Faculty Development Committee Guidelines: Profile

This guide covers the rationale and development of the Faculty Development Profile, Plan and Proposal.

Faculty Development Profile

Preparation of Faculty Development Individual Profile

The individual Profile is an outline of the individual’s long-range planning that will be the basis of subsequent faculty development Proposals. The components of this Profile will be a written assessment of strengths and weaknesses, a statement of current roles, a description of long-range goals, and a synthesis of these elements into a long-range growth plan. This Profile is designed to be of assistance in the following ways:

• To the Individual – Beyond simply being a stimulus of thorough planning, the Profile is the mechanism whereby each participant can present the long-range view behind his/her specific Proposal.
• To the Faculty Development Committee – The committee desires that all specific Proposals relate to an individual’s long-range plan. The Faculty Development Profile will thus help the committee in their assessment of the specific Proposal.
• To the Institution – It is in the larger context of long-range planning that significant changes (such as a major redefinition of personal roles) are more clearly outlined. The Profile is the mechanism to this end.

The scope of information to be included in the Profile is left to the discretion of each applicant. It is suggested that is be limited to that which he/she would feel comfortable in defending as significantly related to his/her own professional development.

It may be helpful while going through the following instructions to refer to the Profile Plan format outline. You may also wish to refer to the Professional Development Through Growth Handbook available through the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Profile Conference with Department Chairperson/Dean

The role of the department chairperson is to help the faculty member coordinate his/her individual goals with departmental and/or institutional goals. The faculty member should provide a copy of the completed Profile (view PDF outline) to the department chairperson and should schedule a conference to consider its major issues. Faculty who serve as chairs of their department should schedule this meeting with their Dean. The purpose of this conference is threefold:

1. To support the faculty member in his/her effort to promote his/her own development
2. To inform the academic leadership as to the plans and efforts of individual faculty members
3. To initiate necessary dialogue and institutional action toward allowing for major changes or redefinitions of role

It is not necessary that the conference have been conducted before writing the Faculty Development Plan. It is left to the judgment of the faculty member as to the likelihood that the conference will substantially alter his/her Plan. For the purposes of the Faculty Development Committee, it is necessary only that the conference has been conducted prior to the submission of the Profile and final draft of the Plan.

Some faculty members may wish to discuss their Profile with the Dean as well as their department chairperson. This conference is an optional step in the Faculty Development process.

Submission of the Profile to the Faculty Development Committee.

One paper copy of the faculty member's Profile should be submitted to the Faculty Development Committee prior to or at the same time the plan is submitted. The faculty member and their department chairperson should sign the Profile. Profiles should be updated every three years, consistent with the time frame of a Plan. All documents required for Faculty Development Funding should be submitted in accordance with published deadlines. A copy of the Profile will be kept on file by the chairperson of the committee.