Chapter 5
Academic Programs

 

5.7 Faculty Development

Introduction

The Self-Study subcommittee evaluating Faculty Development defined this process as thus:

"The ongoing acquisition of knowledge and skills by individual members of the faculty that contributes to the institution’s achieving its purposes and also to the professional development of faculty members within their academic disciplines. It consists, furthermore, of the addition of new faculty members to complement and expand the knowledge and skill base of the existing faculty body."

As a state university in a region where there was no four-year institution of higher education until 1963, Saginaw Valley State University maintains a strong commitment to excellence in teaching. The university recruits its faculty through national searches from prestigious graduate programs and prides itself in faculty retention and development. Eighty-three percent of SVSU faculty (204 out of 246) hold a doctoral or other terminal degree in their discipline. Faculty teaching, research/creative activity, and university and community service are supported by Saginaw Valley State University to enhance the professional growth of faculty and are specified criteria for appointment, tenure, and promotion (Faculty Contract: Article H).

Faculty are recognized for excellence in each of these areas through annual awards presented at the spring banquet. The Franc A. Landee Award recognizes excellence in teaching for tenured faculty. The House Family Award is a student-nominated award for teacher impact. The Mary Anderson award recognizes outstanding work by an adjunct professor. The Earl Warrick Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the area of research and creative activities. The Terry Ishahara and Reuben Daniels Awards are given for service to the university and the community. Each of these awards includes a stipend. The Faculty Association also makes annual awards in these areas.

Conditions of Employment

Tenure-track and Tenured Faculty: For a complete delineation of many of the following topics, see the Faculty Contract 2002-2005. Generally full load for faculty is four courses (or twelve hours each semester) with some exceptions for graduate teaching, field work, or lab-based courses. Many faculty also teach in the spring and summer terms. Teaching commitments may compete with time and energy for research unless, as is frequently the case, the research is pedagogically directed through the instructor’s teaching responsibilities. Such time constraints are especially pressing upon new faculty, many of whom come directly from graduate school.

Some earlier concerns about financial support for professional travel have been addressed in the new faculty contract, making it possible for each faculty member to attend or participate in at least one national conference (or other conferences on the regional or state level). Supplemental funds for additional travel are often available upon application. Opportunities for international teaching exchange and research have contributed to the professional growth of increasing numbers of faculty members. Sabbatical leaves for research are generally approved upon application. (Full-time lecturers are, by contract, not eligible for sabbatical leave.)

SVSU faculty have commented positively about the physical environment in which they work, especially with the opening of new facilities. All full-time faculty have private offices with up-to-date computers to support teaching and research. Computer upgrades have been scheduled every three years, although with recent state budget cuts, that rotation has been revised to four years. Other equipment and space to support research varies, determined somewhat by departmental need. Faculty are also supported by secretarial staff shared by a number of departments. Each department also has budget for a number of student workers, supported by financial aid.

Lecturers: In some areas with high demand for introductory courses, such as mathematics and English, 1-3 year lectureships have been established. Lecturers are evaluated in the areas of teaching and service but not scholarship, although many lecturers at SVSU are engaged in research in their fields. Terminal degrees are not required.

Adjunct Faculty: As in most institutions of higher education, SVSU relies on a number of part-time adjunct faculty to supplement the full-time teaching staff, a situation exacerbated by current budget constraints. Compensation is not sufficient to justify significant extracurricular demands on adjuncts, although many of them would welcome a more active role in university affairs.

Professional programs often draw adjuncts from specialists in their fields to provide students with experience beyond the classroom. Use of adjuncts in graduate courses is approved only on a course-by-course basis, based on specific expertise in the subject matter.

Training workshops for adjunct instructors have been instituted in key programs such as Composition, but given the importance of adjunct instructors in staffing many Basic Skills and General Education courses, these efforts need to be expanded. Without additional compensation, it is difficult to recruit adjunct faculty to participate in such endeavors. Also, as is the case with adjuncts around the country, to make ends meet, adjuncts frequently teach at a number of institutions and lack extra time to spend on campus.

Evaluation of Faculty: Procedures

Faculty are evaluated in the traditional areas of teaching, scholarship, and service.
The Faculty Contract defines, in detail, the way in which the evaluation of faculty is carried out for tenure, promotion, and professorial continuous achievement awards.

Evaluation of new faculty members is extensive and is intended to aid the faculty member’s development; the details are addressed in the Faculty Contract (H 1.2 - H 2.2.10). Each new tenure-track faculty member is assigned an evaluation team of three other faculty members. The dean appoints one member, the Faculty Association a second member, and these two select a third member. These teams are individually charged by the dean of the appropriate college and meet with the faculty member to discuss the process.

Team members visit classes, conduct student evaluations, and review scholarship and service activities. The team then submits a report to the dean recommending whether or not the faculty member be rehired for the next year. The Dean then accepts the report, asks for additional information, or disputes it. The faculty member also has an opportunity to respond to the report. Occasionally, if the team notes problems, a correction plan is put in place to address those issues and improve performance. These reports, along with student evaluations for all courses taught each semester and evidence of scholarship and service, are kept by the faculty member in the Professional Practices Committee (PPC) File, which is housed in the college dean’s office.

The same procedure is followed the second year with a new team. No team is assigned the third year, but another team is assigned the fourth year, which is the pre-tenure year. This team reviews the PPC File and conducts further class visits. The team then writes the pre-tenure report along with an Individual Evaluation Report (IER) which includes ranking in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. This is placed in the candidate’s PPC File. This process is shortened for some faculty who are hired with credit for prior teaching experience.

By contract, faculty members will be considered for tenure automatically in accord with the dates established by the contract. For most faculty, this is their fifth year. The candidate is responsible to solicit IERs from his or her department, including ranking and a department vote, as well as from his or her college dean. Candidates also may solicit IERs from colleagues. The candidate is also responsible to have his or her PPC file available for review by the PPC by designated dates. For promotion and sabbatical consideration, a candidate must make formal application to the PPC through the Office of Academic Affairs.

The Professional Practices Committee reviews the PPC Files and IERs of candidates for tenure and votes whether or not to recommend candidates to the VPAA, who presents the names to the President and the Board of Control for approval.

Tenured faculty maintain and update their PPC files for the length of their careers at SVSU, because these files are also used by the PPC for consideration of sabbatical applications, promotion applications and other awards, and occasionally in disciplinary proceedings. As noted in the section on Governance, the composition and responsibilities of the PPC and the procedures for tenure, promotion, discipline, and sabbaticals are defined by contract, as are many other aspects of faculty career development, from research support to service obligations.

In fact, serving on evaluation teams has become a significant area of faculty service to the university. As the number of faculty grows, so does the number of teams that need to be formed each year. Some senior faculty find themselves serving on two or three teams each fall, and even relatively new faculty are recruited to teams. The number of candidates for tenure and promotion has also been increasing, adding to the work of the PPC. The PPC also considers market-equity raises, as defined in the Contract.

Each fall, the Faculty Association holds a forum to review procedures and to orient new faculty to evaluation processes for tenure and promotion and to answer questions about the creation of PPC files. The organization of these files is also specified in the contract.