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6.1 THE FACULTY LOADS OF REGULAR FACULTY
Regular faculty are expected to teach, advise students, continue scholarly pursuits, and participate in university governance. The granting of teaching load credit equivalency for responsibilities other than teaching (e.g. chair of large departments, administrative assignments, coaching, etc.) is subject to the approval of the department chair and the dean of faculty. Load adjustments must be negotiated between the department chair and the dean of faculty and may reflect the particular interests or abilities of a faculty member. Faculty members should strive to avoid excessive non-teaching involvements which could detract from teaching quality.

6.2 TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES AND LOADS OF REGULAR FACULTY
Regular faculty are expected to teach the equivalent of 20-22 semester credits per year. This includes the teaching of a Jan-term class that normally counts for three semester credits. Release from Jan-term teaching responsibilities due to chair release, mini-sabbatical, load distribution in adjacent semesters, or course release for any other purpose must be approved by the dean of faculty. Science labs taught in tandem with a lecture class will count as half the number of lab contact hours. As a rule, class sizes are expected to average from fifteen to no more than thirty students. Within this range, specific limits may be set by the instructor in consultation with the department chair. Courses with fewer than eight students must be approved by both the department chair and the dean of faculty. If courses are cancelled, the faculty member, the department chair, and the dean of faculty will negotiate a load reassignment.

6.3 ADVISING RESPONSIBILITIES

6.3.1 ADVISING POLICY
Each faculty member generally serves as academic advisor to no more than twentyfive (25) students, although a faculty member may opt to advise more students rather than accept other non-instructional assignments. Academic advising is considered one of the most important responsibilities of the faculty member. Regular times are set aside for advising at registration time. The advisor is also expected to provide guidance as needed during the entire term and to maintain an understanding of the academic policies of the institution as stated in the university publications.

6.3.2 ADVISING PROCEDURES
The initial advisor assignment is made by the associate dean for of faculty development & scholarship in consultation with the registrar and the director of admissions. Faculty may be recruited and trained to serve as specialized freshman advisors. After reviewing the admissions' file and the student's stated areas of interest, advising loads are distributed among regular faculty members, or where relevant to those faculty serving as freshman advisors, as equally as possible. When advising students, the advisor is expected to process exceptions to stated curricular policies within the major or area of concentration through the academic department concerned. The advisor will insure that any exceptions to general university requirements, total credits for graduation, and other related matters are reviewed by the registrar's office. All authorized curricular exceptions and other commitments are preserved in writing in the student's advising file and in the student's file in the registrar's office.

6.3.3 ADVISING EVALUATION
Evaluation of advising is included in colleague evaluations used for promotion, pretenure, tenure, and post tenure review evaluations.

6.4 THE ENHANCEMENT OF TEACHING EXCELLENCE THROUGH SCHOLARSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Each faculty member is expected to participate in continued study and/or research in his or her discipline, in order to guarantee the continuing enhancement of one's excellence as a teacher. The continuing professional growth of faculty members is a shared responsibility of the university and the individual faculty member (see Section 5.3.1). Although teaching and scholarship are portrayed in some settings as opposing entities, we see them as inherently connected and therefore expect scholarship to be part of every regular faculty member’s vocation. In keeping with a growing consensus in the academy and Whitworth’s own definition of scholarship (ratified by Faculty Assembly in 1997), we encourage, support, and reward any of the four distinct yet overlapping types of scholarship—the scholarship of discovery, the scholarship of teaching, the scholarship of application, and the scholarship of synthesis. Each of these requires intelligence, training, discipline, and hard work. Each also finds formal expression in the production of scholarly products, which we define as work that is publicly disseminated and subject to careful peer review when and where appropriate.

It also occurs during consulting work as academics interact with professionals to expand
a field of knowledge. Scholarship of discovery is directed toward one’s peers in the discipline or profession. The primary venues for its products include peer-reviewed academic journals or conference presentations, public exhibitions or performances, academic presses, and professional adjudication panels.

6.4.1 Scholarship of Discovery. The scholarship of discovery is what academics have traditionally meant when they speak of original research. It involves the creation, discovery, or advancement of new knowledge by means of the tools and disciplined practices of one’s academic field. We understand this type of scholarship to include producing new bodies of creative material in the literary, visual, and performing arts.

6.4.2 Scholarship of Teaching. The scholarship of teaching must not be confused with ongoing study of one’s discipline, which is expected of all faculty. This specialized scholarship, which only some faculty will pursue, involves sustained inquiry into teaching practices and students’ learning in ways that allow other educators to build on one’s findings. Scholarship of teaching is directed toward other teachers, in one’s field and beyond. Venues for its products will range from conference and workshop presentations to professional journals and books.

6.4.3 Scholarship of Application. The scholarship of application must, in turn, not be confused with the service role of faculty offering consultation on the existing state of knowledge in their field. This scholarly enterprise is devoted specifically to investigating how existing knowledge in one’s field can be responsibly applied to new problems. This type of scholarship is particularly appropriate in, though not limited to, the professional schools. Scholarship of application is directed both to the immediate setting of the issues addressed and, through the scholarly product which results, to one’s peers as an instructive example. Venues for its products run the gamut from professional journals and conferences to adoption for actual applications in business and industry.

6.4.4 Scholarship of Synthesis. The scholarship of synthesis focuses investigation on possible connections within and across disciplines. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as: by reviewing the current findings of an entire field and highlighting the pattern that emerges, by conducting interdisciplinary and collaborative work, or by articulating a larger vision by which isolated facts in one’s field can be conveyed to non-specialists. All of these efforts attempt to overcome the isolation and fragmentation of academic disciplines, as well as their often perceived irrelevance for contemporary civic and church life. At Whitworth we place a particular value on that scholarship of synthesis which investigates the relationship of Christian theology and tradition to particular disciplinary issues. The audience for scholarship of synthesis includes both the academic world, across the scholarly disciplines, the Church, and the general public. In keeping with this broad audience, its products will find a range of appropriate venues.

6.5 PARTICIPATION IN COLLEGE GOVERNANCE
Each faculty member usually has no more than one standing committee, unless an appropriate load adjustment has been negotiated with the department chair and the dean of faculty. Participation in task forces and ad hoc committees is voluntary.

6.6 OTHER FACULTY RESPONSIBILITIES

6.6.1 OFFICE HOURS
Each faculty member is expected to schedule at least six office hours per week and to post them; the faculty member will also inform the dean of faculty's office about this schedule.

6.6.2 STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Normally a faculty member will advise no more than one student organization.

6.6.3 ACADEMIC CONVOCATIONS
All faculty are expected to participate in commencement, the baccalaureate service, and academic convocations.

6.6.4 NOTIFICATION OF ABSENCE FROM CAMPUS
When it is necessary to be away from the campus during the regular academic year because of illness, professional travel, etc., faculty members should notify their department chair. Faculty members who are invited to serve in professional organizations outside of the university community entailing significant absences from campus will present the responsibility with its time demands to one's department chair and colleagues and to the dean of faculty before accepting the appointment. Such a responsibility may be approved if no more than 10 percent of one's instructional duties during a semester will be missed, the department chair agrees to the appointment, and the departmental colleagues are willing to provide course coverage without being unduly inconvenienced.

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