Common Expectations of the Faculty
Faculty members at Georgia Highlands College are vitally important to achieving our educational mission and goals. As such, it is expected that every faculty member will engage in teaching, service, and scholarship/professional development. All activities are expected to be conducted with a high degree of collegiality, inclusiveness, and professionalism.
Teaching
Georgia Highlands College faculty have primary responsibility for the curriculum of the College. It is expected that each faculty member will contribute to this by demonstrating competence and high-quality teaching; creating and maintaining a collegial environment that promotes student learning; and participating in quality improvement processes and official record keeping.
Expectation #1: Faculty will demonstrate competence and high-quality teaching.
Competence and high-quality teaching are essential to a faculty member’s duties at Georgia Highlands College. We expect each faculty member to contribute to the mission of the college by taking a learned and considered approach to teaching inside and outside of the classroom. A substantial effort should be made to ensure teaching, regardless of modality, is high-quality and consistently improving.
Expectation #2: Faculty will create and maintain a collegial environment that promotes student learning.
Faculty at the College should work to ensure every student has the proper environment and opportunity to succeed. All interactions at Georgia Highlands College conducted by a faculty member should be collegial, professional, and growth-oriented. In the classroom or library setting, it is the responsibility of the faculty member to ensure the environment is conducive to learning by all.
Expectation #3: Faculty will participate in quality improvement processes and official record keeping.
Georgia Highlands College is a learning organization and constantly seeking to improve. It is a general expectation of all faculty to engage in these efforts. In order for the college and our students to improve, official records must be kept with care, integrity, and consideration.
Expectation #4: Faculty will participate in advising students.
As a College, we holistically advise students. Faculty members are expected to advise students in a way that focuses on the individuality of the student. This includes advising their personal, vocational, and educational goals while encouraging them to take charge of their own progress and success.
Service
Service is an important component of faculty life at Georgia Highlands College. It is expected that each faculty member will engage in department, divisional, and full meetings of the faculty; and contribute to the efficient operation of the College.
Expectation #5: Faculty will contribute to the efficient operation of the College.
Faculty members have a unique responsibility to contribute to the efficient operation of the College. To assist the College in a meaningful way, it is vital that each faculty member engages in departmental, divisional, and full faculty activities. It is expected that faculty members will seek out and accept reasonable opportunities to serve on committees, support extra/co-curricular activities, institutional activities, and community service.
Scholarship and Professional Development
Faculty members at the College are selected because they have expertise in their field. We expect them to contribute to their scholarly discourse and our community, as well as maintain appropriate professional growth and development.
Expectation #6: Faculty will contribute their expertise to their scholarly discourse and our community.
The College embraces the Boyer (1997) model of scholarship. Therefore, we recognize four types of scholarly activities: Discovery – building of new knowledge through traditional research; Integration – interpreting the use of knowledge across disciplines; Application – aiding society and professions in addressing problems; and Teaching – studying teaching models and practices to achieve optimum learning.
Expectation #7: Faculty will maintain appropriate professional growth and development
As an organization, the College changes over time to meet the needs of our community and enshrine best practices. As such, we expect all faculty to attend all mandatory professional growth and development opportunities offered.