In April of 2006, the Teaching Excellence Center (TEC) was asked to undertake the effort of combining the current Faculty Survival Guide: A Colleague’s Guide to Success (6th Ed.) with the largely outdated, (and no longer currently available) SFA Faculty Handbook.
The directors of the Teaching Excellence Center (Lauren Scharff and John Moore) met with the provost, associate provost, and a representative from the Faculty Senate to discuss the process of combining the two documents. The planned process included the following steps: first, utilize the TEC directors, the TEC Associates, and the Faculty Senate representative to create the first draft of the combined document; second, have that document reviewed by the associate provost, provost and general council; third, make the combined document available to the Faculty Senate for review; forth, input any recommended changes from these individuals; fifth, make the final document available online for the campus community at large.
During the fall 2006 semester, each of the TEC individuals was assigned a portion of the survival guide and asked to revise it by updating it and adding relevant information from the handbook in a style that was professional but friendly (similar to the current style of the guide). All sections were completed by late spring 2007. In early June, Lauren Scharff then edited and revised the combined sections so that the document was more unified and relevant links to policies were added.
Draft1 was electronically delivered to the Provost, Associate Provost, and General Counsel on June 16. Lauren Scharff incorporated all suggested changes at the end of June. Draft2 was delivered to the Faculty Senate chair (Marc Guidry) in July, 2007. The final draft version was delivered to the University Webmaster in May, 2008.
The Faculty Government and Involvement Committee of the Faculty Senate will update the Survival Guide and Faculty Handbook annually in accordance with the Faculty Senate's mission of promoting the general welfare of the faculty and opening avenues of communication between the faculty and the rest of the University community.