Faculty Resources Guide
This guide should be used in conjunction with the Faculty Handbook and Hillbook, which provide more detailed information about the Stonehill curriculum, your responsibilities as Stonehill Faculty, and the resources available to you.
Onboarding
Two things you want to do early as a new faculty member is obtain your campus ID, known as the Hill Card, which allows you to access a wide range of campus resources, and, if you will be driving and parking on campus, you want to obtain a parking decal and gate transponder.
Come to Campus Police, Madigan Carriage House, Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. for in-house photo and Hill Card pick up.
If you would like to submit a personal favorite photo, click here for instructions.
In order to apply for a parking decal online, please go to the ‘Campus’ tab on ‘myHill’. Click on the ‘My Parking’ link. Click on ‘Apply for a Permit’ and follow the instructions.
Teaching
Teaching is the heart of our work at Stonehill. Our small classes and student-centered approaches lend themselves to dynamic learning environments that inspire students and faculty alike. The College devotes considerable resources to insure that faculty have the support they need to thrive as educators. The following offices exist to support our teaching mission.
If a faculty member has a concern about a student’s academic performance in class, Academic Advising has an early intervention program that provides students assistance with study skills, time management, and other academic needs.
Accessibility Services coordinates students’ requests for academic accommodations and communicates those needs to faculty. Accessibility Services is available to answer faculty questions about how to implement particular accommodations as well as to discuss effective strategies for teaching students with various disabilities.
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning provides a responsive structure for the development and refinement of pedagogy and practice. Designed to build upon existing expertise at the College, the Center cultivates collaborative relationships and campus-wide dialogue. Driven by intellectual curiosity and experimentation, the Center brings together faculty to engage in and disseminate the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), both within the Stonehill community and beyond.
The Tutoring Services is an award-winning, full-service tutoring center for all registered Stonehill students. Tutoring Services is open six days per week including Sundays & evenings and is located in MacPhaidin Library, Room 315. Tutoring Services provides peer tutoring in over 35 subjects. All services are free for students, including appointments with the professional writing tutor.
The Office of Community-Based Learning supports faculty in partnering with community organizations to create meaningful academic experiences for students that also benefit the community. The OCBL can consult with faculty about CBL course design, provide diversity and other trainings for students, and can connect faculty with various community partners.
The Office of Counseling Services is available to consult with faculty who have concerns about a student’s well-being. The CTC can advise faculty about talking with a distressed student and directing students to appropriate support services.
The Department of Information Technology maintains our classroom technologies, administers our Learning Management System, and supports faculty in adopting technologies that advance teaching and learning. Whether it’s to report a problem with a classroom computer or to consult about an innovative technology, faculty can call the IT Service Desk (508-565-1111) to be connected with a knowledgeable professional who has the right skills to help.
The Office of Intercultural Affairs is always available to work with faculty interested in adopting more inclusive teaching practices and building a more inclusive curriculum. The OIA’s Inclusive Excellence Grant can provide funding for faculty and student initiatives meant to engage the community in conversations around diversity. The OIA will also visit classes to present on a variety of diversity-related topics.
Stonehill's librarians are eager to collaborate with faculty to create course-specific resources, including LibGuides and information sessions for students on various research topics. The library works with faculty to acquire print and media resources relevant to the curriculum and also hosts the eReserve system, which allows faculty to make electronic resources available to their students. In addition, the Faculty-Librarian Partnership Program (FLPP) provides faculty the opportunity to work more closely with a librarian on a particular course or assignment. Learn more about the MacPhaídín Library.
The Registrar’s Office is responsible for the scheduling of courses, classrooms, registration, the Academic calendar, final examination schedule, grading process, degree clearance, transfer course evaluation, transcripts, and general information about enrollment. The office is also the best resource for questions about the Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which protects student academic records.
Research
Stonehill provides a comprehensive program that is designed to encourage, support, and reward faculty activities to enhance research and scholarship. This program, under the direction of the Provost and the Associate Provost for Diversity, Assessment, and Faculty Development, permeates a number of offices and initiatives.
The Office of Academic Development (OAD) serves the faculty and staff of the College in helping obtain external funding for scholarly research, academic program and curriculum development, and community service projects. The College requires that all applications for external funding for academic projects be submitted through the Office of Academic Development.
The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is responsible for overseeing and evaluating all aspects of animal care and use in research conducted at the College.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an institution-wide committee whose job is to protect the rights of human participants in research conducted at the College. Any research involving human participants conducted either at Stonehill College or under its sponsorship at another location, must be reviewed and approved by the IRB.
The Provost's Office provides a number of internal funding opportunities for faculty. These opportunities include sabbatical leave, the Conboy Award and Faculty Development Grants.
The Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program is an opportunity for students who have completed their first year at Stonehill to perform significant, publishable full time research under the guidance of and in collaboration with an experienced faculty researcher.
The College makes a number of internal grants and awards available to faculty while at the same time providing assistance in obtaining external funding for scholarly research, academic program and curriculum development, and community service projects.
This document contains the scholarship criteria for tenure and/or promotion of Stonehill College’s full-time faculty. Faculty at Stonehill are hired into an academic department and are required to meet the criteria set by the department regarding their scholarly work in addition to the teaching and service expectations as established for the Tenure and Promotion guidelines found in the Faculty Handbook (Appendix C).
Advising
Academic advisors are encouraged to develop ongoing relationships with their advisees that go well beyond course selection to encompass short and long-term goal-setting and planning. Short-term goal-setting and planning might involve helping the student to understand the cornerstone requirements and develop a four-year plan for a given major, where long-term goal-setting and planning might involve discussing options for supplementing one’s major with research experiences and internships in order to plan for a particular career.
A key role of advising is the ability to connect students to proper resources for academic and personal support. While the type and level of support will naturally vary by student, it is important for the advisor to be aware of the robust network of services available on campus and how a student can access these services.
With such a variety of majors and minors from which to choose (coupled with the ability to double major, or even propose an Interdisciplinary Studies major) advisors should encourage exploratory, or unconfidently-declared students to take a multi-faceted approach to assessing their academic interests and vocational aspirations. Both the Office of Academic Services & Advising and Office of Career Services offer multiple strategies for exploring different majors, one of which is for students to talk with their academic advisor about their department’s program of study and the different post-graduate pursuits common to their discipline. The Office of International Programs assists students from all majors in the exploration of an appropriate international option and encourages students to discuss options with their faculty advisors.
Part of advising is being able to connect a student with the necessary paperwork to activate a process or change. Visit the Forms page to find important advising forms.
It is important that all members of Stonehill’s academic community are aware of and abide by shared and transparent academic policies and procedures.
Official policies and procedures are published annually in the Policy Manual available through myHill. The Academic Policies and Procedures section of the online 2012-2013 Hill Book serves as an unofficial guide on the following topics:
- Enrollment and Registration
- Academic Progress
- Academic Standing
- Graduation Requirements
- Academic Honor Code, Policy and Procedures
- Credits Earned Away From Stonehill
Assessment
Student learning occurs in a variety of contexts on and off the Stonehill campus. High impact learning experiences such as labs, creative performances, community-based projects, undergraduate research, study abroad, internships and co-curricular opportunities compliment individual courses and curricular programs. Integrated learning permeates the institution and the entire undergraduate experience.
The Office of Institutional Research & Assessment provides institutional data about student learning by collecting and providing timely, reliable college-related data to internal and external audiences.
Governance
Faculty hold a substantive role in decision-making in several identified areas in the life of the College including the curriculum, faculty professional development, and criteria for tenure and promotion.
The Faculty Senate, as the elected representative body of the Faculty, has legislative responsibility for the curriculum, faculty professional development, and criteria for tenure and promotion as well as policies and procedures related to student academic standards and standing.
The Faculty Senate is comprised of sixteen full-time faculty members elected by the faculty: Two from business, two from the sciences, four from the liberal arts, and eight at-large.
The Council of Academic Chairs consists of all Academic Department Chairs. Department Chairs are responsible for the management of their respective departments and report directly to the Associate Provost for Academic Assessment and Faculty Development.