europe and Western Africa. Dewsbury grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and immigrated to the United States in 1999
Programmatic inquiries may be directed to:
Fay Akindes, Director of Systemwide Professional and Instructional Development, UW System, fay.akindes@wisconsin.edu, (608) 263-2684.
For technical support contact:
Erin McGroarty, Office of Academic Affairs, UW System, OPID@lists.wisconsin.edu, (608) 262-8778.