Professional Development

The Faculty Lair

This occasional faculty development series encourages dialogue about hot topics in higher education, showcases successful projects and practices, and initiates faculty reflections on career trajectories. Events mostly consist of lunchtime panel discussions that put faculty members from different disciplines in dialogue with each other. Check here for a look at our upcoming calendar of events.

Here you can find a sampling of past Faculty Lairs.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity

Rhodes College recently joined the ranks of hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide in becoming a member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), a national organization dedicated to supporting faculty and their professional development in academia.

How to Create Your NCFDD Account

Support for Teaching

All faculty are encouraged to visit here to learn more about the support we offer for teaching.

Support for Scholarly and Creative Activity

All faculty are encouraged to visit here to learn more about the support we offer for scholarly and creative activity.

First-Year Faculty Mentoring

Faculty members who are new to the college join a small cohort under the leadership of a pair of faculty mentors. These mentors coordinate group and individual meetings, class observations, and programming for faculty members who are new to our community. Learn more about our current mentoring cohort.

Support for New Faculty

Click here (for Rhodes College employees only) to access a comprehensive compilation of resources for new faculty. Here you can learn more about new faculty orientation, and a calendar of events for first-year faculty.  

Professional Support Funds

Professional support funds (“start-up funds”) provided by the Provost to full-time, continuing, members of the Faculty are meant to be discretionary funds, controlled by the recipient and used to further research and creative activities involved in the scholarship of the faculty member.

The following guidelines are established for the proper use of accounting for these funds.

1. The funds are expected to be expended within the time frame established when

awarded.  Remainder funds, if any, must be used within one year following the term of the grant.

2. Funds awarded may not be taken as stipend or compensation, nor may they be used for personal expenses.

3. Funds awarded maybe used for materials—e.g. books, journal subscriptions, professional memberships, equipment in support of scholarship—and for services—e.g. student assistants, consultants.  Materials and services should be in the direct support of research or creativity activity projects in the plan for professional development of a faculty member. The employment of student assistants should be administered through the Human Resources Department of the college; provisions must be made to cover the necessary social security and withholding deductions.

4. Funds may be used for professional travel in support of relevant research and creativity. Examples of such needs include travel to professional conferences; travel to libraries, archives, laboratories, or performances (for purposes of information collection and study); and travel for purposes of professional collaboration or conducting interviews. Expenses to be covered may include reimbursement for transportation costs, registration and admission fees, and lodging costs.

5. Professional support funds may be used to purchase computers and peripheral devices subject to the following criteria for “scientific equipment.”

6. Professional support funds may be used to purchase scientific equipment subject to the following criteria:

• The purchases must be approved by the chairperson of the department of the faculty member. Orders for equipment are processed following standard College procedures for the purchase of scientific equipment and laboratory supplies.
• A plan for the maintenance and upgrade of the equipment is agreed to in advance by the faculty member and the chairperson of the department.
• The equipment remains the property of Rhodes College unless the faculty member reimburses the College for the equipment, should he or she relocate to another institution and wish to take the equipment.

The Association for Associate Professors

The Association for Associate Professors is a faculty support group that caters faculty development programming for the Associate Professor phase of the academic career. Activities include sessions on topics in higher education, career advancement, scholarship productivity, healthy work-life balance, etc. This group provides a safe space to discuss career goals and strategies for addressing challenges that are common among Associate Professors. To learn more about the Association for Associate Professors, please contact Clara Pascual-Argente.

Phase 3 Affinity Group

The Phase 3 Faculty Affinity Group is specifically for those faculty in the later stages of their academic careers. The name is based on the idea that the academic career can be divided into three phases, roughly as follows:

• Phase 1 encompasses the quest for a tenure track job and concludes with the earning of tenure (or a similar promise of steady future employment)
• Phase 2 encompasses the two or three decades following the awarding of tenure and involves an expansion of one’s academic reputation through publishing, consulting and creative work. It typically involves leadership in professional associations, as well as the campus service commitments expected of “senior faculty.” This is often a time in which one considers employment opportunities on other campuses or in other fields.
• Phase 3 is the last phase an academic career. One is unlikely to change jobs or careers before retirement and one’s focus turns to the sort of legacy one will leave in “this place.”

If you’re interested in joining the Phase 3 Faculty Affinity Group please contact Steve Haynes.

Mid-Career Scholarship Support Grants

The goal of the MSS Grant is to support the scholarly agendas of mid- to late-career faculty members to foster engagement in scholarship over the duration of their careers.  This one-year award is designed to support Associate Professors and Professors to reinvigorate the scholarship programs, retool for future work, or initiate a new line of study or creative activity.  Contact the chair of the Faculty Development Committee, David Kabelik, for more information.

Rotational Chairs

For more information about the history and significance of faculty fellowships, endowments, and memorials click here. If you are interested in applying for a rotational chair, please contact your chair to assist you in the application process.