Faculty Associates

Becoming a Faculty Associate

Since 2005, the Faculty Professional Development Center (fpdc) has grown in its capacity to serve the university through the dedicated efforts of its Faculty Associates. Faculty Associates focus their attention on areas of priority to the university while providing leadership and support to faculty and graduate students related to their topic.  Topics have included: Peer Review of Teaching, E-Portfolio Development, Service Learning, and the Scholarship of Learning, Teaching, and Engagement.  The Faculty Associate’s program is intended to provide time, space, expertise and resources for Faculty Associates to enhance their own understanding and knowledge while at the same time they contribute to the learning of the larger KSU community.
As the 2007-2008 academic year approaches the fpdc is searching for individuals with curiosity, passion, ideas, and commitment to learning more about a specific topic in ways that will serve colleagues and  strengthen our University. There are several ways that Faculty associates can contribute to others’ learning including:

• Facilitating learning communities
• Developing and offering workshops and exploratory sessions
• Developing and making available materials related to the topic area (modules, paper resources, information and materials accessed on the fpdc website, URLs, group and individual consulting materials)

• Consulting for groups and individuals
• Surveying and reporting on university activity related to the topic area (i.e. who is including service learning in their programs and courses and in what ways?)
• Writing informational papers: i.e. Active/Interactive News
• Grant writing and development; presentations and publications
• Scholarship of teaching and learning and engagement  (SoTLE)
• Creating and Moderating listservs and other methods of networking
• Developing and supporting special interest groups

Faculty Associates begin by consciously developing a relationship with his/her department chair to solicit support and define benefits that are anticipated from the Faculty Associate’s expertise development and the opportunities to work across the University. The fpdc, through its collaborative partners, offers a load reallocation for the contributions of each Faculty Associate, normally the equivalent of one three credit course per semester for which the department can be compensated up to $3,000 replacement costs per area. Faculty Associates meet bi-weekly for an hour in which they share their work and find support in the fpdc. Funding, either internally or externally can made available to support activities related to their focus areas. For example, a University Campus Conversation may necessitate funding for a guest speaker and food.

To express an interest in participating as a Faculty Associate for 2007-2008, an individual should prepare a brief paper (no more than 2 pages) in which  the following topics are addressed:

• Identify a timely topic/issue for development that will contribute to the success of the University
• Potential goals, and
• Potential plans by semester related to that area are described.

The fpdc collects these short papers throughout the year and will consult with each person submitting one to explore the possibility of serving as a Faculty Associate for the upcoming academic year. Short papers received by April 15th, will be considered first for Fall 2007 Faculty Associates. After support of the fpdc and a home unit is secured, the Faculty Associate is provided work space, equipment, and access to fpdc resources to begin working on her/his goals. At the end of each semester a brief reflective report documenting outcomes of the works in progress is prepared, enabling others with whom the associate shares the work to provide collegial support and perspective.
Faculty Associates develop collegial bonds of service with each other and the fpdc team, fostering mutual benefits by contributing to common projects, such as learning institutes, campus conversations, and supporting one another’s work with their attendance or feedback on ideas as they are in the development and testing stages.