Faculty and Contract Staff Handbook
(4) Faculty Development
(4A) STATEMENT ON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
(4B) FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
(4C) DISCRETIONARY FACULTY DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
(4D) FACULTY FELLOWSHIPS
(4B) FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
For a summary of recent changes to this chapter, see Chapter 9A: Summary of Recent Revisions to this Handbook.
Contents of this page:
The Standard Operating Procedures of the Faculty Development Committee (FDC) contain information regarding submission and review of grant proposals and award announcements and the responsibilities of the FDC to the University at large.
I. OVERVIEW
In a manner consistent with the Statement on Faculty Development (Chapter 4A), the Faculty Development Committee shall announce, review, and recommend for award proposals in the following areas: academic leave, summer stipend, course development, and independent special projects grants. The FDC shall also be involved in certain oversight responsibilities with regard to the Faculty Development discretionary funds disbursed by the Office of Academic Affairs, and to released-time arrangements.
In May of each academic year, the FDC shall distribute to the Academic Faculty a report of that year’s faculty development activity. This annual report shall include a summary of the current academic year’s activities of the FDC and a listing of all institutional awards. The annual report may include general and specific recommendations for improving the environment for faculty development on the campus.
II. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND ANNOUNCEMENT PROCEDURES
III. APPLICATION PROCEDURES FOR NEW PROPOSALS
Applicants for development projects will obtain the guidelines and information forms from the Office of Academic Affairs. Proposal guidelines will include definitions of project purposes, requirements and evaluation criteria, a sample format for proposal preparation, and small project expense guidelines. Guidelines will also contain a cover sheet for proposals which will include signature spaces for the appropriate Chair or program director. These signatures will indicate, in the case of academic leave, that unless otherwise indicated, the department will be able to meet its curricular responsibilities to the University if an academic leave is granted. In the case of the summer stipend, the signatures indicate a willingness of Chairs or program heads to have the summer stipend proposal funded. In the case of individual course development proposals, Chairs or program heads shall specify the benefits of the project to departments before the initial meeting. The cover sheet for a summer stipend will require the applicant to list any summer grants from Trinity University funds within the past five years, including FDC summer stipends, Junior Faculty Fellowships, or special salary stipends individually arranged with the administration, whether as a condition of appointment or otherwise. The cover sheet for an academic leave will require the applicant to identify previous leaves (academic or administrative) funded by Trinity University.
Applicants for an academic leave, summer stipend, or individual course development award may apply for a special project grant which covers budget items necessary for that project, such as travel expenses. Applications for leave and summer stipend projects will be directed to the AVPAA:BR, and any award will be from the Faculty Development Funds. Applications for individual course development will be directed to the AVPAA:FRD.
IV. PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PROPOSALS
V. PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCEDURES
A. Panel Procedures and Recommendations
The Office of Academic Affairs shall forward to all panel members a copy of each proposal submitted to that panel. All proposals shall be considered on the basis of quality, relative to the goals of the appropriate area of faculty development. Each panel will decide which proposals meet the guidelines. Panel members are to review and evaluate each proposal according to the evaluative criteria as prescribed in appropriate guidelines as approved in the Statement on Faculty Development (Chapter 4A) (see evaluation guidelines for leaves with pay, summer stipends, individual course development, and special project grants). Applications for academic leaves will be judged as Recommended or Not Recommended. Applications for summer stipends will be rank ordered. After discussion of summer stipend proposals, each panel should arrive at a ranking of proposals—e.g., A1, 2, 3; B1, 2, 3; C—(A—strongly recommended; B—recommended; C—not recommended and will not be considered further). Faculty not previously funded by Trinity University funds (for example, previous stipends and Junior Faculty Fellowships) will be given preference for summer stipends. The rankings of the seven members of the panel, the Chair, and the AVPAA:BR will be tabulated with the highest and lowest value (number, ranking) for each proposal discarded before taking the mean.
In the case of summer stipends, panel members will submit their written signed confidential evaluations to their panel Chair. These comments will not be available to the applicants and will be kept on file for a period of one year in the Office of Academic Affairs. The applicant can request further information via consultation with the FDC Chair.
Applications for academic leaves will be judged as Recommended or Not Recommended. If the panel does not concur with the recommendation of the department, it will notify the applicant and the department, and will explain the reasons for its recommendation. The panel will provide an opportunity for further justification or clarification of the proposal from either of these parties who might wish to respond before it makes a final determination and sends its recommendation to the VPAA.
If the panel votes not to recommend a leave proposal, the Committee must notify the applicant and the department, explain the reasons for its decision, and provide an opportunity for further justification or determination. If unconvinced by all of them, it may recommend against the proposal, but in such controversial cases each member of the panel must provide a written justification for his/her recommendation. These justifications will not be available to applicants but will be explained by the Chair of the FDC in a summary statement that will be made available to the candidate after awards are announced.
B. Final Recommendations and Announcements
The Chair of the FDC will submit the final recommendations from each panel to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Academic leaves will be listed as recommended or not recommended and will not be rank ordered. Summer stipends will be listed as recommended or not recommended. Recommended summer stipends will be rank ordered but no distinction will be made between highly recommended and recommended. Following administrative approval, the President and the Chair of the FDC will jointly notify recipients of awards by letter.
C. Filing of Evaluation, Proposal, and Award Records
Records of the FDC shall be retained in the Office of Academic Affairs. The panel Chairs’ evaluations shall be filed for one year for reference by applicants. A single copy of all proposals and presidential award letters will be filed as permanent institutional records.
The confidentiality of all Panel and Executive Committee evaluations, discussions, and recommendations shall be strictly maintained by members of the FDC.
VI. PROCEDURES FOR NEH APPLICATION REVIEW
The FDC will review applications from faculty members who wish to apply for a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Award when more proposals are received than are allowed by NEH. Panel I of the FDC will evaluate these applications and make recommendations to the administration concerning which applications should be recommended for funding.
VII. AMENDMENTS
These Standard Operating Procedures may be amended by a majority vote of the membership of the Faculty Development Committee, provided that the proposed amendment has been distributed in writing to all members of the Committee at least four days prior to the meeting at which the proposed amendment is to be considered.
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