Chapter 9: Faculty Development

Established in 2008, the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence (CFDE) represents the culmination of many years of university-wide efforts to support faculty development and to foster intellectual community. The mission of the CFDE is to support the work of the Office of the Provost in encouraging faculty development and excellence, particularly through the sponsoring of faculty programs in teaching, writing, and research. Regarding teaching, some activities include seed grant programs, teaching consultations, and coordination and linking of teaching resources. In terms of writing/research, the CFDE supports author development programs in writing and publishing, grant writing workshops, and interdisciplinary research seminars. 

Emory initiated a university-wide Academic Leadership Program (ALP) in 2008, designed to provide development for Emory's academic leaders. The goals of the program are to strengthen academic leadership performance across Emory University and to establish a leadership pipeline for succession planning. In 2017-2018 the program was broadened to bring together faculty members from both Emory and other Atlanta-area colleges and universities, including Agnes Scott College, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College and Spelman College.  

The curriculum is designed to help participants focus on their individual leadership development, to enhance their understanding of the complexity of the university, and to create a pipeline of future leaders. Broadly conceived, the curriculum addresses people skills, financial management, or strategic planning. Specific course components include: leadership development, strategic planning, university finance and departmental budgeting, faculty development, promotion and tenure, teaching and assessment, performance reviews, and conflict management. 

The University Research Committee (URC), a standing committee of the Faculty Council, is responsible for awarding small research grants to university faculty. Research is defined as scholarly pursuit according to the guidelines of your discipline. These funds are intended to help researchers achieve short-term research goals that can be accomplished in one year. These projects often provide preliminary data needed for extramural grant applications. Grants are peer-reviewed and ranked for quality and impact. URC grants are not intended as a continuing source of funding. Proposals are invited from all faculty throughout the university. Faculty holding temporary positions are not eligible. Projects designed to be completed by graduate students are not supported. Awards may be used for direct research support or release-time support for up to two courses. Release time is ordinarily defined as a release from teaching responsibilities only. Departmental commitments, committee responsibilities, and graduate student support continue during the period of the release time. The URC is composed of faculty throughout the university and divided into several subcommittees. 

Each school has its own lecture series, allowing for many opportunities for faculty to attend and engage in lectures and seminars on campus during the year. In addition, the University also sponsors several campus wide lecture series including: 

The Distinguished Faculty Lecture started in 1995 as an initiative of the Faculty Council as a way for faculty across the university to honor and recognize one of their own. The Distinguished Faculty Lecturer is chosen by a special committee of the Faculty Council and is coordinated by the Assistant to the Faculty Council. 

The Emory University Emeritus College (EUEC) was established in 2001 to "enhance the relationship between the university and its emeritus faculty for the benefit of Emory's educational mission as well as for the greater welfare of its emeriti and of the wider community." For the first two years, the Emeritus College operated as a pilot project endorsed by the Faculty Council and funded by the Office of the Provost. The Emeritus College now has permanent status as a line item on the university budget, continues to grow and add new projects every year, and has a representative on the University Senate and the Faculty Council. The Emeritus College's purposes are achieved through discussion, lectures, service projects, support for ongoing research, and recognition of the achievements of its members. The Emeritus College is a member of the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE), which includes American and Canadian university retirement organizations. Its purpose is to develop and enhance retirement organizations to serve their schools, individual retirees, and the wider community.