Faculty development allows educators to reflect on their own abilities, improve their abilities, and learn new skills. Educational institutions, school districts, or governments may fund these programs. They can also be organized on a volunteer basis by individual teachers. Continuing education courses or short workshops, as well as training in new types of technology, may be available as a result of these efforts. Faculty development at the post-secondary level typically includes providing professors with sabbaticals to engage in research and writing in their fields.
Most educational institutions recognize that instructors must continually improve their skills and knowledge in order to be effective educators. The extent to which faculty development programs are made available is determined by an institution’s budget as well as its leadership’s commitment to providing these opportunities. Faculty may be forced to run their own development programs on a volunteer basis in some cases, particularly when an institution is operating on a shoestring budget.
Some faculty development programs have a very narrow scope. Some schools, for example, may want to incorporate various types of instructional technology into the curriculum. These schools may create specialized faculty development programs with the goal of training all instructors in the technology that will be used in their programs. In other cases, a school-sponsored faculty development program may be more dispersed, with opportunities such as faculty meetings, workshops, and consultations available on a regular basis.
Some faculty development programs focus on helping instructors manage their careers in addition to improving instructional skills. Instructors may receive career counseling and coaching, as well as the opportunity to take time off from teaching to attend professional conferences or complete educational programs leading to a postgraduate degree or professional certification. Instructors who successfully complete these programs may be eligible for promotion to higher-level teaching or administrative positions within their school or school system.
Faculty development benefits, such as time off to complete writing and research as well as funds for travel to professional conferences, are frequently provided by universities to tenure-track professors. These benefits may be included in the faculty-school employment contract. Academic departments may be given funds to subsidize the travel expenses of faculty members who wish to present their research at academic meetings and events.