Creating the Future of Faculty Development: Learning from the Past, Understanding the Present

In recent years, new expectations of higher education from parents, employers, trustees, and government leaders have contributed to broad institutional changes. Recognizing that the quality of a university or college is closely related to that of its faculty members, many institutions have increased their efforts to support and enrich faculty work. Creating the Future of Faculty Development addresses this growing need for faculty development by exploring how faculty development has evolved and envisioning its future.

Based on a study of nearly 500 faculty developers from all institution types, the book examines core issues such as the structural variations among faculty development programs; the goals, purposes, and models that guide and influence faculty program developments; and the top challenges facing faculty members, institutions, and their programs. Several key questions are addressed, including

• What are the structural variations among faculty development programs?
• What goals, purposes, and models guide and influence program development?
• What are the top challenges facing faculty members, institutions, and faculty development programs?
• What are potential new directions and visions for the field of faculty development?

Creating the Future of Faculty Development summarizes the challenges and pressures now facing developers and higher education as a whole. In this book, readers will find reason to rethink how they approach, organize, and support faculty development as they engage in institutional planning for the future.

In the midst of all the other changes and challenges facing higher education, faculty members and faculty developers from several US universities argue that faculty development is a key strategic lever for ensuring institutional quality and supporting institutional change. They report findings about the purposes, issues, and preferences of current faculty developers; assess the challenges; and offer their thoughts on an emerging agenda. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Mary Deane Sorcinelli is associate provost of faculty development, director of the Center for Teaching, and an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy, Research, and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research and publications concern academic career development, teaching improvement and evaluation, and faculty development policy and practice. She served as president on the executive board of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education from 2000-2004. She was visiting scholar to the American Association for Higher Education from 1999-2001, and is currently a Whiting Foundation Fellow, studying faculty and teaching development practices in Ireland (2003-2005). Her books include Evaluation of Teaching Handbook (1986, Indiana University-Bloomington), Academic memories: Retired Faculty Member Recall the Past (1988, Western Sun), Developing New and Junior Faculty (coedited with A. Austin, 1992, Jossey-Bass), Writing to Learn: Strategies for Assigning and Responding to Writing Across the Disciplines (coedited with P. Elbow, 1997, Jossey-Bass), Preparing a Teaching Portfolio (with F. Mues, 2000, Center for Teaching, University of Massachusetts Amherst), and Heeding New Voices: Academic Careers for a New generation (with R. E. Rice & A. Austin, 2000, American Association for Higher Education).

Ann E. Austin is professor in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education Program at Michigan State University. Her research and publications concern faculty Careers, roles, and professional development; teaching and learning issues in highereducation; and organizational change and transformation in higher education. She was a Fulbright Fellow in South Africa (1998), the president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (2001-2002), and is currently co-principle investigator of a National Science Foundation Center concerning preparing future faculty in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Fields. Her books include Paths to the Professoriate: Strategies for Enriching the Preparation of Future Faculty (coedited with D. H. Wulff, 2004, Jossey-Bass), Higher Education in the Developing World: Changing Contexts and Institutional Resources (coedited with D.W. Chapman, 2002, Greenwood Press), Heeding New Voices: Academic Careers for a New Generation (with R.E. Rice & M.D. Sorcinelli, 2000, American Association for Higher Education), and Developing New and Junior Faculty (coedited with M. D. Sorcinelli, 1992, Jossey-Bass).

Pamela L. Eddy is an assistant professor of higher education at Central Michigan University. She serves as an associate editor for Community College Enterprise and is incoming book review coeditor for the Community College Journal of Research and Practice. She is a board member of Division J of the American Education Research Association and a board representative for the Council for the Study of Community Colleges. Her research concerns leadership and faculty development at community colleges, new faculty roles, and teaching and learning issues.

Andrea L. Beach is an assistant professor in teaching, learning, and leadership at Western Michigan University, where she teaches in the higher education leadership doctoral program. She received her Ph.D. in higher, adult, and lifelong education from Michigan State University as well as her master's in adult and continuing education. Her research centers on issues of organizational climate in universities, teaching and learning, doctoral education, and faculty development. Recent projects include a national survey of community college faculty development, a national survey of faculty development at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and creation of a compilation of online teaching. She is currently external evaluator on three grants addressing faculty development and faculty learning communities.