Regents approve 111 professional development requests

AMES - State regents on Thursday approved requests for 111 professional development assignments next year for faculty at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

That number of requests represents 1.5 percent of the faculty at the three universities, which keeps the number of faculty leaves below the no-more-than-3-percent limit set by the Iowa Legislature in 2011.

The number of assignments is an increase from the 95 PDAs approved for faculty this academic year, an increase of about 17 percent in the total number and the first increase in four years. Of the 111 requests, 64 are from the UI, 29 are at ISU and 18 are at UNI.

Professional development assignments give faculty time off from teaching, usually one semester but sometimes a full year, to do things such as intensive research, write a book or articles, create art, present papers, work in industry or develop grant proposals or software, officials said. Faculty must qualify for and apply through a competitive process for the assignments.