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Session 1475

Faculty Development – The Future of Engineering Education

Noel N. Schulz and Kirk H. Schulz Bagley College of Engineering Mississippi State University

ABSTRACT The economic woes of the last several years have hit universities hard. Endowments have little or no return. Corporate funding is harder to get. More and more people are competing for National Science Foundation dollars where supply is not meeting this increased demand. Operating budgets have been reduced providing little or no travel funds for faculty. Senior faculty who often teach multiple classes are retiring and are replaced with new assistant professors that teach a much lighter teaching load. Due to other budget constraints, some positions are not filled. At the same time multimedia resources for improving teaching and learning continue to expand in scope. So faculty are being asked to use new technologies in the classroom, often with a heavier teaching load; continue or increase their research activities, and provide outreach and service activities with less colleagues, less staff and few economic resources. New faculty face the challenges of the tenure process; associate professors look toward promotion and senior faculty and administrators try to figure out how to do “more with less”.

With all the busyness of grading papers, writing grants, reviewing proposals and working with students, most faculty members take very little time out for personal professional development. Universities in general do not promote professional development activities. While sabbaticals are part of the academic opportunity, very few faculty take advantage of this opportunity. With all these constraints universities need to develop programs that help their faculty advance professionally in all areas of their profession including teaching, research, outreach/service and administration. An effective faculty development program can be a win-win for the university and faculty. Through these activities, faculty can improve their methods, reduce stress and increase their morale. Additionally these activities should provide a happier faculty who will be more productive toward the university goals. This paper and presentation will discuss two levels of professional development –departmental and college-level. The Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State is developing a comprehensive set of faculty development programs. The programs include activities for new faculty, untenured faculty, all faculty, committee chairs and administrators. Activities also cover areas related to teaching and learning, research and outreach/service. Departmental level activities include mentoring by faculty and more formally, the department head.

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Schulz, K., & Schulz, N. (2004, June), Faculty Development The Future Of Engineering Education Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13425