According to the Faith Integration Faculty Guidebook 1.0, professors of all disciplines seeking to renew contracts or receive promotions are required to write a 2-10 page paper, depending on their level of experience with faith integration at APU, describing how they integrate faith in the classroom. This requirement has been in place since 2005 and is required once a year.
Six workshops are offered throughout the year to explain the requirements and expectations for these papers, which are due June 30. The most recent workshop was on Feb. 12.
To be considered for progression in the faculty evaluation system, faculty members must demonstrate both a conceptual understanding and a practical application of faith integration.
“Faith integration has been a concern and an express goal at the university for a long time. How it works out in terms of making it an explicit requirement for faculty to demonstrate in the process of contract and promotion has developed,” said Dr. David Woodruff, associate professor of philosophy and Faith Integration Faculty Evaluation fellow. “What we try and avoid is the idea that faith integration is a tack-on.”
The faculty papers are reviewed by two individuals, one from the professor’s discipline and one from outside it. While reviewers aren’t required to be experts in the discipline they are reviewing, Faith Integration Director Paul Kaak said they are trained and observant enough to recognize faith integration in any subject.
Reviewers grade on a 5-level scale. Faculty must receive at least a level 3 on the competency scale to pass, demonstrating “proficiency.”
“This is our particular way of living out our Christian identity. The way we do it is not imposed upon us by the CCCU (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities) , and other schools will do it somewhat differently, though with the same general concern,” Kaak said.
According to the Faculty Handbook, faith integration is “the informed reflection on and discovery of Christian faith within the academic disciplines, professional programs and lived practice, resulting in the articulation of Christian perspectives on truth and life in order to advance the work of God in the world.”
“I would like to do [faith integration] in such a way that what I said mattered to a student, whether they shared my faith or not, and let them see that ‘Oh, it matters in a unique way because of my faith,'” Woodruff said.