The Transforming Of Faculty Development Organization In American Research University

As a product of the faculty development movement,faculty development organization first appeared in American research university.At the end of the 20 th century,as the main force to promote the movement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning faculty development organizations spread to other English-speaking countries and emerging higher education systems.At the time when the faculty development activities in China is booming and faculty development centers are being built in various institutions,few scholars have noticed that even in the United States,faculty development organization has faced query from scholars,even being unable to escape the fate of being shut down.In the new era,faculty development organizations are facing new challenges,and the faculty development organization in research university is experiencing a “quiet revolution”.In terms of the current researches on foreign faculty development,it takes on more introductive researches and less original researches,more normative researches and less empirical researches,much less multi-cases and qualitative studies.Moreover,few scholars realize that foreign faculty development organizations are experiencing a transforming revolution.This study takes the faculty development center in American research university as the research object,and based on the qualitative materials the paper explores the history,reason,approach and tendencies of faculty development organization,illustrating the history,institutional logic,necessities,and the elements of the transforming.This study takes institutional theory as the basis for analyzing the historical evolution and institutionalization process of faculty development organizations in American research universities.Based on the panoramic view of the historical evolution of faculty development organizations in American research universities,this paper argues that the faculty development movement has experienced the initial development stage with regulatory elements as the core and the witnessed the rapid development with normative elements since the 1960 s,followed by the prosperous stage highlighting cultural elements and the reflective stage focusing the institutional elements.The institutionalized process of faculty development organization in research university has shaped a new type of academic organization with support,service and research functions.Differing from the reflection of the diachronic institutional changes,the discussion on the opportunity of the transformation of faculty development organization in research university is to clarify the internal and external motivations,especially the analysis of the objective inevitability of transforming from the institutional and technical environment perspective.It finds that in the new era of multi-governance and specialization construction,responding to modern university governance,efficiency,professionalism,resources and other appeals is not only a premise for these organizations to seek value recognition and orderly participation,but also a choice for reengineering the legitimacy embedded in the “adaptive logic” of faculty development organization in research university.This study attempts to analyze the transformation process of faculty development organizations in American research university from the elemental level in combination with the theory of organizational change.The strategic adjustments,namely the reengineering of the mission,role,and visions of the organization,it has made it come to the center of governance from the margin of the university;the technology upgrade has realized the driving role of technical elements and technical forces in the transformation of new academic organizations and faculty development organizations;faculty developers have become a change promoter with multiple roles,making themselves a special group in the academic progression;structural adjustment has formed new types of modular structure,network structure and flat structure of the faculty development organization.It also finds that the faculty development organization in research university plans the vision and strategy in the process of institutionalization,enhances the operational efficiency of the organization in the process of integration,improves the core competitiveness of the organization in the process of specialization,and optimizes the growth path of faculty development organizations in the process of diversification.Considering of community theory,this paper summarizes the main trends of the transformation of faculty development organizations in American research university,which indicates faculty developer’s role cognition,cultural cognition and professional cognition in the process of transformation.Under the influence of “institutional-technical environment”,It forms the synergistic effect faculty practice community,the diffusional effect faculty cultural community,and the demonstrated professional community.It also suggests that the transformation of faculty development organization in American research university has accumulated many experience,which provides reference for the construction of faculty development organizations in other higher education systems.