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4.13 Faculty development

The purpose of faculty development activities shall be to encourage and maintain a faculty which is thoroughly grounded in the academic disciplines, skilled in the transmission of those disciplines, and committed to advancing them by teaching, research, and writing. All faculty are expected to pursue academic growth on a regular basis. 

To support faculty in this pursuit the college provides a faculty development program administered by the academic dean and the Faculty Development Committee. Benefits of this program available to all faculty include: paid professional memberships (see 5.10), travel allowances (see 5.11), secretarial help, computer access, and honoraria for publications (see 5.12).

Other benefits are available to faculty upon special application. These include study leaves and grants (see 4.14 and 4.15), sabbatical leaves (see 4.16), faculty professional renewal grants (see 4.18), consortium exchanges, and faculty development grants. A current faculty evaluation (see 4.4) is required for eligibility to apply for these benefits. 

Faculty development grants will be awarded by the Faculty Development Committee in three categories:

1.  Program Development

  1. Grants for curriculum innovations including: course development, faculty/student collaboration, teaching assistants.

  2. Grants for cross‑cultural experiences including: travel for course enrichment, and travel for mission or service opportunities. 

  3. Grants for furthering the integration of faith and learning including: funding campus speakers, on‑campus conferences. 

2.  Pedagogy Development

  1. Grants for interdisciplinary discussion and collaboration. 

  2. Grants for developing classroom skills including: on‑ and off‑campus workshops, master teacher/apprentice collaborations, collaborative teaching ventures. 

  3. Grants for developing computer/media skills. 

3.  Professional Development

  1. Grants for professional travel prioritized according to value to institution and individual as follows: presentation of paper at an international or national conference, presentation of paper at a regional conference, participation at an international or national conference, participation at a regional conference, attendance only at an international or national conference, attendance only at a regional conference.
  2. Grants for released time tied to specific projects with predetermined outcomes (publication, conference presentations, etc.).
  3. Grants for the purchase of materials tied to specific projects with predetermined outcomes (publication, exhibition, etc.).
  4. Grants for funding of unusual expenses related to sabbatical projects.

These listed categories are not intended to define the full range of application for faculty development funds that will be considered. They are intended, rather, to illustrate the nature of the development activities to be encouraged and to give a common point of departure for faculty writing proposals and for committee deliberations. In making awards, the Faculty Development Committee will seek to be flexible and responsive to the timeliness of applications while preserving funds for use near the end of the academic year. In addition, the committee will seek to maintain equity in the distribution of funds. This means not only monitoring the distribution of funds across the faculty, but also monitoring the distribution of funds across the categories targeted for development.                                                          

(November 6, 1992)

Part-time teaching faculty are eligible for Faculty Development funds as described above, with the following stipulations:

  1. Part-time teachers requesting funding must carry a minimum half-time teaching load unless they are full-time college employees. In this case they must carry a minimum quarter-time teaching load each semester.

  2. Those teaching part-time must meet the above requirement for two years prior to requesting a grant.

  3. Requests from part-time teaching faculty must include a department chair endorsement for the proposal including an indication that the faculty member has conducted course evaluations.

  4. The grant proposal should clearly indicate how the faculty member will benefit and the effect the request will have on the courses taught.

  5. Individual grants will be limited to a proportional share of the full-time maximum based on the part-time teaching load of the individual in question.

                                                                                                                                           (Approved by faculty 10/27/99)

4.16 Sabbatical leave

Sabbatical leave is the most common form of leave and it is only available for tenured faculty. The individual's application for sabbatical leave and the institution's awarding of sabbatical leave constitute a commitment that the individual will retain his or her faculty appointment and will return to that position at the end of the sabbatical leave. 

Sabbaticals at Houghton College are intended to benefit both the individual and the institution. They are provided to assure teachers a time for renewal, refreshment, and intellectual stimulation. It is expected that a faculty member on sabbatical will seek new activities or studies with the intent of broadening or deepening his or her professional capabilities as a scholar or as a teacher. Sabbaticals which combine professional enrichment with service to others or the work of the Kingdom are particularly noteworthy. 

A teacher is eligible for a sabbatical after every seven years of full‑time on‑campus service at Houghton. 

4.16.1 Sabbatical options

  1. One year's leave of absence at one‑half salary.

  2. One-half year's leave at full salary.

4.16.2  Application approval for a sabbatical is granted under the following conditions and terms:

a.  The applicant is to present an acceptable plan for the use of the release time such as:

  1. enrollment in courses of study for the purpose of
                  (a) completing a degree program,
                  (b) upgrading a person in his or her discipline, or
                  (c) re‑tooling for a new assignment within the college;

  2. faculty exchange activities with an elementary, secondary school, or with a college or university;

  3. editorial positions in professional societies, or with periodicals or publishing houses;

  4. positions in service organizations, corporations, or business pertinent to one's discipline;

  5. research in an appropriate industrial or agency setting or educational facility which will result in clearly defined upgrading in professional skills, publication of findings, or obvious contribution to the work of a learned society or research agency;

  6. Christian service, particularly where one uses his or her professional expertise to help some organization in a cross‑cultural setting or with agencies designed to assist minority or economically deprived constituencies;

  7. travel appropriate to one's discipline.

b.  The recipient of a sabbatical leave agrees to return at the end of the leave or to repay in full the salary paid during the leave (two‑thirds of the grant if he or she leaves one year after his or her absence).

c.  A suitable substitute teacher must be available to cover necessary courses.

d.  Four sabbatical leaves—or their equivalent in full replacement costs--are permitted in any given year.  Two faculty professional renewal grants may be awarded in lieu of each sabbatical leave.

e.  A public report on sabbatical activities will be given upon return to campus.  The following forms are appropriate:

  1. a presentation in chapel

  2. faculty lecture

  3. a report to faculty meeting.

In addition to this public report, a brief written evaluative statement will be sent to the faculty member's department head and the dean of the college. 

4.16.3 Application procedures and deadlines

  1. A statement of intent should be submitted to the Faculty Development Committee by May 1, the spring preceding the academic year in which formal application will be made. This statement should include choice of options, objectives of the program, a statement of commitment or repayment, and choice of terminal reports. This statement will be evaluated by this committee and returned to the faculty member for revision or refinement by May 31.
  2. Final proposals will be submitted by September 15 of the academic year preceding the year in which the leave is desired.
  3. Decisions on proposals will be made by the trustees upon recommendation of the administration during the fall board meeting. 
  4. After 14 years of contracted service, a person is eligible to receive a second leave. After 21 years of uninterrupted service, a person is eligible to receive a third leave.  It is expected that normally a teacher will apply for sabbatical leave within two or three years of becoming eligible. When a leave is deferred for a number of years and then granted, a second leave will probably not be immediately granted even though the years of service justify this.  

In the implementation of this policy, applications from teachers with the greatest number of years of service at Houghton (counting from year of employment or the completion of a previous sabbatical) are given priority over other applicants providing sabbatical programs are of equal value.

4.16.4 Evaluation procedures

Applications shall be rated according to three criteria, the best applications receiving the lowest overall scores. One reason for ranking applications is to assure that when the number of proposals exceeds the number of sabbatical openings in a given academic year, only the highest ranked applications will be accepted. The Faculty Development Committee may reject applications of poor quality even when the number of proposals does not exceed the number of sabbatical openings.

4.16.4.1 Criterion 1: years of service

Years of service (counting since the last sabbatical or year of first appointment) will be credited in the following manner:
       1 point for 10 or more years of continuous service
       2 points for 9 years of continuous service
       3 points for 8 years of continuous service
       4 points for 7 or fewer years of continuous service

4.16.4.2 Criterion 2: projected professional development

Evidence of scholarly pursuits must be demonstrated/judged by projected contributions to teaching and/or publication. Additionally, the candidate's department chair must supply to the Faculty Development Committee a written assessment of how well the proposed sabbatical will meet departmental as well as applicant needs (department chairs applying for sabbaticals must have their applications assessed from this perspective by a department Head in the department, preferably from the discipline of the chair's own professional competence).

The highest rated application under this criterion shall receive 1 point, the next best 2 points, and so on.  

4.16.4.3 Criterion 3: projected personal enrichment

In addition to any personal enrichment to be derived from sabbatical scholarship itself, it is expected that the candidate will engage in at least some of the following kinds of activities: planned leisure, recreational and/or outside reading, cultural events, travel, etc. The highest rated application under this criterion shall receive 1 point, the next best 2 points, and so on.

(Approved February 1983)