Faculty

The College has more than 200 full-time faculty members, of whom about 57% percent are tenured. The faculty is 44% women and increasingly diverse. Of the tenured and tenure track faculty, more than 95% have a doctorate or the highest earned degree in their fields. The student/faculty ratio is 11:1. The average class size is 18 students.

Gettysburg is a place where faculty members regularly get together with students in informal settings for one-on-one conversation in subject areas where they are leading authorities. Moreover, it is a place where faculty members engage in close collaboration with students on undergraduate research. 

In response to enrollment increases, faculty retirements, and the conversion of part-time positions, the College has replaced or added more than 90 faculty positions, nearly half of the total, in the past decade. The College has recruited extraordinarily strong, energetic faculty members who have the credentials and skills to be appointed at leading research universities, but who choose to come to Gettysburg largely because of its teaching environment. Gettysburg has high standards for teaching effectiveness and service. However, it also has strong expectations for faculty research and publication, encouraging faculty to bring a deep, contemporary knowledge of the field into the classroom, and to model the role of the engaged learner. The faculty includes many individuals of truly distinguished accomplishment, whose work is honored nationally or internationally. 

The College seeks to provide vigorous support for faculty professional development. The Johnson Center for Creative Teaching, established with a $1-million grant from the Christian A. Johnson Foundation, offers an array of programs to enhance and reward teaching. Research is supported with a variety of internal funds, a program of pre-tenure leaves, and a conventional sabbatical program. The College is particularly proud of the recognition of John Commito, Gettysburg College Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, who was named the 2007 Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the National Council for Advancement and Support of Education. 

In order for the College to retain and nurture its faculty and to advance further, it needs to secure additional resources for faculty professional development, to assure that its policies and practices reflect the high level of its ambitions, and to strengthen its commitment to fostering intellectual intensity. Among these challenges are: the addition of faculty lines, including judicious replacement of part-time with full-time positions; increasing funds for instructional support to reflect the greater number of faculty; reviewing the balance of teaching, advising, research, and service duties; obtaining additional endowed chairs; increasing faculty diversity; and maintaining competitive compensation and sabbatical arrangements. To better support its faculty in their creative and scholarly endeavors and to permit them more time for individual work with students, the College adopted a five-course teaching load (a so-called "3:2 teaching load") two years ago. The transition of all faculty to this reduced teaching load is within two years of being complete; nearly 90% of the faculty currently have the 3:2 teaching load.

Faculty Governance

Gettysburg enjoys a strong tradition of shared governance. In accordance with the provisions of the Charter and Bylaws of the College and the policies of its Board of Trustees, it is understood that each faculty member will take an active role in the governance of the College and share in the general work of the institution. The President is a voting member of the faculty and presides at faculty business meetings.

A recent review of faculty governance resulted in the implementation of a new system that (a) reformed the structure of standing committees, (b) streamlined the rules and procedures for faculty meetings, and (c) created a new cycle of eligibility for committee service for all continuing faculty. To ensure its governance structure is appropriate for the institution, the faculty established a Faculty Governance Commission this year to evaluate the performance of the existing committee structure. The work of the Commission is to be completed during the spring 2009 semester.

Student Honor Code

The Gettysburg College Honor Code, established in 1957, embodies a major tenet necessary for fulfilling the College's mission: learning requires a mutually trusting and respectful relationship between students, the faculty and individuals who support the College's mission, and that trust depends on honesty and integrity. Led by the President, all entering students affirm the Honor Code Pledge at the welcoming convocation: I affirm that I will uphold the highest principles of honesty and integrity in all my endeavors at Gettysburg College and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect within and beyond the classroom.

The Honor Code calls on the entire Gettysburg College community to support the College's principles regarding academic honesty and integrity. The student-led Honor Commission has special responsibility for promoting academic integrity, enforcing the processes of the Honor Code for addressing academic dishonesty, and, in particular, setting penalties for violations. In addition to this special role for students, faculty do not proctor exams and processes for addressing concerns about dishonesty rely on an understanding of restorative justice.

The current version of the Honor Code is the result of substantial discussion over a three-year period, and the latest revision was approved in 2006 by the faculty, the Honor Commission, and the Student Senate.