Renewal of the Teacher-scholar
Author: William C. Nelsen
Publisher:
Published: 1981
Total Pages: 134
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIssues pertaining to effective faculty development programs at colleges and universities are considered, based on interviews with faculty members, administrators, and students at 20 liberal arts colleges. The book is also an outgrowth of the author's role in the Project on Faculty Development in 1979 at the Association of American Colleges. Faculty development is viewed as encompassing four specific areas: professional development (scholarship, improved research skills, broadening of scholarly areas); instructional development (pedagogy, improved teaching skills, learning of new changes in current offerings, development of interdisciplinary courses); and organizational change (enhancing faculty renewal through alterations in committee systems, reward structures, and new campus-wide goals). Approaches to renewal of the faculty member as scholar include the award of competitive grants for research, travel, or study, providing released time to a faculty member for study or research, and faculty-student research grants. Among the effective approaches to teaching development are: teaching institutes, skill-oriented and subject-oriented workshops, mentorship by senior colleagues, taking a colleague's course, and teaching consultation. Five areas involving changes in college policies and practices that could change faculty attitudes toward renewal include: the reward structure, the committee system, on-campus faculty support systems, personnel management, and faculty evaluation policies. Attention is also directed to the way that faculty renewal programs are conducted. Brief descriptions of specific faculty development programs and a list of faculty development resources compiled by Michael E. Siegel are appended. (SW)