World-Class Faculty

Initiative One:
Expand, develop and equip a world-class faculty to deliver an innovative liberal arts education.

A residential liberal arts education, particularly one rooted in a deep love for Christ, combines the ability to think and communicate with experiential learning, vocational discernment and spiritual growth. More than an education, it is a profound life experience—the formative first steps on the road to a life well lived. Today, Gordon’s commitment to the liberal arts remains as strong as ever, blending a rigorous academic curriculum with a committed Christian faith. We believe this approach remains the gold standard in developing the next generation of leaders for the the global church—Gordon graduates who will lead by example as much as by position or influence. Building on this foundation over the next five years, the College will strengthen its academic offerings, invest in strategic areas of emerging possibilities and expand the scope of its world-class faculty, who serve as catalysts for the transformative change that occurs in the classrooms, performing halls and laboratories.

Goals for this theme include the following:

• Increase the number of full-time faculty in understaffed departments, linked to enrollments
• Implement a budget process to regularly upgrade academic equipment on a regular rotation
• Make progress towards achieving the 85th percentile of National IIB Colleges in faculty compensation
• Integrate the best of our unique programs into a cohesive four-year honors program for exceptional students
• Launch three strategic graduate programs
• Ensure 20 percent of Gordon faculty will have worked with the Center for Teaching Excellence in developing creative and effective pedagogies
• Leverage online learning to increase student flexibility and facilities utilization by offering multiple sections of six Common Core courses during the traditional academic year
• Expand the faculty evaluation process to ensure all adjunct, part-time, and term teaching faculty are evaluated on a regular basis. Implement a professional development and reward plan for all teaching faculty
• Expand Gordon’s capacity for submitting external grant proposals, with the intent that every academic department will submit at least one external grant every five years
• Quadruple the number of on-campus funded summer student research positions. Increase the pool for faculty stipends for summer research

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