Summary Notes on "Futuristic Faculty Development," by S. A. Baiocco and J. N. DeWaters, ACADEME, September-October 1995, pp. 38-39.

Summarized by J. T. P. Yao, 8/14/00

"Historically, faculty development has consisted of incidental, sporadic workshop presentations, an occasional offering of a teaching effectiveness program, travel and research funding, and sabbaticals. … Today leading higher education institutions understand the challenges ahead, but few seem to be making the connection between new demands and the cultivation of the faculty. They acknowledge the need to encourage an attitude toward lifelong learning among new faculty and to motivate senior faculty, as well as to provide students with the most effective and up-to-date instruction, yet finding from a recent survey of AAUP chapter leaders suggest that only modest, traditional efforts are being made to support the vital professional growth of faculty necessary to adjust to the astronomical changes in American society."

"The good news is that faculty development programs appear to be more common among AAUP respondent institutions than among American colleges and universities in general. … However, the distressing news is that development programs appear to be peripheral to these institutions, with two-thirds of respondents reporting that program funding was stagnant or decreasing and that budget allocations were sometimes secretive. … Only 14 percent of respondents indicated that their institutions allotted office space for faculty development, and fewer than half had someone assigned to coordinate development programs, more often an administrator, not a faculty member. …"

"Travel funding continues to be perceived as the first priority for faculty development in the next decade; however, reflecting a nationwide reawakening of interest in the faculty teaching role, faculty leaders in the study cited mentoring for teaching effectiveness and assistance in using technology and developing materials as the next highest priorities. Training in the use of computer technology is a significant current need and a future priority, according to respondents, with faculty training least available in developing multimedia teaching aids. … Findings also suggest that the drive to publish is alive and well on AAUP campuses. Mentoring in research, publication, and grant writing was also targeted by faculty respondents as priorities for future faculty development."

"The study strongly suggests that renewed institutional efforts must be made to ensure that faculty will understand the changing nature of their disciplines, remaining open to and contributing to the advancement of the professional and scholarly life of their disciplines and their institutions. …"

"The conceptual model we propose replaces the current model of the faculty as educational shopper… Rather, we propose a Collegiate Development Network prototype for offerings that link faculty seeking assistance with mentors either on campus or nationwide. On-line networks will likely form the essential infrastructure of this futuristic faculty development. … The challenge for faculty development purposes, as well as for all educational purposes, will be to retain the human element in this format, which is currently heavily weighted toward the passive written word (text). When and if the networks can incorporate innovations in interactive multimedia in their program offerings at low cost, the network environment may become even friendlier to the professional academic and far more effective than the 'schmoozing' that goes on at scholarly meetings."

[Readers who are interested in this article are encouraged to read the original paper in its entirety. Other summary notes on faculty reward systems are available on the Internet at http://lohman.tamu.edu under the heading "Summaries of Papers ..."]