The mission of the Knox Faculty Development Program is to assist
and support
faculty in their professional development--to help us both shape and
realize
our own goals in the areas of teaching, research/creative work, and
other
professional activities. Such a program assumes that at all stages of a
career there is more to learn about our craft, and that part of the fun
and
challenge of our jobs is to keep learning--to keep re-inventing
ourselves as teachers and scholars/artists. While much of our thinking
about our work necessarily takes place privately, on an individual
basis, much can also be gained by conversation and joint work with our
peers. The central goal of this program is to provide opportunities for
such collegial exchange. Two ongoing series in support of this goal are
Fridays at Four, featuring work in
progress by Knox Faculty, and ShopTalk, an
eclectic series on teaching and professional issues. An ongoing source
of written discussion of teaching is also available from our on-line
subscription to
the National
Teaching and Learning Forum.
TRANSITION as of September 1, 2007:
The Faculty Development Program will be without a coordinator for a
while. Until a new coordinator takes over, here are the elements of the program that will
continue, with responsibility dispersed across several people.
New Faculty Orientation and Mentoring: Jason Helfer organizes an orientation session for new faculty.
NITLE liaison: Vicky Romano is the liaison.
Faculty Development Website: The site will not be updated (nor the Survival/Success
Guide), but the site will remain up, and you are encouraged to click
around in it. See especially this page
for many useful links.
National Teaching and Learning Forum: Our online
subscription continues, and a note will go out when a new
issue is posted:
(accessible only from Knox computers)
Fridays
at Four: A series of faculty presentations, two per term; this is now administered by Diana Beck.
Take
a Colleague's Class: A program that allows up to three
people a year to take a colleague's class, with one course
released-time; applications due in January. This program is administered by Penny Gold.
New initiatives: Do you have an idea for some kind of faculty
development activity (presentations on teaching, book groups, writing
groups, workshops, etc.)? Funding of such activities remains available
through the office of the Dean of the College, and Larry welcomes
proposals from individuals, departments, or other groups of faculty.
Keep the good ideas coming!
For further information about the Faculty Development Program at Knox, contact the Dean of the College, Lawrence Breitborde.