A2300.25 Faculty Handbook Development

Purpose Statement

The College values the pursuit of excellence in all of its programs and services.  Further, the College believes community perception of academic service excellence is most directly influenced by the quality of teaching faculty employ. In cultivating an environment of excellence and in committing to continuously improve our teaching and learning, the Office of the VPAA, through the shared governance process, will maintain and continuously improve a Faculty Handbook.

Frequency of Handbook Maintenance

The Faculty Handbook shall be updated annually in the spring semester for the following academic year.       

Faculty Handbook Development Process

1. Office of the VPAA
   1. In February of each academic year, the Executive Associate for the VPAA will review the Handbook and update materials, based upon changes that occurred since the last revisions were completed (i.e. changes to Student Handbook, policy changes coming out of shared governance process, Academic Calendar changes, etc.).
   2. The Executive Associate will send out sections of the Faculty Handbook to the appropriate departments for updating or confirmation that material presented is still accurate. This list of sections and associate departments shall be maintained and saved in the Academic Affairs network drive.
   3. The Executive Associate shall make all submitted changes and provide the updated Faculty Handbook to the Academic Standards team for review.
      
      
2. Shared Governance Teams Review
   1. Academic Standards 1^st Read – AST will complete a first read of the Faculty Handbook in March and provide all recommended changes to the Chair of the Team who in turn will collect all the recommendations and provide to the Executive Associate for the VPAA for updating.
   2. Academic Standards 2^nd Read – AST will complete a second and final read of the Faculty Handbook in April. Any final changes will be presented to the Executive Associate for the VPAA for updating. Given that the reading is a second and final, changes should be minimal as all changes should have been presented at the first reading.
   3. Academic Council 1^st and Final Read – Upon approval from AST, the Chair will provide a copy of the Faculty Handbook to the Chair of the Academic Affairs Council for the Council’s review and approval of the final document. Document should be reviewed and approved at the April meeting.
      
      
3. Dissemination of the Faculty Handbook
   1. Faculty Resources – Upon approval from the Academic Affairs Council, the Faculty Handbook will be placed upon the Faculty Resources page within mySCC. The Executive Associate will provide a final copy to IT for updating.
   2. Faculty Webpage – Upon approval from Academic Affairs Council, the Faculty Handbook will be placed upon the Faculty webpage on the SCC website in HTML format for increased transparency and accessibility.
   3. Faculty Fall Return – When faculty return in the fall, faculty members will be provided a hard copy of the Faculty Handbook, if requested. The Executive Associate will make copies for those faculty and place a copy in each of the faculty’s mailboxes.