WHO SHOULD DO FACULTY-DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT SHOULD IT BE

In the face of widespread public dissatisfaction with higher education , faculty development programs-especially semester- and year-long leav es-have become more important than ever before as a means of helping f aculty broaden their scholarship and enhance their teaching. Departmen t chairs should play an important hand in decisions on faculty develop ment assignments. Given that they also have other important responsibi lities, however, ways must be found to entice department chairs to bec ome as involved in faculty development as they are in promotion and te nure, curriculum review, and decisions on merit salary increments. The particular value of faculty development programs for women and member s of minority groups must also be recognized. These two groups of facu lty may experience special problems in adjusting to faculty life, whic h make faculty development opportunities even more valuable to them th an to others.