Symposium
Faculty Renewal and Development
A. Truman Schwartz Macalester College St. Paul, MN 55105
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Introduction
T h e faculties of most American colleges and universities are growing old tethered together in tenure and immobilized by a depressed academic marketplace. Many erstwhile Young Turks are in danger of becoming Old Turkeys as declining enrollments and budgets drastically slow the infusion of new blood into the ageing academic body. Symptoms of intellectual anemia have already been detected in more than one campus corpus. Unfortunately, the sickness has struck a t a time when emereine ~. discinlines and new occu~ationshave led to demands for innovation in course content and instructional methodology. Knowledge has not stood still. In the face of such changes, faculty ubiolescence may well prove to he the most serious educational problem of the 1980's. Happily, the crisis has provoked some effective responses. The majority of college and university instructors are able. dedicated professionals who are eager to maintain and impro\.e their skills as srholars and teachers. Across the country, imaginative men and women are taking significant steps to promote this process of profesiunal and persunal growth. an^ academic administrators have shown an appreciation of the importance of faculty renewal and development. Moreover. federal aeencies.. ~rofessional societies, and private . foundations have already demonsrrated their willingness to ~ r o v i d efinancial SUDDWt for such activities. It seems likely that efforts in this direction will become even more commoh in the future. Because maintaining individual, departmental, and institutional currency and vitality should he a high priority for all teachers of chemistry, the Division of Chemical Education sponsored this Symposium on Faculty Renewal and Devel~ e g a meeting s of the American Chemical oiment a t the Society in August, 1980. The chief objectives of the session were define the Drohlem and to share some successful strategies which have already been employed. The papers which follow are based uoon the resenta at ions of the six invited speakers. In the first paper, Robert Wolke, the symposium keynoter, presents an overview of faculty development, calling upon his experience as a Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Office of Faculty Development a t the University of Pitts~
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bureh. Next. Robert Watson..Deoutv . . Director of the Division of ~ i i e n c eiducation Development and Research of the N;tional Science Foundation offers his analvsia of the need for faculty development and describes variois programs of the NSF which can help prevent faculty obsolescence. Another potential source of support is the ACS. Moses Passer, Head of the Department of Educational Activities, outlines Society-sponsored educational and developmental activities. His comments on new instructional strategies and plans for Academic Fellowships for Short Courses will be of particular interest to teachers. The three final Daoers . . of the Svmoosium were hv facultv members who had personally participated in renewal and development projects. David W. Brooks is co-director of a successful program for sabbatical leaves in pedagogy a t the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The paper which he wrote with his colleagues includes a summary of the activities of five participants. Janan M. Haves of American River Colleee-a two-year institution-spent her 1979-80 sabbatical leave on an NSF Science Faculty Professional Development grant. Her paper describes "Life in the Real, Real World" of chemical industry. Finally, the perspective of a participant is also reflected in Wayne Wolsey's account of the wide range of faculty development programs a t Macalester College, a private four-vear institution. ~ h seventh k paper in this collection, "The Faculty Development Proeram a t the Colorado School of Mines" hv Prof&sors wildeman, Pavelich, and Sloan, was not partbf the Sympmium. However, it is included here because the seminars and workshops described therein represent another important approach to improving teaching skills. Together these seven papers constitute a significant resource and a major col ibution to the literature of faculty renewal and develop me^ &. Readers are encouraged to contact the authors directly for additional information.
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Sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education as part of the Second Chemical Coneress of the North American Continent. Las Veeas. The svmoosium was olanned while the " . Nevada.. Anril28.1980. . .. organizer was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. SPI-7914928.
Volume 57. Number 12, December 1980 1 837
