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Tenure-Track Search in Visual Studies: Additional Information

Founders Hall as seen from the sky

The information provided here is intended to supplement the official job advertisement and summarize policies that may be of interest to job candidates. It describes various aspects of this position, the search process, working at Haverford College, and living in the Haverford/Philadelphia area.

This document is not the official job advertisement for the Tenure-Track Search in Visual Studies, nor is it meant to replace college policies (official policies are linked throughout below, where relevant).

About Haverford College

Haverford College is a residential undergraduate liberal arts college located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, enrolling approximately 1400 students (98% live on campus). Our campus includes a nationally-recognized arboretum. As faculty, we pride ourselves on the work we do with our outstanding students (inside and outside of classrooms), our continued scholarly engagement with our respective fields, and Haverford’s commitment to centering social justice, mutual care diversity, and inclusion within our teaching, learning, and community. Here are a few links to get you started in exploring Haverford College:

 

Search Process & Timeline

  • What is the timeline for this search?

    The application deadline is September 27 2024, and the search committee hopes to do Zoom interviews with a subset of applicants in November 2024. We plan to host finalists at Haverford in February 2025 for on-campus interviews, with the job offer going out in the weeks following the on-campus interviews.

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  • Who is on the search committee?

    Haverford constitutes its search committees differently than many other colleges and universities. The search committee is typically comprised of six people:

    • Three members of the Haverford faculty, including:
      • The Chair of the committee, who is not a member of the department/program that is searching
      • Two members of the department/program
    • Two students
    • A faculty member from an affiliated department or related discipline at Bryn Mawr College
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Teaching at Haverford

Support for Research and Professional Development

  • What forms of research funding are available?

    Start-up funds are provided for all new tenure-track faculty, to be arranged with the Provost when accepting the position.

    A full list of internal funding opportunities is provided on the Provost’s webpage, including (for tenure-track faculty):

    • $3250 annually for conference travel and other research support (Faculty Research and Travel Fund).
    • The opportunity to apply for up to $6000 annually for additional research support (Faculty Research Grants); in typical years, most applications are funded.
    • The opportunity to apply for funds to hire student research assistants (up to 2 full-time students in the summer; or one part-time student during the academic year; Student Research Assistant Fund); in typical years, most applications are funded.

    In addition to these sources of internal funding, our Provost’s Office and Director of Sponsored Research can support your applications for external funding (e.g., grants).

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  • Are sabbatical/research leaves available?

    All tenure-track faculty are eligible for sabbatical leaves on the following schedule:

    • Pre-tenure faculty have a full-year sabbatical leave in their fourth year at the college following their reappointment review in their third year.
    • One semester of leave after completion of 3 years of teaching or two semesters of leave (i.e., an academic year) after completion of 6 years of teaching.
    • In practice, the above sabbatical schedule often looks as follows:
      • Full year sabbatical in one’s fourth year (pre-tenure leave)
      • Another full year sabbatical in one’s eighth year at the college
      • A semester in year 12 at the college or a full year in year 15 (and then continuing throughout one’s career with a semester of sabbatical after 3 years or a year of sabbatical after 6 years of teaching)
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  • In what other ways does Haverford support professional development?

    Haverford has an institutional membership to the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), and many of our faculty have participated in the NCFDD Faculty Success Program (funded by the college). We also have a robust new faculty orientation and mentoring program. There is more information about our new faculty orientation in New Faculty Orientation & Guidebook.

    New faculty are given the opportunity to participate in a semester-long pedagogy seminar in partnership with our Teaching and Learning Institute (TLI), and all Haverford faculty have access to TLI programming throughout their careers.

    We also provide faculty with a range of opportunities for other forms of support and professional development, including:

    • New Directions Funds for post-tenure faculty who are interested in taking their scholarship beyond the previous/existing areas of expertise, which encourages exploration and experimentation and serves as a long-term investment into faculty’s continued intellectual growth.
    • Teaching with Technology Grants to support pedagogical innovation that requires an investment in hardware, software, or other forms of technology.
    • Regular workshops and seminars to support personal and professional development around antiracism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and thriving, often in partnership with our Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Access.
    • Opportunities to teach in our Tri-Co Philly program.
    • A wide array of resources for supporting curricular development and pedagogical innovation.
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Service & Shared Governance

  • What does committee work/service look like at Haverford?

    Haverford is committed to shared governance and faculty are stakeholders in many decisions made at the college. This includes a monthly Faculty Meeting, where all faculty are encouraged to participate and decisions are made through a consensus-building process.

    New faculty are not assigned to committee work in their first year at the college, and pre-tenure service is typically relatively light. The list of our standing committees is available on the Provost's site.

     

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  • What about advising students?

    Faculty advise students in several ways at Haverford. All first-year students are assigned a faculty “pre-major” academic advisor, who helps them navigate the curriculum and select courses until the student picks a major at the end of their sophomore year. Typically, this is between 6-10 students (first-year and sophomores combined), but new faculty do not serve as academic advisors until their second year at the college. Once students select a major, they have an academic advisor from within their major. The number of students each faculty member has as “major advisees” varies based on the size of the major, number of faculty in the department, and the major advising structures in place within the department.

    Beyond academic advising, faculty also advise students by supervising senior thesis research (this usually is counted as credited teaching), working with them on research over the summer (optional), or other forms of mentoring that are possible given our small size and commitment to undergraduate student success.

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Other Aspects of the Job

  • What are the “BiCo” and “TriCo”?

    Haverford has close collaborative relationships with Bryn Mawr College (“BiCo”) and Swarthmore College (“TriCo”). In practice, this means that students from Bryn Mawr often, and Swarthmore occasionally, will be in your classes. In addition, Haverford students can declare a major, minor, or concentration at Bryn Mawr (and vice versa) and the academic boundaries within the BiCo are relatively porous in some spaces.

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  • What benefits are available to employees of Haverford College?

    A comprehensive review of employee benefits is provided on our Human Resources page, but most notably:

    • Employer contribution of an amount equal to 10% of base salary to a 403(b) defined contribution retirement plan
    • Medical and dental plan
    • Opportunities to contribute to Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA)
    • Childbirth leaves (to all faculty members who give birth) and parental leaves (to all faculty who become parents)
    • College tuition grant program
    • Home purchase assistance loan program
    • On-campus housing with rent set below local market rates
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  • Does Haverford provide me with an office and computer?

    Yes, all tenure-track faculty have dedicated individual office space. Haverford also provides tenure-track faculty with a new computer every four years. Faculty have the choice of a Mac or Windows, desktop or laptop computer, which is purchased and serviced by the college.

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Living in the Haverford / Philadelphia area

  • Where is Haverford College in relation to Philadelphia? To transit centers?

    Haverford College is 4.5 miles from the city line and approximately 10 miles from the heart of downtown Philadelphia. Haverford is less than 20 miles from Philadelphia International Airport, and there are Amtrak stations in nearby Ardmore and downtown Philadelphia. By train, travel time to New York City is approximately 1.5 hours, and Washington DC is approximately 2 hours away.

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  • Where do faculty live?

    Many faculty live right on campus, in rental houses owned by the college, which promotes a sense of community among our faculty. Some faculty and staff also live in the neighborhoods adjacent or near the college, including Haverford, Havertown, Bryn Mawr, Ardmore, Narberth, and Wynnewood. Additionally, many Haverford faculty and staff live in Philadelphia, which has a rich history of diverse, eclectic, and distinct neighborhoods and offers a broad array of cultural opportunities including museums, theatre, live music from opera to hip hop, and many historical sites and monuments.

    Notably, the school districts near campus (Lower Merion, Radnor, and Haverford) are among the best in the state. Furthermore, Friends School Haverford, Lane Montessori, and Phebe Anna Thorne Schools are within walking distance from Haverford’s campus.

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  • What forms of public transportation or support for sustainable transit are available near/on campus?

    Haverford College is a short walk from both the Haverford station on the Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail line and the Haverford stop on the Norristown High Speed Line. From center city Philadelphia it is a 25-minute train ride to campus. Public buses also stop at the entrance of campus. Employees can also purchase pre-tax public transit tickets from the college.

    Electric car charging stations are available in the two main parking lots on campus, and there are two charging stations adjacent to faculty housing. Furthermore, many faculty live on campus or in the neighborhoods near campus and walk or bicycle to work.

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  • What other higher education institutions are nearby?

    In addition to our BiCo and TriCo partners (Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges), the Philadelphia area is home to dozens of other colleges and universities, most notably the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, and Villanova University among many other distinguished institutions. Our proximity to these institutions, and to the many other cultural venues in Philadelphia, provides opportunities for our faculty to have vibrant professional and personal lives beyond their work at Haverford.

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