To Improve the Academy Resources for Faculty

To Improve the Academy, Volume 19, offers a resource to faculty members as faculty developers have increased in number and the practice of faculty development has gained greater institutionalization in higher education. The book is divided into three sections:

• Section I, Focus on Trends in Faculty Development: identifies critical trends in faculty development, including participation in the national conversation on the scholarship of teaching and faculty development; the faculty developer's role in supporting and working with department chairs; a historical perspective on service-learning; diversity theory; and the learning community concept
• Section II, Focus on Faculty Development and Student Learning: challenges readers to think critically about improving student learning and creating successful partnerships between faculty and graduate as well as undergraduate students
• Section III, Focus on Faculty Development and Professional Support: uses examples to illustrate how faculty developers and faculty members can offer mutual support to effect lasting impact on their campuses

Asserting that it is the responsibility of educational developers to improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education, the authors seeks to inspire readers to work with their peers to produce quality scholarship—and positive change—in the field of faculty development.

CATHERINE M. WEHLBURG is Associate Vice president for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor in Psychology, Stephens College.

Introduction.

Ethical Guidelines for Educational Developers.

Section I: Focus on Trends in Faculty Development.

1. Fostering the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Communities of Practice (Barbara L. Cambridge).

2. Transitions and Transformations: The Making of Department Chairs (Irene W. D. Hecht).

3. Education for Responsible Citizenship: A Challenge for Faculty Developers (Thomas Ehrlich).

4. A Prophet in Your Own Land? Using Faculty and Student Focus Groups to Address Issues of race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Classroom (James Francisco Bonilla & Patricia R. Palmerton).

5. Faculty Learning Commenities: Change Agents for Transforming Institutions into Learning Organizations (Milton D. Cox).

Section II: Focus on Faculty Development and Student Learning.

6. Doing faculty Development as if We value Learning Most: Transformative Guidelines from Research to Practice (Thomas A. Angelo).

7. Higher-Level Learning: The First Step Toward More Significant Learning.

8. Clarity in Teaching in Higher Education: Dimensions and Classroom Strategies (Nira Hativa).

9. Preparing Today’s Faculty for Tomorrow’s Students: One College’s Faculty Development Solution (Patrick Nellis, Helen Clarke, Jackie Di Martino, and David Hosman).

10. After Twelve Years of Teaching the College-Teaching Course (Michael B. Paulsen).

11. Faculty development that Transforms the Undergraduate Experience at a Research University (Kathleen S. Smith).

12. The Case for Spphisticated Course Syllabi (Michael J. Strada).

13. The Role of a Teaching Center in Curricular Reform (Constance Ewing Cook).

14. Technology and the Culture of teaching and Learning (Sean Courtney).

Section III: Focus on Faculty Development and Professional Support.

15. Developing New faculty: An Evolving Program (Gloria Pierce).

16. Publish, Don’t Perish: A Program to help Scholars Floruish (Tara Gray and Jane Birch).

17. Designing Teaching Portfolios Based on a Formal Model of the Scholarship of teaching (Carolin Kreber).

18. Strengthening Collegiality to Enhance Teaching, Research, and Scholarly Practice: An Untapped Resource for Faculty Development (Gerlese S. Akerlind and Kathleen M. Quinlan).

19. Faculty Quality of Life (Sally S. Atkins, Kathleen T. Brinko, Jeffrey A. Butts, Charles S. Claxton, and Glenda T. Hubbard).

20. Getting Administrative Support for your Project (Joan Middendorf)

Bibliography.