Tenure Differences for Private vs. Public Higher Education Institutions

Learning about faith integration into our curriculum #faithandlearning

A photo posted by Dr. Meeder (@drmeeder) on Sep 29, 2016 at 1:37pm PDT

Having worked at both public and private institutions, I have noticed a few differences here and there.  Private institutions tend to have smaller campuses and smaller class sizes.  Public institutions tend to have more resources and funds for infrastructure and specific projects.  Both have differences regarding student and faculty diversity, student conduct, faculty conduct, and so on.

One of the noticeable differences on the faculty side, at least at the small, private Christian college I work at currently, is that tenure is viewed differently.   Currently, I am taking a class with other fellow instructors who are planning to apply for tenure.  I have only attended one meeting so far, so I cannot thoroughly explain the differences between the tenure process at my college verses the tenure process at other institutions.  However, one of the main differences, at least at my college is the requirement for faculty members to address faith and/or ethics in their curriculum.  This is very different at other colleges I have worked at where the only requirements included whether or not the course was writing intensive or whether or not the course incorporated global and/or multicultural perspectives.

To help aid us with our "faith" integration, the facilitators of the tenure class have assigned my colleagues and me our first book to read, Faith and Learning: A Guide for Faculty by Patrick Allen and Kenneth Badly.  I have only read the first couple of chapters, so I cannot provide an accurate description of what the books is about or whether or not I like it.  However, I am looking forward to learning about integrating faith into my curriculum and instruction.  I will keep you posted on my thoughts later on.