FACULTY DEVELOPMENTPL ANNING

PURPOSE
Oneofthemoststrikingcharacteristicsofthe
professionsisthattheyare,toalargedegree,self
monitoringandselfregulating withregardsto
professionaldevelopment. Forexample,doctors
andlawyers organizetheirown ongoing trainingto
stayontopoftheir specialties. As educators wealso
relyonourownsenseofprofessionalismto
determinewhatweneedtodo to honeour
instructionalskills and staycurrentin our field.
WithasignificantteachingloadatBYUIdaho,itis
vital that instructors have aplan that allocates time
for faculty developmentotherwiseitwillnot
happen.
Whiletheplanisselfinitiated,itmustbe
coordinated with onesdepartmentandcollege. A
professionaldevelopmentplanningworksheethas
beendeveloped toassistconversationsbetween
instructorsand theirdepartmentchairsaboutthe
allocationofworkloadandfundingforprofessional
development.

DESCRIPT ION
The faculty developmentworksheetprovidesa
framework five yearsintothefuture. Undoubtedly
specific planswillchange overthistime,butthe
longertimeframeallowsfor planningmoreself
directed periodsoffocus.
Inacademics atBYUIdaho, faculty developmentis
discussedin fourdifferentcategories:
ContentKnowledgeandAcademicDepth
ScholarshipofLearningandTeaching
TechnicalSkills
CampusCitizenship
Co n t ent Kn o wled gea nd Ac ad emic Dep th
referstothe disciplinespecificexpertiseofan
instructor.Professionaldevelopmentinthisarea
usually takestheformofattendingorpresentingat
conferences,stayingcurrentinpeerreviewed
literature,conductingresearchormentoringstudent
research,writingandpublishinginthediscipline,

andinsomecases,pursuingfurtherformaltraining
oraterminaldegreeinoneschosenfield.
Sc h o la rs h ip o f L ea rn in ga nd T eac h in grefers
toskillsrelevanttoinstruction andlearning
processes.Specificactivitiesofteninclude
attendanceorpresentationat teachingconferences.
Writingorrevisingcoursecurricula,movingacourse
toanonlineformat,conductingactionresearch,
attendingalearningcommunityordevelopingan
assessmentstrategyareothercommon
developmentactivities.Observingacolleagues
classroomorattendingcampussponsored
developmentopportunitieslikebrownbagsor
workshopsarealsocommondevelopmental
pursuits. BYUIdahoLearningModelwasdeveloped
to discusslearningandteachingprocessesacross
disciplinesonourcampus.
T ec h n ica l Skills asacategoryofprofessional
developmentreferstogainingcompetencewith
specifictoolsandtechniquesthatcanaidan
instructoreitherintheirdisciplinespecificabilities,
orinmoregeneralinstructionalskills.Learningto
usemoreadvancedILearnfeatures,experimenting
with Clickersintheclassroom,implementingmulti
mediaorwebbasedactivitiesinacourse,
developingspecializedapplications,examples,
activitiesorsoftwaremayfallintothiscategory.
Ca mp u s Cit iz en s h ip referstothoseactivities
whichseektoimprovetheoverallcampuscapacity
forqualitylearningandteaching.Participatingon
campuscommittees, mentoringpeers,helpingwith
student associations,contributingtotaskforcesor
collegeanddepartmentgroupsallhelptocreateand
supportthekind ofprofessionalismthatweexpect
fromourselvesandourcolleagues.

EXAMPLE
TheofficeofInstructionalDevelopmenthas
developeda formtohelp simplifyand standardize
the professionaldevelopmentplanningprocess
acrosscampus.Alinktothetemplatedocumentis
attheendofthistoolunderOtherResources.
Thetemplatetoolhastwomainparts,aninitial

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Copyright2016 BYUIdaho

08/18/16

description or introduction oftheprofessional

developmentplan,andasectionwherethefiveyear
planisbrokendownbysemesterandbythe
categoryofprofessionaldevelopmentactivities.A
graphicoftheplanningtemplateisincludedbelow.

activitiesforonesemestermightfocusalmost
exclusivelyondisciplinespecificdevelopment
activities.Thefollowingsemester,however,might
changethatfocustoinclude developmentactivities
aroundtheLearningModeloraroundcertain
technicalskills.
Theendpartofthetemplateprovidesaspacefor
notesthataregeneratedaseachfacultymember
reviewstheplanwiththeirdepartmentchairatleast
onceyearly. Suchconversationhelpsthe
departmentchairsetasidefundsandtimeto
supporteachfacultymemberintheirpursuitof
faculty developmentopportunities.Italsoaidsthe
departmentchair to knowwhenleaveorcourse
releaseisrequiredastheyschedulethecourseloads
foreachsemester.

TIPS
Notevery box intheplanning form needbefilled.
Findafocusforeachsemester.
Rotatethefocussothatnoneofthecategoriesof
professionaldevelopmentisoverrepresentedor
underrepresentedoverthecourseoftheyear.
Shareyourplanwithyourdepartmentchair.
Beflexibleandadapt your plantoaccommodate
departmentalneeds.
Thefirstsectionisaspacetoprovideanarrativeof
theoverallplan.Here,theinstructoridentifiesthe
emphasisand reasoningbehindthe more detailed
informationpresentedinthenextsection. Itisvery
similarto acoverletter that providescontexttoa
resume; thissectionframesandexplainsthe
semesterbysemesterchoicesofdevelopment
activities.
Thesecondsectionhasa space for eachofthefive
yearsrepresentedintheplan.Eachyearisbroken
into three semestersaswellasthe flexible weeks
whichinstructors have undercontract duringthe
summer.

PITFALLS
Dontviewfillingoutthistemplateasthegoal.It
isameanstoanend,whichisplanningyourown
professionaldevelopment.Modifythetemplate
asnecessarytomeetyourneeds.
Dontoverloadtheplan.Stayfocusedandrealistic
inyourplansfortheyear.Usually,professional
developmentactivitiesshouldtakeabout5%of
yourtimeeachweek.

RESOURCES
ProfessionalDevelopmentPlanTemplate

Itisnotintendedthateach box ofthematrixbe

filledwithdevelopmentactivities.Rather,eachof
theregularsemestersorsummerperiodsshould
haveanareaoffocus.Itispossiblethatprofessional
http://www.byui.edu/learning-and-teaching/
Copyright2016 BYUIdaho

08/18/16