V605.10 Faculty Development

The Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs provides guidelines for funding of professional development activities, reviews requests, administers the funding available and maintains records for evaluation purposes. As budget permits, the Office for Academic Affairs supports the following activities:

• travel requests for professional development (e.g., attendance or presentation at conferences, workshops, or trainings)

• registration for online/virtual professional development opportunities

• on-campus professional development activities related to campus initiatives

Faculty may request funds to support these activities through the online Travel Preauthorization (V706.03.01).

Ongoing faculty development is not only essential to the individual faculty member, it is necessary to the health and vitality of Valley City State University. Faculty are responsible for their own professional development and encouraged to seek opportunities to strengthen their effectiveness in the classroom and deepen their knowledge of their content field.

Faculty members evaluate their professional goals and achievements on an annual faculty report. These annual reports are important documents which demonstrate faculty interest in professionalism and commitment to ongoing development. In identifying professional development goals that faculty might wish to pursue, the following are possible activities to consider:

development of special talents and interests
enhancement of teaching performance, advising skills, and mentoring capabilities
stimulation of faculty research, artistic endeavors, and publication
participation in regional, national, and international meetings
representation at meetings of learned and professional societies
development of new courses and upgrading the curriculum
increasing understanding of student learning styles, interests, and capabilities
attendance at workshops, seminars, graduate and doctoral classes
development of computer software and other media materials

The University holds faculty members accountable for the use they make of development funds. Faculty members who receive faculty development funding are obliged to demonstrate benefits to themselves and the University. For example, faculty members may be obligated to submit final reports, present workshops, and/or make presentations based on their funded development activities.