Standard 5. Faculty - Projection

Stonehill will continue to maintain its high standards with respect to faculty hires, teaching innovation and scholarship expectations. Many new programs and projects described above make this evident. Special effort will be given to a comprehensive program for further diversifying the faculty.

Stonehill has a new strategic plan which includes objectives to continue and enhance faculty development support. Several anticipated areas of growth are worth noting:

• In November 2008, Stonehill was awarded a three-year Davis Grant to support the establishment of an Office of Community-Based Learning within the Center for Teaching and Learning. The Office was established in July 2009. Staffed by a full-time director, the Office will work to support faculty in incorporating community-based learning (or service learning) pedagogies into their courses.
• In order to accommodate increasing faculty use of the CTL, the Center is pursuing the possibility of establishing a Faculty Fellow position within the Center (pending budget approval). The Faculty Fellow would receive course release in order to work on CTL projects and consult with faculty. If funded, the first Fellow would begin in 2010-11.
• The size of the faculty will continue to grow, though not as aggressively as in the last decade. We currently project growth to about 155, but this number will be finalized as we fully define faculty workload and the measurement of faculty-student interaction in that workload.
• We continue to reflect on ways to improve our programs for new faculty. The CTL is collaborating with other units on campus to put together a welcome book for new faculty outlining key information they will need before arriving at Stonehill and throughout their first year (to be completed by July 2009). The Dean of the Faculty and the CTL Director are also in conversation about expanding the mentoring program to include term, as well as tenure-track, faculty (to be implemented for the 2009-2010 school year).
• In Spring 2007, the Dean of the Faculty invited a small group of faculty to pilot the IDEA Evaluation System as a possible improvement on Stonehill's current student evaluation system. The Dean will be working this coming spring to bring the data gathered from that pilot program to the faculty and continue conversations with the faculty about how best to assess student attitudes about their classes. This may result in the adoption of IDEA or a new electronic course evaluation system for 2009-2010.
• The Provost's office is working with the web design team to improve faculty resources on the web, among them a page listing basic information and deadlines for all grants available to faculty (including grants related to instructional development). This will be completed in Summer 2009.
• The Center for Teaching and Learning will work with department chairs in 2009-2010 to develop resources and workshops for faculty.
• The Center for Teaching and Learning will work with department chairs in 2009-2010 to develop resources and workshops about best practices related to peer review.

Stonehill's faculty commitment results in high student achievement. As the College continues to improve its academic standards, there is every indication that this high level of achievement will continue and improve.