| In response to significant changes in the global economic, social, and cultural context over the past decade, the teaching, research, and public service missions of public universities and colleges are being reshaped significantly. Faculty professional development programs are a vital but under-examined resource for institutional and academic program leaders who seek to connect their programmatic directions to public stakeholder needs and priorities. This qualitative study examines the influence of a recurring faculty development program on advancing Boyer's (1996) propositions for faculty scholarship focused on integration and engagement. The Wisconsin Idea Seminar--an annual, week-long, intensive faculty development program at the UW-Madison--introduces new faculty members to the Wisconsin Idea and to multiple exemplars of university-public sector collaboration and engagement.;Using qualitative research approaches, including a constant comparative method for data analysis, a sample of 29 faculty members were interviewed from a pool of more than 250 on-campus former faculty participants. Through interviews and an analysis of institutional documents, the influence of the seminar on faculty members' perception of the institutional mission and their scholarship were explored. The interviews and document analysis revealed that approximately nine out of ten faculty members held elaborated, multi-dimensional commitments to the Wisconsin Idea and, by extension, to the University and to the state, and more than 80% indicated they had uncovered ways to integrate their research, teaching, and public service endeavors to address societal issue... |
