10/20/2026
CSCA Faculty Learning Community Call
CSCA Faculty Learning Community Call
The Central States Communication Association invites students/scholars who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to participate in a Faculty Learning Community for 2026/2027.
Purpose: The CSCA Faculty Learning Community engages Black, Indigenous, and People of Color students/scholars in a curriculum program to help enhance teaching and research around a specific topic per calendar year. The FLC aims to foster a sense of community among these scholars at CSCA. The theme for CSCA this year is “Navigate — Finding Inspiration in Uncharted Terrain.”
Theme for 2026/27: "Finding Our Way Together: Belonging, Justice, and Transformation in Higher Education"
Higher education systems do not always recognize or value diverse experiences, identities, knowledge, and contributions, creating barriers for students, staff, and faculty. They face challenges in participation, recognition, and safety while being expected to conform to norms rather than reshape them. This year’s theme focuses on building a more equitable campus. Through dialogue, reflection, collaboration, and action, we will explore how practices in teaching, mentoring, hiring, leadership, and community engagement impact belonging.
Some of the learning outcomes are:
- Develop a shared understanding of belonging as a structural, relational, and justice-centered responsibility.
- Center lived experience and community knowledge in conversations about campus climate, teaching, mentoring, policy, and institutional priorities.
- Identify institutional “friction points,” places where policies, practices, expectations, or culture create unnecessary barriers for particular groups.
- Examine everyday academic practices, including teaching, advising, hiring, evaluation, committee work, leadership, and community engagement, through an equity and belonging lens.
- Participants will understand and prioritize relationality, reciprocity, and care over individualistic success narratives to support work on campus and within communities.
Eligibility:
- Early Career Faculty members (within 5 years of finishing their degree).
- D. Candidates seeking employment in academia.
- Identify as a person of color- this includes people who identify as non-white, such as African American/Black, Asian, Latinx, or non-white identifying Hispanic, or Native American.
- Have not participated in the FLC previously.
Each participant will receive:
- A professional development stipend to reimburse participants for conference expenses. (e.g., for conference registration, membership, lodging, and/or travel)
Participants commit to:
- Attending 6 FLC sessions during the 2026- 2027 year (all on Zoom): Nov. 2026 (Sessions 1 & 2), Dec. 2026 (Session 3), Jan. 2027 (Session 4), Feb. 2027 (Session 5), and Mar. 2027 (Session 6 - pre-conference).
- Showcasing your work created as part of the FLC on a CSCA 2027 panel.
- Participating in/attending 3 CSCA 2027 FLC panel sessions.
- Support the FLC Membership desk for one flexible conference shift, promoting the program and answering questions from attendees.
Submit:
- 400-500 word essay addressing the following questions:
- Why and how would having a community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color faculty benefit your professional and personal development?
- Why would a focus on belonging, justice, and transformation in Higher Education benefit your professional and personal development?
- In what ways can we work to build a more equitable campus?
Submission Deadline: Sunday, November 15, by 11:59 pm (CDT).
Email essays and questions to:
Dr. Grace Sikapokoo, Northern Illinois University gsikapokoo@niu.edu and
Dr. Morgan Smalls, James Madison University smallsmw@jmu.edu