Faculty Development

Faculty are called to teaching excellence and to scholarship permeated by their Christian faith. Recognizing the need for continual growth and improvement, APU supports and encourages its faculty to develop professionally, and commits to fostering an atmosphere wherein academics are not simply taught, but lived.

Toward this end, in addition to a variety of colloquia, workshops, learning communities, and other resources, professional development graduate courses are offered through the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. These courses are designed for faculty, but can be taken for elective credit by graduate students if approved by a program director and the instructor.

Course Offerings

GRAD 501Faith Integration and Curriculum Development3
GRAD 521Faith Integration Writing and Publication3
GRAD 531Faculty Writing Program: Preparing Journal Manuscripts3
GRAD 532Faculty Writing Program: Writing Books3
GRAD 533Faculty Writing Program: Faculty Writing Salon3
GRAD 534Faculty Writing Program: Publishing from the Dissertation3

GRAD 501, Faith Integration and Curriculum Development, 3 Units

This course provides an introductory overview of Christian theology, including biblical, historical, and constructive theological processes and methodologies. Special emphasis is placed on basic scriptural hermeneutics (exegesis and interpretation) and major Christian doctrines for the layperson. This lecture/seminar course is oriented toward Christian faculty in higher education who seek to develop professional tools to integrate Christian precepts and theology in curriculum.

GRAD 521, Faith Integration Writing and Publication, 3 Units

This seminar course assists faculty in the development of theological research skills for the purpose of articulation of theology with non-theological disciplines and the development of a program of research and publication in faith integration. Each student pursues a particular concept or topic for theological research. The research is applied to the participant's academic discipline. May be taken more than once.

GRAD 531, Faculty Writing Program: Preparing Journal Manuscripts, 3 Units

This course acquaints faculty with the steps in preparing a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed professional journal. Attention is given to journal evaluation and the steps in journal production of a peer-reviewed article. While some attention is given to writing and the writing process, the primary focus of the course is on publishing. May be taken more than once.

Prerequisite: Full-time employment as APU teaching faculty, completed but unpublished research, and permission of the instructor

GRAD 532, Faculty Writing Program: Writing Books, 3 Units

This course is offered to faculty in disciplines where book publication is normative, or faculty who have journal publications who wish to write their first book. Publisher choice, contract negotiation, and the entire publishing process are covered. Emphasis is on original research-based work. May be taken more than once.

Prerequisite: Full-time employment as APU faculty, completed but unpublished research, and permission of the instructor

GRAD 533, Faculty Writing Program: Faculty Writing Salon, 3 Units

This course serves to increase skill in academic writing and to familiarize faculty with the literature on writing impediments, collaborative peer-review, motivation, writing groups, etc. It is a collaborative, interdisciplinary writing course for work already in progress. All pre-publication writing projects are welcome: articles, fiction, textbooks, monographs, and edited works. May be taken more than once.

Prerequisite: Full-time employment as APU faculty, a writing project that has been initiated but not yet completed (article or book) or is stalled, GRAD 531 or GRAD 532 or a prior history of scholarly academic publication, and permission of the instructor

GRAD 534, Faculty Writing Program: Publishing from the Dissertation, 3 Units

This course focuses on the conversion of the dissertation to a series of journal articles or a book. Each dissertation will be 'dissected' into one or more books or peer-reviewed journal articles. Attention is also given to the potential for the dissertation and its subsequent publication to form the nidus of a program of research and publication. May be taken more than once.

Prerequisite: Full-time employment as APU faculty, completed but unpublished dissertation, and permission of the instructor