Faculty Development Focused Opinion Pieces
Take a Cue from Industry: Invest in Your Mid-career Faculty By Vicki L Baker
For decades, the industry has appreciated the importance of developing their talent, particularly those in mid-career. Such investments ensure a strong pipeline of future leaders ready to support the organization. In this article, Vicki argues for the need for institutional leaders to take cues from industry to create more robust, innovative programming geared towards mid-career faculty, the future leaders of our higher education institutions.
How Colleges Can Better Help Faculty During the Pandemic By Vicki L Baker
College and university leaders, faculty, and staff were forced to respond and adapt to a changing academy as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. A great deal of those energies were focused on the student experience and related student services. While critically important, faculty members are also in need of support to manage this transition. The article outlines recommendations that extend beyond access to training and resources to support the shift to online learning, and include opportunities for social and emotional support as well as peer-to-peer learning.
Now's Not the Time to Cut Faculty Development Funds By Vicki L Baker
The COVID-19 Global Pandemic created challenges across the academy and tough decisions needed to be made about resources. One area impacted was faculty development and related funding, particularly cuts to these funds. In this piece, Vicki argues that the opposite should be happening. That in fact, now more than ever faculty need developmental resources to respond to the changing nature of their roles. Four suggestions are offered to re-envision faculty development funds.
Leading with Yes: Reframing Saying No at Mid-Career by Aimee LaPointe Terosky and Vicki L Baker
Mid-career faculty, at all institutional types, are especially vulnerable to rising demands as they find themselves in leadership or academic administrative roles with limited training. In our careers, we have been encouraged to “learn to say no” which we believe is important. However, we argue that there is a need for mid-career faculty to be more strategic about saying yes to the things that matter most. In this article, we offer strategies to be intentional about ways mid-career faculty engage in their work, and to lead with yes.
Revolutionizing Promotion to Full Professor by Sydney Freeman and Vicki L Baker
Focused on advancement to full professor policies and practices, the authors urge institutional leaders and those tasked with faculty development and career advancement responsibilities to move beyond a focus on faculty agency as the primary determinant to faculty success and advancement. Article outlines a long-term strategy to increase faculty and student satisfaction and outcomes that includes the specific actions focused on institutional advancement processes.
Women Faculty Focused
It’s Time for Academic Re-Entry – Three Post-Pandemic Career Tips for Women By Vicki L Baker
As women faculty prepare to return to the academy in person, questions and challenges abound about how to deliver a high quality educational experience, manage the workload, continue to support personal roles and responsibilities (e.g., motherhood, elder care), and maintain some level of wellness. In this piece, Vicki offers three key lessons she’s taken from the pandemic period to share with her fellow women faculty peers to support their own planning.
3 Tips for Women Faculty to Get Through #WFH, #socialdistancing, and #stayingwell By Vicki L Baker
Women faculty were challenged during the pandemic, particularly those women who were responsible for child-care and/or elder care with limited to no resources to manage the load. Many of us were working remotely full time, supporting our childrens’ virtual learning, and trying to maintain some semblance of wellness. Informed by the strategies she employed during this challenging time in work and life, Vicki offers advice and recommendations to support her fellow academic women peers.
Other
Reimagining Community Engagement for a Post-COVID World By Vicki L Baker
The importance of strong college/university-community partnerships is clear. Yet, those partnerships were challenged as a result of the pandemic. Those lessons have signaled the need for expanded views about how, and in what ways, community engagement must be re-envisioned in order to meet the needs of a democratic society in the 21st century—a society in which citizens are engaged and active in its co-creation. Article proposes four lessons learned that can support enhanced college/university-community partnerships across the academy.
