The National Faculty Development Program 2020 is a four-week online learning program to accelerate the transfer of essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes in three dimensions of a successful career as a faculty member: (1) teaching and learning, (2) applied research, and (3) professional practice.

The goals of the program are:

• Inspire teachers to create a learning environment that empowers students.
• Equip new faculty members with the strategies and tools to overcome the challenges of learners and develop in students the critical thinking and practical skills demanded by the labor market.
• Provide a foundation and development plan for new faculty members to be involved in academic service and acquire the skills needed for future academic leadership.
• Advance a research culture for meeting societal development needs of tomorrow with rigorous and impactful research.
• Motivate new faculty members to engage in life-long learning in continuous pursuit of academic quality.

Applicants to the Interim Placement of Fresh PhDs (IPFP) Program-Phase II are the target participants of this program. To assess their readiness as future faculty members, NAHE conducted a pre-assessment exercise consisting of multiple-choice questions as well as written responses. The assessment did not include an evaluation of disciplinary knowledge, which is normally assumed to have been imparted during PhD programs. The results suggest a number of gaps, including in the areas of pedagogy, writing skills, analytical capacity, research vision, and knowledge of professional norms and professional practices (e.g., reading, time management, etc.). NFDP 2020 seeks to address these and related gaps. 

A number of different activities and technologies will be utilized to achieve its learning objectives. These include:

• Lectures: delivered by the course instructor or a visiting expert, with the use of the designated software (Moodle and Microsoft Teams). 
• Reading Boot Camps: small groups who will meet through the designated software, roughly two hours every day to go through a pre-defined list of readings.
• Writing Boot Camps: the same groups will meet through the designated software for roughly two hours every day to spend time on structured writing.
• Group Projects: the participants will be divided into small groups, each of which will work on joint fundraising proposals. The thematic focus for the first session is the coronavirus.
• Juries and Panels: The boot camp groups will form juries and panels to review the materials of other groups
• Mentoring: This will be done individually with course instructors as well as through peer mentoring within groups. 

Participants are expected to be fully committed to the program, dedicating at least eight hours per day to the activities for six days every week for four weeks. Learning assessment will be both formative and summative. The NFDP 2020 will be delivered in cohorts of approximately 40 participants from April to August 2020.