(Revised September 1997)

The impetus for the UW-Madison faculty development programs continues to come from at least three different sources. (1) In established departments or areas of study, the important concepts and methodologies are changing as the body of knowledge expands. Faculty members continue to need special opportunities for focused study of these changes other than the limited opportunities during the course of on-going duties. Faculty also need to develop and learn to use appropriate new instructional technologies and research methodologies. (2) Meanwhile, the societal problems to which a university addresses itself, both in teaching and research, continue to shift in form and nature, and the boundaries between disciplines shift over time. To deal with such developing issues, faculty members often need an introduction to another discipline entirely or else an opportunity to explore in depth the areas where traditionally separate disciplines intersect. (3) Finally, the university's teaching responsibilities have also been modified by changes in the cultural diversity and age distribution of the student population, in an increased emphasis on enhancing undergraduate learning experiences, and demands by the broader community for training in new or different skills. The university is concerned that new and different service to these extended populations of new and "non-traditional" students will be necessary to assist them to reach their full intellectual potential.

Thus, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been actively involved in sustaining and developing new mechanisms for faculty development that respond to these needs. We believe that our mission is to continue to monitor the current faculty development programs and to expand them as changing times require and budgetary resources permit.

Specifically, the faculty development programs have emphasized ways to allow faculty members to amplify or focus their specializations or to acquire new ones. Presently, UW-Madison administers an assortment of long-term faculty development programs and short-term options. Both "traditional," long-term development options (e.g., sabbaticals supported by UW System and multiple-year campus-supported research or creativity awards) and shorter term and special constituency opportunities (e.g., conference attendance, workshops for computer training) are included. These varied programs and opportunities provide faculty and faculty/administrators with development opportunities at various stages in their careers. They are meant to weave together a variety of campus initiatives associated with institutional advancement with initiatives sponsored by the UW System and opportunities made available from other sources. As faculty members enter various career stages and seek to widen the range and scope of their work, they frequently need to acquire skills and approaches that push the limits of their own disciplines. For example, historians concerned with population trends may need to broaden their knowledge of demography, sociologists concerned with life stages may need to add competence in development psychology or family resources or gerontology, while organic chemists whose courses attract medical students may need to become more familiar with physiology and biochemistry.

In addition, the campus is committed to aligning faculty development programs with the 1995 "Vision for the Future" document issued by Chancellor Ward. The document's priorities: (1) maintaining our research preeminence; (2) reconceptualizing undergraduate education; (3) joining the global community; and (4) updating the Wisconsin Idea, and the articulated mission to encourage and support interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research will be an important aspect of faculty development programs and policies.

Faculty development programs and funding have the broad effect of stimulating on-campus faculty planning in general, within and between departments and among schools or colleges. Each proposal requires departmental and school or college evaluation and endorsement, as well as central campus review; this reflects a collective sense of purpose. In the long run, this "value-added" process at various levels of evaluation contributes to an enhanced definition of institutional goals for the future. Our collective process also helps to establish an exemplary model for coping with the challenge confronting all universities today: maintaining intellectual competitiveness and the most modern expertise among faculty in the face of shrinking resources and shifting enrollment patterns.

Faculty development grants permit individuals to pursue programs of study in their own or another specialization or field by reducing, or relieving them of their teaching obligation for a semester or an entire academic year. The attempt is made to make these awards career-stage specific, so that they become available at appropriate professional junctures to have maximum effective impact. Some development awards focus on specific areas (e.g., the arts and humanities) which have traditionally gone under-rewarded. Most awards are competitive (see next section).

In accordance with UW System rules, proposals for training faculty members in fields related to their academic specialties are eligible to receive one-half funding from a UW System account when matched equally by institutional funds. The intent is to help faculty obtain an entry to these other fields and specializations rather than to have to follow lengthy programs of study. The assumption is that once begun or once vital initial support is garnered, the faculty members can and will continue the learning process through the usual route of individual professional initiative.

1. The Provost (or his/her designee, the Associate Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs) announces the Faculty Development and individual programs/options to deans, department chairs and individual faculty members via Wisconsin Week, indicating the timetable for submitting proposals and procedures for review of applications.

2. Nominations for development grants are based on departmental need for the kind of programmatic extension and augmentation in the nominee's area and on the nominee's expressed interest and potential for development through such an award. In making such nominations, deans and departmental chairpersons agree that recipients will be released from departmental obligations during the period of the award. Long-range departmental strategies are encouraged although each faculty development proposal is reviewed on its own merits.

3. Departments submit an application for the nominee including an updated curriculum vita and a short but substantive description of the proposed development activity (2-3 typed pages). This includes a statement of purpose of the activity and, among other things, an indication that the applicant has discussed thoroughly the feasibility of the study program with appropriate faculty and departmental chairpersons from cooperating department(s). The form of the programs may vary, depending upon the nature of the disciplines involved; the program of study may or may not include taking formal courses. Programs may also include laboratory work to develop skills involving new techniques or using excellent physical facilities which the faculty member cannot utilize without a concentrated block of time. The department executive committee's approval of the proposal is based on the collective judgment as to departmental needs and purpose, the contribution of the individual proposal to that purpose, and the capacity to cover departmental teaching commitments and other responsibilities through a combination of department's budgetary flexibility and matching funds from UW System.

4. Deans establish mechanisms for handling faculty development options, such as administrative review of applications at the school or college level and establishing ad hoc review committees or using existing one. On the basis of the college level review and the unit's own budgetary flexibility and programmatic concerns, each dean submits a ranked list of proposals for a campus-wide peer review process to the office of the Provost. Once the campus-wide review is completed, the Provost's office submits the UW-Madison nominations and supporting materials to UW System Administration, as required.

5. Funds allocated from the UW System faculty development account are transmitted to the dean for use in whatever way the college and/or the awardee's department agree best satisfies the requirement that the departmental program not be diminished as a result of the award. (This may include, but is not restricted to, hiring a part-time replacement for the award recipient.)

6. Grant recipients must submit a written report on the activities and accomplishments made possible by the award to the dean and to the appropriate associate vice chancellor. This forms part of the basis for evaluating the program systematically.

7. Throughout the review process, preference is given to faculty whose abilities and interest give promise of long-range contributions to the academic programs of this institution. In addition, preference may be given to applications which involve enhancement of faculty methodological skills, support for which is usually precluded from funding by the Research Committee of the Graduate School. Proposals which stress contributions to undergraduate teaching and learning along with curricular innovation are solicited specifically and receive enhanced attention.

 

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

This program (AKA Cooper Fellowships) offers one-year postdoctoral fellowships (full academic year salary plus summer support) to enhance the competitiveness of outstanding minority and female scholars for academic appointments and subsequent retention through tenure, by supporting them in the conduct of an explicit research plan, and by providing mentoring and guidance toward advancement of their academic careers. The program provides a year of research and scholarship prior to assumption of faculty status. The pre-appointment grant year will not count on the Cooper scholar's tenure clock. The program assumes that a year of secure immersion in research, without the uncertainty and demands of job searches and the assumption of new teaching duties, would enhance the development of unique research agenda, and would enable these young scholars to do their best as probationary faculty when they begin their tenure track appointments in the following year.

16. Not included here are the many serendipitous opportunities for development available on a daily basis (in the form, for example, of campus conferences, university lectures, seminars, area studies or disciplinary "brownbags", and attendance at lectures by colleagues). Their importance, however, is recognized in the general faculty development equation.