Dear Parents,

At the heart of Providence College's academic environment are the members of our faculty--dedicated scholars who create a stimulating intellectual environment that challenges our students. Recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty, providing them with appropriate resources, and promoting teaching excellence are among the College's highest priorities. We fulfill this responsibility in several ways.

We conduct national searches to hire the very best professors in their fields of study. These are men and women who have earned the highest possible credentials in their specific fields, who love teaching and excel at it, and who fully support the values and mission of Providence College. Our faculty members also are active in research and publishing--often
collaborating with colleagues and students--that help inform and enhance their classroom instruction.

We support our faculty with exceptional on-campus professional development opportunities. The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) cultivates a campus-wide climate that
values and promotes "the life of the mind" by helping faculty design ever more creative teaching and student-learning strategies. Each year, the CTE inaugurates its programming with a lively and enlightening "conversation" with the Joseph R. Accinno Faculty Teaching Award recipient, an outstanding Providence College professor who has been nominated by a student, graduate, or colleague. (I invite you to read profiles of these outstanding faculty members--as well as many others--in the Teaching the Transforms section of the Providence College Web site.) Other CTE programs include a confidential mid-semester teaching assessment opportunity; lectures by visiting scholars; and informal, interactive opportunities for faculty to come together for conversations related to teaching.

The College also helps fund faculty research and scholarship through the Committee on Aid to Faculty Research (CAFR), which has distributed more than $1.4 million since its founding in 1972. This academic year, sixteen CAFR faculty research proposals totaling nearly $85,500 were approved. These grants benefit faculty members as well as students. CAFR grants often are used to fund student research assistants, providing students additional hands-on experience with research methods in the field, in the library, or in the laboratory. Research results on a variety of topics from molecular modeling to Moldovan politics are integrated into the classroom where they enrich the classroom experience.

Last year, the College introduced the Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar (IFS). Held throughout the spring semester, the seminar enables selected faculty members to come together weekly to examine a common theme from their particular disciplines. This provides participants with the opportunity to learn from each other, stretch the boundaries of their traditional academic disciplines, and broaden their thinking. We consider the IFS so important that we reduce the teaching load of all participants for the semester. In turn, each faculty member develops a paper on her or his research for the seminar and shares it at a final colloquium open to the entire College community.

The College supports faculty who desire to attend or to present at academic conferences and other professional development programs by providing a travel stipend up to twice a year. In addition, tenure-track faculty members can draw on a faculty discretionary fund to support their teaching and research activities over a two-year period.

In recent years, the College has made a particular commitment to provide "start-up" funds to support new faculty, particularly in the sciences. And, of course, the many improvements we have made to update and expand our academic buildings and laboratories--while incorporating the latest in multimedia instructional technology in many classrooms--have shaped a learning environment beneficial to students and faculty alike.

I trust this glimpse into the ways that we promote academic excellence by supporting our faculty at Providence College demonstrates how committed we are to creating a transforming environment for our students. It is my hope and prayer that you have observed the rewards of our commitment in the intellectual life and habits of your daughter or son.
 
Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.