Seaver Faculty
Community. Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences is a
community of scholars within Pepperdine University sharing the ongoing process
of intellectual discovery and personal growth. The faculty forms the nucleus of
this community, and its interaction with students is the community’s central
activity. The Seaver faculty draws its strength from both its commonality and
its diversity.
Commonality. Seaver faculty members share the following qualities and
values:
Excellence and satisfaction as teachers of undergraduate students.
Seaver’s primary mission centers on its impact on students, especially
undergraduate students. Seaver faculty members therefore strive to be excellent
teachers – well-prepared, fair, enthusiastic, innovative, and constantly
improving. The priority which they place on teaching can be seen in such things
as the level of energy expended in preparing for instructional activities,
creativity in using varied methods of instruction, and sensitivity to student
needs and questions in and out of the classroom.
Thorough academic preparation. Seaver faculty members have acquired
the highest appropriate degrees in their areas of teaching and research. This
initial preparation becomes the basis for continued intellectual growth, active
participation in professional organizations, and contributions to the
disciplines of academic specialization.
Strength of character worthy of emulation. The ideal relationship
between teacher and student at Seaver College is more than mere academic
interaction; therefore, faculty members at Seaver seek to be role models as well
as academicians. While this fact does not imply that faculty members lack the
right to private lives beyond the confines of the college, it does call
attention to the Seaver philosophy of educating the whole person and recognizing
that such an education extends beyond the classroom. The faculty’s strength of
character, maturity, and ethical clarity are integral to the heritage it seeks
to pass on to students.
An inquisitive spirit. The love of learning and a critical approach to
knowledge are the beginning of scholarship. The Seaver faculty views learning
and discovery as exciting and takes special joy in them. The faculty is in fact
a community of life-long learners who have never stopped growing intellectually.
Research at Seaver is not a sterile professional exercise but rather the natural
fruit of an inquisitive spirit. Seaver faculty members often share their
research with the wider scholarly community through publication or oral
presentation, and the spirit which generated these discoveries is highly valued.
A devotion to Christian moral and ethical values based upon a personal
spiritual commitment. The power of these values is dependent upon an honest
allegiance to them. Consequently, Seaver College, as an independent,
church-related institution, gathers scholars who are themselves unreservedly
committed to such values and who discipline their own lives by them. A
significant majority of faculty base their commitment to such values, and their
daily lives, on a personal faith in Jesus Christ, and live out that faith in
their churches and communities.
A sense of servant hood. One of the paramount Christian values is
this: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." While it
is the responsibility of the University to provide adequate support and
compensation to the faculty, excellence in the respected serving professions
comes from within. This fact not only influences the activities of the Seaver
faculty within the University but also results in service to the larger
community through the religious, civic, political, social, and cultural life of
the local communities in which faculty members live.
Diversity. The strength of the Seaver faculty consists not only in its
commitment to shared values, but also in its diversity. This diversity broadens
the students’ horizons and contributes to an objective search for truth. The
faculty exhibits a balance between age and youth, varied levels of experience,
and differing rank and tenure status. Men and women are both represented.
Faculty members have varied undergraduate and graduate experiences, cultural and
racial heritages, and areas of special interest and expertise. Individual
faculty members excel in various ways and with varying combinations of teaching,
research, and service. The makeup of the faculty reflects the university’s
strong historic relationship to the Churches of Christ while fully recognizing
the valuable contributions of those who, while not members of the Churches of
Christ, complement and share a commitment to the mission of Seaver College. |
