Faculty Development Committee- St. Olaf College
Minutes for meeting of 20 February 2007
Present:
Jeanine Grenberg, chair
Doug Beussman
Tony Lott
Irina Walter
Patricia Martin, ex-officio
Arnie Ostebee, ex-officio
David Schodt, ex-officio
The meeting was convened at 8:15 am in Buntrock 221
Order of Scheduled Business:
The first order of business was a closed discussion of FaCE grant applications.
The second order of business was a proposal brought forth by Patricia Martin to engage sabbatical applicants in discussion of ‘Planning Sabbatical Projects’. The committee agreed that this proposal was an excellent idea and that GFR and the Dean’s Office should plan to host a meeting (with food) that will (1) introduce Patricia and GFR to a targeted group of colleagues 18-24 months from the application deadline for their sabbaticals in ‘09-’10, (2) discuss the development of successful proposals and the opportunities for external funding, (3) present past sabbatical success stories with opportunities for discussion. The plan would be to have a more specific one-on-one conversation with sabbatical-bound colleagues to follow this meeting. It was noted that department chairs should be involved in this process.
The third order of business was a broad discussion concerning the second draft of the document ‘A Conversation About the Status of Faculty Development at St. Olaf College’.
Arnie began the discussion by reading the section of the Faculty Manual pertinent to the mission of the Faculty Development Committee. This section is reproduced as follows:
- Faculty Development Committee
a) The purpose of the Faculty Development Committee is to foster a vibrant
culture of ongoing professional development for College faculty, and to
promote effective stewardship of College resources in support of that culture
The Committee will advise the Provost and Dean of the College on current and prospective faculty development priorities, policies, programs, and proposals for internal funding. Specific responsibilities include:
(i)Consulting with the faculty at large;
(ii) Collaborating with the Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts
(CILA), the Office of Government and Foundation Relations (GFR),
and other relevant College committees, Centers, faculty members, and
administrators to promote widespread and effective faculty
development at the College;
(iii) Developing and disseminating application guidelines, criteria, and appropriate forms for selected internal faculty development programs;
(iv) Evaluating and making recommendations on individual and group project proposals for selected internal faculty development programs.
From this discussion, the committee discussed the policy, program, and advisory issues that have been at the heart of the FDC review.
Jeanine raised the question: Does the committee have a role in reviewing faculty development issues at-large?
Arnie has suggested that an external review might be in order.
Patricia and David raised the point that an external review should take place prior to further changes to the ‘faculty-life’ component of committee governance on the campus. As this point was agreed to by the committee members present, it was decided that the way to proceed was to invite the chair of RPC to the FDC meeting scheduled for Tuesday, 20 March. The open part of that meeting will begin at 8:30.
The committee is reminded that Tim Mahr will chair the meetings of 6 and 13 March as Jeanine has recused herself.
