Professional Obligations Of Faculty

C5 Professional Growth

1. Rationale and Responsibility for Professional Growth

   
   

   Faculty members are expected not only to promote intellectual inquiry by their students, but to illustrate it continually in their own behavior. Scholarly growth is essential for good teaching, and it is therefore a significant criterion for promotion and tenure.
   

    

   Every faculty member is responsible for designing his/her own program of professional development in consultation with the departmental chairperson. The principal goals of any such program are the maintenance of vitality in teaching and the fostering of growth as a professional in his/her area(s) of scholarly interest and expertise.

   
   
2. Internal Resources Available to Faculty to Assist in Growth

   
   

   To assist each faculty member in realizing these goals, the College provides various forms of assistance. Included are:
   
   

   1. The sabbatical leave program (see B19);
   2. Funds to enable travel to professional conferences (see B17.b8);
   3. Summer development grants to assist research and other forms of faculty development (see above B17.b9).
   4. President's Discretionary Fund, available year-round for special projects;
   5. Faculty study carrels in Van Wylen Library, assigned by the Library Committee for a semester or summer through an application process;
   6. The Faculty Colloquium on Classic Texts and other colloquium series and short-term workshops organized within departments, divisions, or special groups such as the Senior Seminar faculty;
   7. Funds to enable attendance at meetings aimed at the improvement of teaching (e.g., GLCA Workshop on Course Design and Teaching);
   8. A panel of faculty Teaching Consultants to provide confidential assistance to colleagues who may wish to call on them;
   9. Teaching Enhancement Workshop for new faculty, normally held before the opening of the academic year and in follow-up sessions during the year.
   
   

   Department chairpersons have further information on the above programs.
   

    

   Several departmental and divisional offices regularly post announcements of conferences and of grant and fellowship competitions.



3. Requests for External Funding for Scholarly Work

   Since the resources of the College are insufficient to support all scholarly work by Hope faculty members, individuals are encouraged actively to seek funds from outside sources, especially to sustain their scholarly work on an ongoing basis.

   The Office of Sponsored Research Programs (SRO) provides assistance to faculty in locating funding sources and developing successful proposals through a variety of services provided. It is important for faculty members to contact the Director of Sponsored Research Programs as well as their Chairperson and divisional Dean to enlist their assistance in formulating grant requests.

   There are college requirements related to submitting an external grant proposal such as completion of the online “Early Notification Form” informing the SRO and Chairperson of the faculty member’s intentions, paper copies of the “External Support Routing Form” seeking authorizations by designated College officials prior to submission and the “Institutional Cost Share Form”, if College commitments are required for the project. All information regarding the Office of Sponsored Research can be found on the SRO website. Institutional information needed in preparing external proposals and budgets such as College’s tax ID and negotiated indirect cost rate can be found on the institutional data page of the SRO website.

    



4. Use of Other College Resources

   
   

   Research that 1) may require financial support by the College; 2) entails extensive use of equipment or facilities; or 3) requires released time from teaching assignments must be approved in writing by the Provost.