The first list below is a reminder of some of the most common examples of faculty service. To include service in self-directed evaluation, it may be useful to begin by looking at activities that had the most impact, and then reflect on documents or artifacts that might be associated with that impact (see second list). The third list (communicating about one’s service) is most likely to contain items related to documenting one’s work for career advancement, if that is an individual goal. The practices described here are not prescriptive and are by no means exhaustive.
Sample activities for professional development in service
- Undertaking roles in service to the community, in capacities relevant to areas of expertise (e.g., consultation, advising, design services, research, building relationships with community partners, creative work, etc.) Note that some service activities may overlap with teaching or with research, scholarly or creative activities.
- Undertaking roles in professional associations within a field (e.g., editing of journals; committee work; contributions to national dialogues; etc.)
- Serving on a University Committee or Council (e.g., Senate, Department/Program, Faculty).
- Mentoring colleagues; onboarding new faculty
- Conducting research to learn more about a challenge/problem that the university is facing
- Developing improvement plans to address problems related to curricula, programs, departments, or university as a whole
- Undertaking an administrative or governance role: project leader; committee head; chair
- Attending trainings to develop skills and knowledge targeting institutional enhancement
Sample activities for collecting information about service
- Observing examples of one’s participation and impact, for example, policies drafted; documents created for an organization; research/reports conducted for a project; recommendations made to a community partner
- Collecting letters or memos where one’s work has been observed and/or praised (e.g., by students, community partners, colleagues, organizations, etc.)
- Reflecting on one’s work by applying a rubric (agreed upon by a faculty or by the university as a whole) to highlight effective service
- Reflecting on awards or other recognitions received for service
Sample activities for interacting with a community of practice on service
- Written narratives to explain and share one’s work with colleagues
- Public presentations of new policies or practices; or presentations of projects and plans
- An updated CV that includes all of one’s work in the above areas
- Web resources that describe publicly the projects one has engaged in
- Articles, reports written for community partners or professional associations