The idea of the seminar was to prepare us for the different types of higher institutions we will be visiting over this coming semester. One of the major topics were the faculty roles at the different places. A four person panel was invited for the occasion representing different types of colleges.

The first speaker from the panel was Millie Garcia, Associate Vice Provost, from ASU West. ASU West falls under the classification "Comprehensive University" where multidiciplinary and interdiciplinary programs are offered besides the "regular" bachelor degrees offered at ASU main for instance. At universities such as ASU West, the faculty roles are more geared toward teaching and service and not so much toward research which is the case for a research one institution such as ASU main.

The next speaker out of the panel, Gail Hacket, Associate Dean for College of Education at ASU main, further explained the faculty roles at a research one institution (especially at ASU main). A professor at ASU main is expected to do 40% teaching, 20% service, and 40% research (which can be published). Dr. Hacket explained further that the three areas - teaching, service, and research - should in fact overlap in what she called "Shared discovery." She further pointed out that for a professor, especially at a research one university, the faculty load is not the same as class (course) load.

The third speaker from the panel was James (Jim) Helfers, Dean for Liberal Arts at Grand Canyon University. Grand Canyon University falls under the category of a private liberal arts college, in this case a Baptist private liberal arts college. Helfers explained that the teaching was the primary role for a faculty at GCU. For a faculty to obtain tenure at GCU the professor needs to:

The service requirements at GCU were slightly different than for ASU main. At Grand Canyon University, the faculty are expected to:

The fourth and final member of the panel was James (Jim) Cervantes, Professor in the Department of English at Mesa Community College. Dr. Cervantes explained that about half of the students at MCC are heading toward ASU for further studies. At the community college, the faculty members are not expected to do research. Instead each faculty member can be rewarded in form of:

Dr. Cervantes explained further that at Mesa Community College, release time (from the full teaching load) was most often granted a faculty member for either curriculum development or for technology development. Dr. Cervantes finished off his presentation by revealing the lucrative side of being a professor at a community college in Maricopa County. The starting salary for someone with a Ph.D. and no experience is currently $45,200. The starting salary for a Ph.D. with 3 to 4 years experience (i.e. teaching assistant/associate) is $47,000 to $50,000.