CAL POLY POMONA TEACHER-SCHOLAR DRAFT VISION STATEMENT
AND CONSULTATION PROCESS
“The Evolution of the Teacher-Scholar” was one of the three major themes in our
WASC Institutional Proposal submitted in May, 2006. In early 2008, following alluniversity workshops and meetings, President Ortiz announced that the TeacherScholar model was one of the University’s Core Values. However, as a result of
the WASC C&PR visit in Fall 2008 it became obvious that the campus did not
have a broadly-held, common definition of the term. Consequently, with the full
participation of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate, the TeacherScholar (T-S) Task Force was constituted consisting of one faculty representative
from each college, several members of the WASC Teacher-Scholar writing
group, the Associate Vice President for Research, the Associate Vice President
for Faculty Affairs, and the Director of the Faculty Center for Professional
Development. This group was charged to “Develop an interpretation of the T-S
model that is consistent with the mission and vision of Cal Poly Pomona” and to
“Increase campus awareness and understanding of the CPP T-S model”. In
addition, the T-S Task Force developed a plan for engaging the faculty in a
dialog about the model, conducted a thorough literature review, identified
indicators of progress, considered obstacles to a full implementation of the
model, and provided recommendations for overcoming obstacles encountered.
The T-S Task Force met regularly starting in Spring 2009, building upon a White
Paper developed by the separate T-S Working Group during the fall quarter of
2008. The Task Force reviewed definitions of Teacher-Scholar from several
different colleges and universities and found that they generally included, as one
might anticipate, emphasis on scholarship and teaching: faculty members at
small private liberal arts colleges, large public comprehensive universities, and
major research universities were considered to be “teacher-scholars” if they
taught and engaged in the traditional forms of academic scholarship. However,
the Task Force concluded that to “Develop an interpretation of the T-S model that
is consistent with the mission and vision of Cal Poly Pomona, with its emphasis
on polytechnic education and “learning by doing”, it was imperative to add a third,
unique section, termed “integration” that emphasized the importance of engaging
students in the intellectual processes of scholarship, research or creative
activities.
The Task Force also studied the seminal works of Ernest Boyer (1990, 1996) in
an attempt to develop a definition of scholarship that was as inclusive as
possible, one that included the scholarship of faculty in all of our colleges as well
as the work of our colleagues who bring their intellect to bear upon the creation
of fine and performing arts, the improvement of pedagogy, and involvement with
our surrounding community as well as the more traditional areas of applied and
pure research. The Task Force was convinced by Boyer’s arguments that all of
these forms of scholarship deserve to be recognized as equally rigorous if they
Appendix II a.
meet the general criteria of being contributions to their respective fields that are
peer-reviewed and publically presented according to the diversity of definitions of
these activities that are recognized in the broad academic community.
A draft definition was completed by the end of Spring 2009 and shared with the
campus community in several ways including university wide dialog at the Fall
Conference on September 21, 2009, a brown bag lunch that all faculty were
invited to in order to discus and cite examples on December 3, 2009, a poster
presentation and discussion at the Provost Symposium for Faculty Scholarship
on December 11, 2009. When the definition was presented to the Executive
Committee of the Academic Senate (EC), the EC directed that the definition
should be submitted to the Senate as a referral following consultation during the
Winter 2010 quarter with several groups including the University Council of chairs
and the Associate Deans Council. The referral was discussed in the Faculty
Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate. The committee members were very
supportive of the T-S statement and commended the extensive effort that the T-S
Task Force had given to the preparation of the vision statement. The committee
proposed a few minor modifications to the statement aimed at emphasizing the
role of academic units in defining scholarship appropriate to their discipline and
as in some cases as required by their accreditation agencies. The current
version of the Teacher-Scholar Vision reflects the changes suggested during all
of these consultations. The T-S vision statement had its first reading in the
Academic Senate during spring quarter 2010. The second reading is scheduled
for Fall 2010.
VISION STATEMENT FOR CAL POLY POMONA’S TEACHER-SCHOLAR
MODEL
DEFINITION:
Teacher-Scholars at Cal Poly Pomona are role models who actively promote lifelong intentional learning to our students, are actively engaged in advancing their
fields of inquiry, and are committed to blending teaching and scholarship into a
single synergistic endeavor that results in a creative integration of the two roles.
EXPLICATION:
1. Teaching
Cal Poly Pomona Teacher-Scholars apply knowledge from the frontiers of their
disciplines and pedagogical scholarships to the development of their courses and
the curriculum. Teacher-Scholars:
 Understand current developments in their disciplines, and use this
understanding to advance student learning and knowledge,
 Have knowledge of interdisciplinary and discipline-specific pedagogical
strategies, apply effective strategies to facilitate learning of a diverse
student population, use evidence-based assessment of teaching to improve
their pedagogy, and evaluate and analyze their pedagogy.
Appendix II a.
2. Scholarship
Cal Poly Pomona Teacher-Scholars engage in the practice of scholarship, which
is specifically defined by discipline and academic unit, and is broadly construed
to include the scholarship of discovery, integration, teaching, application and
engagement. While the scholarship of Teacher-Scholars varies widely across
disciplines at Cal Poly Pomona, it incorporates essential elements that define
scholarship, including research and/or creative work. Teacher-Scholars:
 Make intellectual and/or creative contributions that extend and/or develop
new knowledge or creative inquiry, discover, integrate or apply facts,
theories, artistic perceptions, or design to practice in their disciplines,
 Produce work that is peer reviewed, critiqued, juried and/or judged
congruent with discipline standards, and results in a publication,
presentation, creative work or other product disseminated to a wider
audience beyond the Cal Poly Pomona community.
3. Integration
Cal Poly Pomona Teacher-Scholars integrate scholarship and teaching to create
a synthesis greater than both activities. Teacher-Scholars:
 Bring the practice of their own scholarship into the classroom in an
appropriate way,
 Promote a community of inquiry in their role as faculty members, and model
and encourage academically rigorous scholarship as appropriate to their
discipline,
 Foster a climate in which faculty/student scholarly, research, practice, or
artistic collaboration can take place by:
o enhancing student learning through meaningful experiences at Cal
Poly Pomona as appropriate in their discipline through inquiry based
classroom, studio, laboratory, practice and field activities that are
embedded within the curriculum,
o collaborating with students in a culture of learn-by-doing inquiry,
discovery, professional practice and/or creative work through the
involvement of students in scholarship outside of regular coursework.
SCOPE:
The scholarly and creative activities of Teacher-Scholars vary widely across
disciplines at Cal Poly Pomona. Consistent with discipline practices, academic
departments/units may adapt this vision statement to establish the standards to
which Teacher-Scholars are held.
Appendix II a.