Faculty Roles and Responsibilities

Faculty involvement in the academic affairs is recognized as a crucial component in the educational process of the university. Faculty members participate in developing and achieving the purposes of the university and have the prerogative to make recommendations to the administration and the University’s management on all matters relating to academic affairs: the curriculum, teaching, student support, research and/or scholarship, management, and administration. Faculty should follow all instructional obligations on a timely manner.

Duties and Responsibilities of Faculty

Activities include but not limited to the following‭:‬

Teaching

• • • A Faculty member is expected to demonstrate excellent teaching pedagogies in their classes, in addition to their engagement in both research and community services as part of their duties.
    • Academic integrity and quality are a must, and the faculty must foster an educational climate where students’ critical thinking is challenged through knowledge, skills, autonomy and responsibility, role in context, and self-development.
    • A faculty member is requested to have annual publications in indexed scholarly journals in the field of specialization of the faculty member.
    • A faculty member is to have various kinds of university or outside professional service on committees.
    • A faculty has to deliver and teach the course according to the course syllabus included in the academic program.
    • A faculty has to explain issues, direct comments toward the content and learning objectives, set up discussion forum, probes for student responses that focus discussions on critical concepts, principles, and skills.
    • A faculty has to ensure that all lectures and tutorials are delivered in their respective specified time.
    • A faculty has to encourage substantive interactions among the participants by monitoring and shaping conversations with targeted interventions.
    • A faculty has to provide guidelines for assignments that are appropriate to the level of the course, evaluate students’ assignments, exams, projects, and contributions, and offer intellectual feedback.
    • A faculty has to support the development of collaborative learning and a social community, manage learning communities, and express support for the learning process and individual needs.
    • A faculty has to review the adequacy of the learning resources to support the course including teaching accommodation, laboratories and workshops, books, journals, software and equipment.
    • A faculty has to implement university policies regarding student participation at instructional and related levels.
    • A faculty has to co-ordinate the preparation, monitoring, scheduling, and distribution to students of coursework assignments with accompanying assessment criteria, submission dates and return.
    • A faculty has to ensure the return (including feedback) of graded on-going class assignments, tests, reports, etc... to students within maximum of 1 week from the due date of a submission.
    • A faculty has to foster an educational climate where students’ thinking is challenged, a debate culture is fostered, and students’ critical thinking and analytical skills are built.
    • A faculty has to ensure course materials are regularly reviewed, assessed, updated, contextualized (where applicable) and reflect the needs of the students and program as a whole to ensure quality and relevance at all times.

Faculty roles and responsibilities in curriculum development and review

Faculty members play active role in curriculum planning and revision as follow:

• • • The faculty members actively participate in curriculum deliberation and recommend actions related to additions, deletions, modifications in curricula, and maintain course content.
    • Examine the effectiveness of curricula on a regular basis in the realization of the program goals.
    • Integrate and encourage the use of innovative learning technologies and pedagogies to course design, delivery and ensure compliance with the quality, educational standards, and regulations of the University.
    • Design and develop appropriate and innovative assessment strategies to evaluate students’ work and ensure prompt constructive feedback is provided to students on each piece of assessment for continuous improvement.
    • Maintain course files at the end of each semester based on the University and the CAA standards and requirements.
    • Also, as per AFU Program Planning and Development Policy, Faculty are Involved in the development of new programs including curricula.

Student Support

• • • Closely follow-up the performance of all students and provide support and advice.
    • Advice on solving problems and the procedures to be followed.
    • Advise on career placement and training opportunities and to help students into exploring career goals.
    • Implement attendance policy and review attendance excuses.
    • Provide academic help and academic advising to students. The typical Advisor-to-Advisee ratio is 1:30. 
    • Oversee and assure the implementation of the policies governing the student advisory and scholarship program as related to instructional requirements.
    • Evaluate and follow-up on the student overall academic performance.

Research and Scholarship

• • • Participate in and implement policies and regulations concerning the improvement of the environment within the university and the larger community‭.‬
    • Promote interdisciplinary research and scholarship operation of research on campus‭.‬
    • Obtain external funding and assist in administrative and financial management of sponsored research‭, ‬scholarship‭, ‬and training projects‭.‬
    • Participate in research proposal preparation‭, ‬funding strategies‭, ‬program development‭, ‬grant‭, ‬and contract administration‭.‬
    • Actively conduct research‭, ‬present papers in conferences and publish in scholarly journals‭.‬

Management and Administration

• • Ensure that the instruction is in accordance with the approved learning and teaching strategies‭.‬
  • Ensure that the syllabus covers the students' learning requirements and outcomes for the course‭.‬
  • Ensure submission of requirements to acquire adequate resources needed for supporting the program and maintaining its quality‭.‬
  • Participate in the process of national/international accreditation‭, ‬monitoring and reviewing whenever required while complying with CAA standards and requirements‭.‬
  • Participate in the process of program assessment and update‭.‬
  • Participate in University and departmental committees as needed‭.‬

Service to the University and Community

Each faculty member is expected to‭:‬

• • • Participate in the various committees to which s/he is assigned‭.‬
    • Participate in extracurricular activities‭.‬
    • Participate in the professional development activities of other faculty members and personnel‭.‬
    • Propose consultancy for community bodies and institutions other than AFU‭.‬
    • Join professional associations‭.‬
    • Be actively involved in refereeing academic publications‭.‬

Academic Freedom

• • • Faculty members are entitled to academic freedom regarding research and in the publication of the results‭, ‬subject to the adequate performance of their instructional and non-instructional duties‭.‬
    • Faculty members are entitled to academic freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject‭, ‬but faculty should be objective in teaching of a controversial matter‭, ‬which has relation to that subject‭, ‬and of controversial topics introduced by students‭. ‬A‭ ‬Faculty member must not introduce controversial matters which have little or no relation to the subject of instruction‭.‬
    • Faculty members are individuals‭, ‬members of a learned profession‭, ‬and representatives of a university‭. ‬However‭, ‬they must be aware that their position in the community imposes special obligations‭.  ‬As persons of a learning community‭, ‬the faculty members should remember that the public might judge the profession and University by extramural utterances‭. ‬
    • Hence‭, ‬each Faculty member should‭, ‬at all times‭, ‬try to be accurate without offending the community‭, ‬exercise appropriate restraint‭, ‬show respect for the opinions of others and make every effort to indicate that as a member of the university‭, ‬and he/she does not speak on behalf of the university‭.‬
    • Academic freedom should be distinguished clearly from constitutional freedoms‭, ‬which all citizens enjoy equally under the law‭. ‬Academic freedom is an additional assurance to those who teach and pursue knowledge and‭, ‬thus‭, ‬pertains to rights of expression regarding teaching and research within specific areas of recognized professional competencies‭.‬