IWU offers a number of programs that support faculty work. They include standard professional travel allotments, traditional research or artistic grants to individuals, curriculum development funding for individuals or groups, and course release and leave programs for both tenured and junior faculty. In addition, there are occasional opportunities to participate in regional and national conferences that focus upon various aspects of one’s professional development.

The Faculty Development Committee, Grant and Leave Programs

The IWU Faculty Development Committee includes an elected group of colleagues with the Associate Dean of the Faculty serving in an ex officio capacity. Its charge is to be responsible for matters concerning faculty development and the professional growth of faculty and in this capacity, it advises and makes recommendations to the Provost/Dean concerning faculty leaves, University grants, and support for faculty research and other professional activities (Faculty Handbook, 2008). In this capacity, it produces an annual online Faculty Development Handbook that describes procedures for applying for internal grants and leaves. University grant and leave applications are available online, as are exemplary proposals.

Members of the 2011-2012 Faculty Development Committee include:

Faculty Travel

With regard to travel, IWU offers partial support during the academic year for expenses related to professional development or achievement, and this budget, with the exceptions noted below, is administered through the office of the Associate Dean of the Faculty. The Provost and the Associate Dean, in consultation with the Faculty Development Committee, determine the standard amounts for which a full-time faculty member may be reimbursed for various activities, as well as maximum amounts for automobile mileage, lodging, and meals. In 2010-2011, these funds can be drawn upon from August 1, 2011, through July 13, 2012. Additional funds are allocated to departments who can offer supplemental assistance to tenure-line faculty. Specific regulations involving eligibility for and receipt of travel funds can be found in the Faculty Development Handbook. Faculty Travel Request Forms are available from department or school office coordinators or from the Mellon Center, 309-556-3760.

Workshop Support

The Associate Dean of the Faculty office also offers support for faculty reading groups, teaching circles, technology, and pedagogy workshops, held both on and off-campus. Illinois Wesleyan is especially proud to be a consortium member of the Midwest Faculty Seminar. As noted on its website, the Midwest Faculty Seminar “is a unique forum” that “ brings faculty members at the University of Chicago into continuing conversation with faculty members at private liberal arts colleges.” In so doing, it creates “a link between the scholarly and pedagogical concerns of the University of Chicago faculty and those of their colleagues at colleges throughout the Midwest.”  Four seminars are offered per academic year and IWU faculty are strongly encouraged to apply to those whose interdisciplinary themes are of interest.

Workshops, designed in conjunction with the Illinois State University Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, bring faculty from both campuses together to discuss issues of common concern.

Collaboration with the Thorpe Center

The Thorpe Center is a collaborative endeavor between Information Technology, the Mellon Center and the Ames Library, offering support for the use of technologies inside and outside of the classroom, assistive technologies, and digital video editing, so as to expedite the integration of audio and video into presentations and projects.  Throughout the year, workshops are offered whereby faculty and staff share their technological expertise and discuss relevant applications for their work.

Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable

The university's Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable includes members from constituencies throughout the campus and meets regularly to facilitate the use of information technology and resources to support teaching and learning at IWU.  A TLTR blog invites faculty and staff to share and comment upon their experiences as they relate to this mission and can be accessed through: http://blogs.iwu.edu/TLTR

Faculty Colloquia

It has been an IWU tradition to invite selected faculty to deliver formal presentations focused upon their research and teaching during the academic year. For 2011-2012, the following colleagues have been invited to participate in the program:

September 23rd: Kevin Sullivan, Associate Professor of Religion. "Ten if by Land, Less if by Sea: When Were the Gospels Written?"

November 4th: Alison Sainsbury, Associate Professor of English. "Women's Domestic  Humor and 'The Problem That Has No Name' or How My Aunt Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Home"

February 24th: Melinda Baur, Associate Professor of Chemistry. "Imaging Molecular Signaling in Neurons and Taste Cells. A Flavor of Biochemistry"

April 13th: Robert Schultz, Associate Professor of History. "Reel Men: Cultural Representations of Male Discontent and Disaffection in Twentieth-Century American Culture"

External Support

The Office of the Associate Dean of the Faculty works closely with the Office of Sponsored Programs and Foundation Relations so as to help faculty seek external funding for their research and scholarship. A list of funding sources and agencies can be found on the SPFR webpage. Grant-writing workshops, co-sponsored by both offices are scheduled during the academic year. Once one has acquired an external grant, administrative support is provided through the Associate Dean of the Faculty office.

External links

There are numerous internet sources, teaching and learning centers, professional organizations and listservs that focus upon professional development activities for faculty. A few are noted on our external link page. Of special note is the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which “serves faculty members, staff, and students who care about teaching and learning as serious intellectual work.”

Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment and evaluation are part of our regular, ongoing responsibilities as teachers and scholars. The Office of the Associate Dean of the Faculty works with the Office of Institutional Research and Planning in order to offer assistance to faculty as they pursue these aims. Faculty who write grants with prominent evaluation components can call upon the Associate Dean of the Faculty and the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research, Planning, and Evaluation for advice and help. Those who want to create insightful ways of determining how adequately students learn and assess the effectiveness of their curricular and instructional strategies, can also count upon the support of the Associate Dean and the Assistant Vice President in their pursuit of such efforts.