Supporting the Development of the Professoriate

Abstract

Higher education institutions, regardless of mission or purpose, are evermore challenged to seek innovative ways to recruit, retain, and develop their faculty, particularly in light of new economic realities. All of our institutions share a commitment to attracting and supporting scholars who are critical to fulfilling our institutional missions in teaching, research, and service to our communities. This paper provides an overview of how the institutions we represent provide faculty support through the development of policies and practices that align institutional goals with faculty needs. Although we each brought perspectives from quite diverse institutions, we were struck by the similarities in the challenges we all face as we try to meet the professional and personal expectations of our faculty. THE NEEDS OF THE NEW FACULTY In all of our institutions, we have struggled with supporting increasingly diverse members of the faculty workforce, who enter our institutions under a variety of circumstances. Faculty members' roles are rapidly evolving, requiring institutions to think strategically about providing them with opportunities and resources for professional development (Sorcinelli 2007). All of us continue to make significant commitments to tenured and tenure-track faculty, but we also have a growing cadre of nontenured faculty who are often disproportionately responsible for teaching our students. Some of these nontenured faculty members include lecturers, preceptors, adjuncts (part time or full time), visiting faculty, and instructors who are hired by institutions on a contractual basis. Faculty orientation activities for new hires have been effective in ensuring that all faculty members are adequately informed of institutional resources, expectations, and unique academic cultures within schools and departments. As an example, new faculty members begin their employment at the U.S. Air Force Academy by attending a six-day short course called Faculty Orientation. The new hires are placed into a learning community consisting of eight to ten new faculty members and two experienced academy faculty (who serve as mentors and learning facilitators). During the orientation, each faculty member spends about two hours each day in the learning community and discusses a wide array of topic areas. They also attend a variety of workshops and seminars, all designed to introduce new members of the faculty to the academy's expectations, culture, and teaching and learning strategies. Another example of a faculty orientation activity is Harvard's New Faculty Institute, designed to provide Harvard's new faculty members with an easy transition into academic life. The institute is an opportunity to welcome new faculty members to the community of scholars at Harvard and provide them with opportunities to meet other faculty colleagues from across the university. Faculty panels during the orientation also allow new faculty recruits to meet senior and recently tenured faculty members from across a wide range of disciplines, with ample time to have questions addressed in a relatively informal setting. At Spelman College, the Junior Faculty Caucus introduces new faculty members to colleagues across the university through brown bag lunch discussions, which provide them with avenues to find mentors, get oriented to the institution, and raise concerns about challenges that are unique to new faculty. SUPPORTING FACULTY RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP In constrained economic climates, institutions often seek more innovative and cost-effective approaches to supporting the research and scholarship of their faculty. While funding is an important requirement, developing an infrastructure that fosters dialogue and collaboration among faculty members from across the disciplines is equally important and highly valued by the faculty participants. For example, there are various institutional initiatives that provide substantive support for faculty scholarship and development, including cross-disciplinary research support groups, as well as a series of grant-writing and other skill-building activities. …