Faculty Professional Development Assignment Uniform Guidelines
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Susan Carlson 515-294-9556 Assistant: |
UNIFORM GUIDELINES
FOR
FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSIGNMENT
1. Introduction
The University recognizes that significant opportunities for professional growth and development are required periodically by faculty members and that the Faculty Professional Development Assignment Program is one of the best modes in which to achieve such growth and development. The University strives to promote an environment in which the faculty will be motivated to participate enthusiastically in the Faculty Professional Development Assignment Program. This environment permits both the faculty and administration to plan so as to obtain the desired results from the program. Foreign Exchange Program leaves will be handled administratively and will not be included as part of the FPDA Program, although the same guidelines and request forms should be used for these leaves.
2. Criteria for Review
The criteria used to evaluate Faculty Professional Development Assignment applications include:
- Determination of the extent to which the assignment will enhance the future performance of the individual's duties as a faculty member.
- A clear indication that the improvement sought in a period of leave will benefit the department and the institution.
- A clear understanding that granting the assignment is an investment in the future of the faculty member and of the department, and is not intended as a reward for past performance.
- Length of time since the most recent previous faculty professional development assignment (previously known as faculty improvement leave). (A minimum of two years from completion of previous faculty professional development assignment must have passed.)
- Evidence of productive use of any previous faculty professional development assignment.
- Evidence of the proposer's record of scholarly or creative activity.
3. Environment
Applicants are encouraged to choose off-campus locations for their assignments. Leaving campus for a faculty professional development assignment, however, is neither required nor a precondition for the awarding of a faculty professional development assignment. The environment in which a faculty member spends his/her assignment should be conducive to professional development and/or cultural enrichment. When the proposed activity involves collaborators, evidence of their interest and enthusiasm is helpful. Similarly, invitations or endorsements from off-campus hosts should be included with the application. If the proposed work is to be accomplished at Iowa State University, the applicant should make a strong case that Ames is an appropriate place for the effort. In all cases, justification for the proposed site is required in the grant application.
Faculty professional development assignments may be used for a number of purposes. Examples of purposes include:
To Conduct Research or Scholarship. This may involve work impossible to perform at Iowa State University or difficult to perform in conjunction with one's on-campus responsibilities. Many faculty members find that their normal duties prevent them from giving sufficient attention to an ongoing research, scholarly or creative project. Others may have accumulated substantial amounts of data or other materials and now need time to sort through, analyze, and prepare the results of their earlier work for publication.
To Obtain New or Specialized Training. Faculty members may find it desirable to take the time to familiarize themselves with new methods in their major fields of interest, to collaborate with others, or to "retool" by switching emphases. In such cases, the faculty member will presumably apply these techniques to work on campus and/or use them in teaching students.
To Participate in an International Program. Because the funding for international programs, such as Fulbrights, is seldom sufficient to cover the costs involved, faculty interested in participating may wish to combine such activities with a faculty professional development assignment.
4. Priorities and Constraints
All members of the faculty employed half-time or more are eligible to apply for faculty professional development assignment. There is no arbitrary restriction on length of service in order to qualify for a faculty professional development assignment. However, priority may be given to tenured faculty over adjunct and non-tenured faculty, and to persons who have not received a faculty professional development assignment in the past five years.
5. Review process
Early in the Fall Semester, the applicant submits a request for a faculty professional development assignment to the Department Chair for departmental review, often by a committee. The Department Chair sends the request, with the department's priority rating, to the Dean for review by the professional development committee of the faculty member's college. Those requests that are supported by the college review committee will be reviewed by the Dean to determine whether they can be financially supported by the college. All Faculty Professional Development Assignment recommendations granted by the Deans must be approved by the Executive Vice President and Provost, the President, and the Board of Regents before they become official. Announcement of assignments granted for the following academic year are made at the beginning of the Spring Semester.
6. Salary and Benefits
Anyone on faculty professional development assignment will be paid up to six months' salary. The salary of persons on leave for more than six months will be prorated across the total period of the assignment. No one can receive salary payment through the university's payroll system, regardless of its source, beyond six months while on assignment. Regardless of the length of the assignment, the University will continue to make its full contribution to the various employee benefit programs in which the individual is enrolled.
7. Length of Assignment
A faculty professional development assignment may be no longer than twelve months. When assignment dates do not conform to the beginning or ending dates of a semester, a separate justification/approval memo outlining how teaching responsibilities will be covered during that fraction of time will be required of the Department Chair(s) via the Dean(s). This memo should accompany the FPDA application. Persons on B-base appointment are not eligible for assignments that include all or part of the summer session, but may include the summer period in their assignment on an unpaid basis.
Revised 5/02
