Faculty issues to be studied

Four upstate colleges—Skidmore, Union, Hamilton, and Colgate—are sharing a one-year $80,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to examine faculty concerns and find ways of responding to them. Faculty at small, highly selective colleges commonly wrestle with issues ranging from tenure to faculty governance to balancing the time pressures of being excellent teachers, productive scholars, and active members of the campus community. In announcing the Mellon grant, Charles M. Joseph, Skidmore’s interim dean of the faculty, said the findings will help the college provide “an optimum environment in which our faculty may experience their careers as deeply fulfilling.”
The four colleges in the project will exchange information during the year and hold a two-day retreat this summer to discuss next steps.