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A midcareer faculty member in the sciences stopped at my office to ask for assistance in designing a short course that he will be teaching to colleagues at an international program in Mexico. Next, two early-career women faculty called, seeking a small grant to create a peer writing group to support their scholarship and teaching. That afternoon, a department chair in the social sciences made an appointment to brainstorm how to develop a mentoring program for his six new faculty, four of whom are women and/or faculty of color. Then a new faculty member arrived for a consultation on ways to assess student learning in the art studio-with her four-month-old son in her arms. Her child care had cancelled, so I bounced the baby while we talked.
This is a snapshot of the day-to-day work of a "faculty developer" as she partners with faculty to support and enrich their work. What will be the future challenges facing these faculty members and their institutions? What will be the issues around which faculty are likely to need support over the next few years? What future directions will be important for campuses to consider when they make decisions about faculty development? These questions are significant, especially in light of the changing context of faculty roles and responsibilities.
To find out some answers, my colleagues and I conducted a major study of the field of faculty development in higher education (Sorcinelli, Austin, Eddy, and Beach 2006). We asked developers what goals and purposes guide their programs, what are the influences on their programs and practices, and what services are currently offered and the importance of those services. Perhaps most important, our survey was the first to ask developers to identify the key challenges and pressures facing faculty members and their institutions, and what they see as potential new directions for the field of faculty development.
The individuals we asked were members of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, the oldest and largest professional association of faculty development scholars and practitioners in higher education. Five hundred directors of teaching and learning centers, faculty members, department chairs, academic deans, and other senior administrators completed our survey. They came from research and doctoral universities, comprehensive universities, liberal arts...