Academic Annual Report

Academic Quality Tenet 3:
Faculty Development
DeVry University’s core values have always included a strong commitment to building a faculty composed
of people who are leaders in their professional fields and who are also highly rated teachers. Our professors
are uniquely positioned not only to help our students succeed in their chosen careers, but also to help them
acquire the skills they need to become adaptable lifelong learners.
Faculty Mission Statement
Our mission as DeVry University faculty members is
to facilitate dynamic learning environments that foster
intellectual curiosity, academic integrity and critical-thinking
skills, preparing our students to become lifelong learners
and leaders in their chosen career fields and communities.
Faculty Model
As more and more students have chosen over the last several years to take advantage of the flexibility offered
by online courses as well as evening and weekend onsite classes, we have seen our instructional balance shift
toward a higher percentage of students being taught by part-time faculty.
DeVry University has a long history of offering students the benefit of studying with part-time faculty members
who are talented practitioners in their fields of expertise. We believe it is important that we continue to develop
a strong core of full-time, highly credentialed faculty; having more full-time faculty on staff will improve our
student outcomes by boosting the amount and quality of faculty time and attention available to students.
DeVry University currently employs more than 700 full-time professors. In 2013 and beyond, our goal is to
increase the number of onsite and online credit hours taught by academically qualified full-time faculty. We
plan to increase our numbers of full-time faculty supporting online and onsite learning by 17 percent in the
2012–2013 academic year. We also have plans to pilot a faculty student-advisement system to enhance
faculty engagement with students.
We support current faculty members who are interested in earning doctoral degrees in their fields of study
by offering a reimbursement and benefits program, including sabbatical opportunities that enable faculty
members to focus on their dissertation work. We have more than 80 faculty members currently enrolled in
doctoral programs. In addition, we are exploring opportunities to help faculty members engage more outside
of the university, share their experience with others and benefit from the best practices used by their peers at
other institutions.
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