In praise of faculty
By President Shirley H. Showalter

“Nothing on earth is more
gladdening than knowing we
must roll up our sleeves and
move back the boundaries of
the humanly possible once more.”
– Annie Dillard,The Writing Life

The famous former president of the University of Chicago, Robert Maynard Hutchins, once defined the university as a collection of disputing faculty joined together by a heating plant.
I like to think of Goshen College as a heating plant powered by faculty who are illuminated, as Jean LeClercq said, by “the love of learning and the desire for God.”
The learning of Goshen College’s faculty is directed first of all to their students. To challenge and nurture students effectively, faculty members themselves must be appreciated and understood. Administrators and board members pray for them as they write their syllabi and plan their pedagogies. Every year at this time, faculty members prepare to “move back the boundaries of the humanly possible.” Well trained in their disciplines, they understand their work as a calling from God to serve, as Christ served, and to better understand the creation in all its complexity. Each September they can imagine each classroom as a tabula rasa upon which a new chapter of learning will be written.
But September’s idealism can turn to weariness. Outside the classroom, professors here are not cloistered away but share heartfelt conversations with students. They scrupulously update curricula and complete committee assignments. They learn new technologies, complete complex accreditation requirements and sort out academic plans. They make difficult, continuous decisions about meeting the infinite needs of family and professional life. They cannot focus their energy only on specialized research, as at graduate school, but are part of a small, holistic community that values excellent teaching and quality relationships with students, peers and community.
This faculty has illustrious predecessors who set a high standard – who graduated with honors from outstanding universities, taught with rigor and patience, lead in the church and community as well as at the college and published many articles and books.
Retired faculty members continue to be an important resource. Professor Emeritus Atlee Beechy spreads “unrationed Grace” the way Johnny Appleseed spread apples. Dean Emeritus Carl Kreider sometimes writes to Dean Paul Keim about his pleasure in the faculty talent we are attracting. Professor Emerita Kathryn Aschliman wants to see us develop a corps of volunteers, including her retired colleagues.
How will we blend this tradition of excellence with the rapidly changing faculty roles of the 21st century? Here are some ways in which I hope Goshen College will serve faculty members as they answer that question:

1. Encourage individual faculty members to know themselves, share their teaching stories and service, research goals with each other and embrace distinctive “stretch” goals supported by department and dean.


2. Provide as many internal resources as possible to aid faculty in those goals. Help them find outside funding as a way of enlarging the resource possibilities.
3. Strengthen faculty development programs, from orientation to pre-retirement planning. Pay special attention to the stress of learning new technologies.
4. Surprise and delight faculty with thanks and special rituals of celebration as often as possible.
5. Continue to increase faculty salaries to compare favorably to those of other similar institutions.

I personally owe a great debt of gratitude to faculty members who were, and still are, my colleagues. I cannot be a good president without them. During the past two years, I spent much time working on bricks and mortar – primarily on the music building. As this project begins to become a vision in plain sight, I hope it will symbolize excellence in music and the fruits of faculty unity. Now I want to focus on another kind of building: developing the full potential of faculty. I will again be rolling up my sleeves to try to “move back the boundaries of the humanly possible.” I will need the help of many friends and alumni. I am sure that this task will gladden your hearts as the thought of it already gladdens mine.

Return to September Bulletin contents
About this Issue – A Goshen College book club?
Salsa: A Taste of Hispanic Culture
Coffee Break
Night's Black Weight
Berman's Lament
Anansi Borrows Money
Sexuality: God's Gift
Roll It: GC Alums strike success in soap box racing and celluloid

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