Back to the issue of whether our strategic planning statement should include mention of support for the research efforts of faculty. In my search of strategic planning documents from other top liberal arts colleges (I confined myself mostly to numbers 10-30 on the theory that that's a realistic objective for where we want to end up), I found considerable variation in the treatment of research. About a quarter did not have a strategic planning document readily available. Another quarter of those colleges (around a third of those with a strategic planning document) made no mention of research a la the latest document from our strategic planning committee. The rest, about half of the colleges ranked 10-30, do mention research prominently. Some examples (italics added for emphasis):
Vassar, #12 (tied) (from its Mission Statement): Seven broad goals, including
4. To maintain and support a distinguished and diverse faculty in their commitment to teaching, to scholarship, and artistic endeavor, and to other forms of professional development.
Claremont McKenna, #12 (tied) (from its Mission Statement):
Its mission, within the mutually supportive framework of The Claremont Colleges, is to educate its students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions, and to support faculty and student scholarship that contribute to intellectual vitality and the understanding of public policy issues. The College pursues this mission by providing a liberal arts education that emphasizes economics and political science, a professoriat that is dedicated to effective undergraduate teaching, a close student-teacher relationship that fosters critical inquiry, an active residential and intellectual environment that promotes responsible citizenship, and a program of research institutes and scholarly support that makes possible a faculty of teacher-scholars.
Grinnell, #14
While research, publication, and public performance are secondary to excellent teaching as priorities for our faculty, our aspirations as a national liberal arts college that values new knowledge and inquiry-based learning mean that the college must support scholarly creativity. Active scholarship is also important to teaching with conviction.
Experience tells us that there are excellent candidates for faculty positions who hesitate to come to Grinnell because of perceived disadvantages of location, spousal employment options, research opportunities, and teaching loads; modest losses of assistant professors have occurred for similar reasons. We aspire to improve the research opportunities and spousal employment opportunities so that job candidates and young faculty can focus on the benefits of living, working as scholars, and mentoring students in the supportive Grinnell community.
Colgate University, #16:
It is a plan to enhance the kind of original scholarly activity that is at the center of interactions that become memorable experiences for both professors and students; to adapt to 21st-century needs the liberal arts principles that have guided the university for as long as anyone can remember; and to continue the commitment to community that is evident on our campus, in our region, and wherever Colgate people gather around the world.
Smith, #19
As one of a small number of “research colleges,” Smith combines the teaching mission of an undergraduate liberal arts college with a vigorous research culture. This research culture is evident in the awards and honors bestowed on faculty, the volume of sponsored research on campus, and the production of scholarly publications and other creative works. Students throughout the college’s academic programs are engaged in independent research, in assisting faculty research, participating in community-based learning projects, and excelling at the performing and visual arts. Students in the engineering program work collaboratively on design teams to address real problems.
Smith is well-positioned to distinguish itself by integrating inquiry-based learning into teaching and the curriculum. Through research, creative endeavors, and performance arts, the college emphasizes the importance of original intellectual contributions. Students and faculty apply their knowledge and skills to problems and issues, formulating questions and analyzing arguments and results. We see these experiences, including the mentor-student relationship, as essential to our liberal arts mission. Through them, students develop the critical capacities they need to be successful in their academic, professional, and personal pursuits.
Bryn Mawr, #20 (tied):
Given the demands of college teaching in terms of both course load and attention to students, we must ensure the scholarly vitality of our faculty through additional research support and through an enhanced sabbatical policy at least equal to that of our peer institutions. Sabbatical costs are generated through the need to replace faculty on leave. Therefore, we will seek: 1) to reduce replacement costs through careful departmental review of the necessity for, and the rotation of, current curricular offerings; 2) to realize economies in course offerings (particularly at the upper level) through closer collaboration with Haverford; and 3) to raise funds to endow a limited number of additional faculty positions for the purpose of leave replacement. We will also investigate the possibility of a "flexible" sabbatical program since research patterns differ among the disciplines.
Oberlin, #22 (in a list of "strategic directions"):
3. Support and Build the Faculty
Rationale: At the heart of Oberlin’s excellence is the creativity, vitality, and dedication of its faculty. Oberlin’s faculty is going through a major demographic transition. The College must under stand the professional development needs of all of its faculty and enhance its competitiveness in the recruitment, retention, and professional support of its faculty. Oberlin must approach faculty development and satisfaction in ways that consider the quality of life in our local community.
Mount Holyoke, #24 (tied):
The quality and timeliness of what we offer students depends crucially on the intellectual vitality of our faculty...
Every position potentially makes an enormous difference to our students, to the curriculum, and to the reputation of the College, and we need to continue to set our sights high and hire and retain excellent and diverse faculty. In the course of The Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003, we made significant gains in the competitiveness of faculty compensation, the adequacy of start-up funding, and the support of faculty work. These efforts must continue. Our goals are to have salaries and benefits competitive with peer groups, to strengthen support for teaching, research, and professional and curricular development, and to enhance grants and fellowships, including possible multiyear faculty grants. We also want to strengthen mentoring and orientation programs, pairing junior with senior faculty outside the department, and to reaffirm the importance of innovative teaching, service, and advising as well as research in faculty evaluation. So, too, do we need to continue to take every opportunity to showcase faculty work and to change our culture of understatement. Building on the success of the teaching and research awards, we propose consideration of a merit system.
Scripps College, #26 (tied):
The strength and vitality of the faculty, as measured by their academic qualifications as well as teaching, scholarly, and creative contributions, is critical to maintaining a rigorous and adventuresome academic program. Recruiting the right faculty to this small residential college for women--faculty who understand the nature of a liberal arts education, who support the purposes of a residential college, and who embrace the values of women's education--is essential. Especially with its historic emphasis in interdisciplinary studies, Scripps demands a faculty willing and able to stretch beyond narrow disciplinary boundaries to contribute to the broader curriculum.
- Hire and retain a diverse pool of experienced teachers and productive scholars committed to excellence in liberal arts education for women.
- Provide an environment that emphasizes and supports such a diverse community.
- Support faculty and student/faculty research as necessary components of the strengthening of faculty and the teaching of an outstanding student body.
- Maintain an environment that supports close student/faculty interaction, encouraging learning in and out of the classroom.
- Develop the skills of the faculty, supporting their teaching and the research and creative activity on which the currency of the Scripps curriculum depends.
- Ensure sufficient number of faculty, through Scripps appointments and cooperative arrangements with the other Claremont colleges, to support the Scripps curriculum and meet student needs.
Bucknell, #29:
Looking ahead to the requirements for a 21st century higher education, this strategic plan thus begins with a re-affirmation of certain historic institutional commitments:
- To undergraduate liberal arts and professional programs in a residential college setting;
- To the academic core and its centrality to the institution’s historic mission and continuing vision;
- To the teacher-scholar model, which values excellent teaching and the creation and dissemination of new knowledge and other scholarly and creative works;
- To a personalized education involving close student-faculty interaction;
- To service to society and the preparation of students for positions of leadership and engaged public citizenship;
- To the academic freedoms that encourage creative exchanges and diversity of thought;
- To diversity in all its forms;
- To the value of an enduring, strong and supportive community, including a residential, developmental learning environment within which students, faculty, and staff put into practice the goals of a Bucknell education every day.
Strategies and Initiatives
Strategy One:
Strengthen the Academic Core
Bucknell will offer an academic program that achieves the highest standard of quality across its liberal arts and professional programs. Bucknell supports innovation and distinctiveness in areas of current and emerging importance and relevance.
Rationale
If the academic mission is central to the future of the University, the role of the faculty is central to the fulfillment of the academic mission. Bucknell recruits and employs the finest teacher-scholars — individuals who aspire to be leaders both in the arts of teaching and in their disciplinary field of expertise. The University must provide the resources necessary in both areas to guarantee faculty realize that aspiration. Part of the distinctiveness of the Bucknell learning experience is the opportunity for students to interact daily with faculty and staff who exemplify a passion for learning and a dedication to the life of the mind — a life of intellectual exploration, creativity, and imagination. In affirming the centrality of the academic core, Bucknell also rededicates itself to an environment that nurtures, protects, and celebrates these values, all within the context of an unwavering commitment to academic freedom.
And I tossed in Dickinson, #41, for obvious reasons:
I. Defining Characteristic: A Community of Inquiry
Strategic Goal: To sustain and enhance the College's core mission as an academic community whose heart is the vital collaboration of students, faculty and staff in learning. A Dickinson education, in keeping with the College's origins in the American Revolution, should be distinguished by a willingness to challenge as well as transmit the wisdom of the past, by the depth of questions asked and by the pursuit of new knowledge. We are a community of inquiry in every way, always striving for new knowledge and new ways of understanding the world and ourselves.
A. Objective: Strengthen Dickinson's commitment to the teacher-scholar model, in which faculty and students actively engage in the creation of new knowledge through original research, in and among the disciplines, and through active engagement in the wider scholarly world. Examples of our commitment include our resolve to:
- Sustain faculty scholarship by providing resources to support research and professional involvement; continue to reward scholarly activity and accomplishment; enhance the visibility of faculty research findings; encourage faculty to strengthen connections between their scholarship and the classroom, where appropriate.
- Increase opportunities for students to engage in research, both in collaboration with faculty and independently; and introduce students to the wider community of scholars, involving them as participants whenever possible.
***
I especially like Dickinson's and Claremont McKenna's use of the term "teacher-scholar model," Smith's "vigorous research culture," Grinnell's statement that it "values new knowledge," and Bryn Mawr's "ensure the scholarly vitality of our faculty." Surely some similar language could work its way into our strategic plan.
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