Comparative Study About Faculty Development Center’s Operation Mechanism Between Chinese Universities And American Universities

Under the integration Under the integration world, the competition of Comprehensive National Power has almost transform into the competition of higher education power. And the strength of higher education has transform from the pursuit of the quantity to the quality. There are many factors restricting the quality of education, for example, popularization of higher education, the influence of the market and the excessive administration. However the faculty quality is the core factor for the university education quality. We can say that the quality of university faculties determine the quality of the students, the scientific research and the ability to provide services to the public. The core task for higher education reform is improving the quality of higher education in China. And improving the quality of university teachers is regard as the most effective mean and the most effective practical gripper to improve the quality of university education. For improving teachers’ quality, the United States and other advanced countries’ experience is that faculty development center should be established widely in the universities.American universities are aware of the importance of university teachers for improving education quality earlier. The related programs and activities began in the 1960s.And there are an increasing number of faculty development centers which were established in the universities since the 70s.After,The faculty development centers’ operation mechanism has perfected after nearly 50 years of exploration and development. The operation mechanism is the organic dynamic system for the faculty development centers which are regard as both academic and administrative complex organization. Chinese university faculty development centers were established later, but they can gain support from the nation in some way and have the advantage of backwardness. With the establishment of the national teacher and teaching development demonstration center approved, more and more teachers development center were set up in many universities. They carry out an growing number of the programs and activities. And teachers development center play an important role in promoting faculty development as well as improving the quality of education. Faculty development centers were set up in short time, which are at the initial stage called "touch stone across the river". They are always satisfacted with learning foreign fashionable projects and activities. They always pursuited the fast copying and drawing lessons from the surface. Therefore, they failed to has a wide-ranging influence on the majority of the universities faculty development. In the deep reason, they ignore the key factor affecting the faculty development center which is called the operation mechanism, the internal logic and the dynamic operation system for faculty development center.In theory, faculty development center may be the academic organization, learning organization, administration organizations and service organization. In reality, faculty development center has several the above organizational attributes. Faculty development center operation mechanism refers that faculty development center’ internal elements affecting the operation, mutual connection、interaction、influence and process function principle, as a kind of organization in the running process of achieving the goal. This article selects the representative universities’ faculty development center in China and in the United States. Considering the actual conditions of faculty development center, we summarizes three basic elements:culture idea, organization structure and program activities. This article mainly compare university faculty development center’ operation mechanism in China and in the United States from this three aspects.The differences in culture between Chinese and the United States university are mainly manifested in the teacher development、teaching academic and teachers’ professionalization. On the concept of teacher development, Chinese university not only attaches great importance to the professional and teaching development, but also should give great attention to teachers’ personal and organizational development; Within teaching academic, Chinese university should set up the modern academic view including the discovery, integration, application and teaching academic; Within the understanding of teacher specialization, Chinese universities not only attach importance to the discipline professional, but also attaches great importance to the education professional.The differences in organizational structure in the faculty development center between Chinese and the United States university mainly display in the subordinate relations(hierarchy)and post settings based on division of responsibilities. On the subordinate relations, Chinese faculty development center should expand the influence, so as to improve the organization’s hierarchy as well as enhance autonomy; On the post settings based on the division of responsibilities, Chinese faculty development center should build a work team including both management and professional technology, full-time and part-time. At the same time, it is necessary to make responsibility clear.The programs and activities for the recruit teachers, Chinese universities faculty development center not only attach importance to the teaching ability, but also should attaches great importance to the new teachers’ personal development and the organizational development; On programs and activities for graduate teaching assistant, the system of professional training should be established, Chinese university faculty development center training graduate teaching assistant not only through theoretical study, but also by simulating teaching practice to improve their teaching ability; On the consulting programs and activities, one is centralized, one is dispersible. This is two kinds of teaching consultation modes which university faculty development center in Chinese and the United States gradually developed according to their own environment; On appraisal programs and activities, the Chinese university not only attach importance to the late evaluation, review of but also pay great attention to the early, mid evaluation. Addition, evaluation results should be used to improve teachers’ teaching rather than for other purposes.This study aims to compare the faculty development center operation mechanism between Chinese university and the United States university to find the substantive difference on the basic of the objective knowledge of the two. We hope to learn experiences and lessons from faculty development center operation mechanism in the American university according to the reality of the Chinese university faculty development center. We hope to set up our own operation mechanism at a higher starting point and in the strict standard.