Professional Development Resources for Wofford Faculty
Professional Development Leave
A professional development leave may be granted by the Dean of the College for one semester or one semester and one Interim with full salary and full benefits, or for the academic year with half salary and full benefits. This leave implies full-time participation in professional activities; it is neither an automatic right nor a delayed compensation for past service, but rather a means of helping the individual faculty member to realize his or her potential as a scholar and teacher, thus benefitting both himself or herself and the college.
Professional development leaves are to be distinguished from all other leaves by virtue of (a) continued compensation for the faculty member, (b) the process of application and recommendation, and (c) the continuance of all benefits and privileges regularly accorded to the applicant as a full-time faculty member.
All professional development leaves are awarded in the expectation that the recipient will remain fully associated with Wofford College in the next academic year following his or her leave. Please see the faculty handbook for more details on eligibility and preparation of materials for review by the Faculty Development Committee.
Application for Leave
Professional Development Leaves for Academic Year 2012-2013:
Dr. Steve Michelman (Fall 2012 & Interim 2013) for research to write two articles, one on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of art and one on the philosophy of emotion.
Dr. Mark Ferguson (Fall 2012 and Interim 2013) in order to teach a course on the ethics of 19th century Sensational Melodrama in the United States at the Universitat Freiburg, to co-teach a creative writing course at the University of Zurich, as well as give lectures and workshops while abroad.
Dr. Sally Hitchmough (Spring 2013) for research to write articles on Margaret Oliphant’s novels Margaret Maitland, Miss Marjoribanks and Hester.
Dr. Trina Jones (Fall 2012 and Interim 2013) for work on a book project tentatively entitled Shall I Wear Heels While I Breastfeed? Feminine Liminality in 21st Century American Popular Culture.
Dr. Amy Sweitzer (Spring 2014) in order to attend the Spring Seminar workshops of the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA, and for research to write an article connecting offstage events in Shakespeare’s plays to a rhetorical tradition known as ekphrasis.
Summer Research Grants
The summer research grants are awarded through a competitive program administered by the Faculty Development Committee. The committee awards a limited number (usually three or four) of grants for scholarly research projects to be conducted during summers. Summer research grants are not awarded for work toward an advanced degree. The stipend for a summer research grant will be determined each year by the committee. If required for the project and if funds are available, allocations may be made for travel, student assistance, or special materials. A separate sheet should be submitted, as a part of the proposal, explaining the requirement and estimating the expenses. Full accounting for expenses will be required as part of the final project report to the committee. A form for the preparation of proposals is provided by the committee. Proposals should be brief, perhaps one or two pages, and should follow as closely as possible the form outline. The deadline for submitting proposals will be announced each fall by the Dean of the College. The committee makes its best effort to determine awards on the basis of merit. Factors considered include the clarity of the proposal, the likelihood the project can be accomplished, the applicant's success in previous research, and the potential contribution of the project to the applicant's professional growth as both teacher and scholar. In order for an individual faculty member to be eligible for a second consecutive grant on the same topic, a complete and somewhat detailed progress report must be submitted to the committee along with the application for a second grant. In order for a faculty member to be eligible for additional grants on the same topic, he or she must submit to the committee a paper meeting the standards required for submission for publication in a professional journal in the appropriate field. As a guideline, applications from individuals who have received several grants will be given lower priority to other applications of merit in order that more members of the faculty may benefit from this program.
Summer Research Grant Application
Summer Research Grants for Summer 2012:
Dr. Anne Rodrick for a book manuscript entitled Imaginative Communities: Lecture Societies, the Lecture Circuit, and the Public Sphere in Victorian England.
Dr. Kenneth Banks for a book manuscript entitled Rogue Merchant: Captain Thomas Allen and the Transformation of the Atlantic World.
Dr. Sharon Hutton for a journal article entitled “Solving Inequality and Equality Constraints in Sum-of-Squares Certificates.”
Dr. Katherine Milne for a book manuscript entitled Rise of the Commander: Psychology, Loyalty and Leadership in the Roman Middle and Late Republican Military.
Dr. Tom Wright for a book manuscript entitled Trolling Mathematics: An Irreverent Guide to Number Theory.
Dr. Beate Brunow for a journal article entitled “Negotiating Narratives: The Legacy of the Artist in Elsa Porges-Bernstein’s Johannes Herkner” and a book prospectus from her dissertation.
Dr. Li Qing Kinnison for research and a journal article on the effect of Western influence on Chinese linguistic politeness.