Revising the faculty handbook is rarely high on an intensive English program’s (IEP’s) priority list. With so many competing demands, it might be difficult to even put it on the priority list. Yet as programs evolve, faculty handbooks need to be updated and revised to reflect the tone and institutional culture, orient new teachers and unify the faculty, and clarify policies and procedures. This pivotal document helps us define and redefine our ever-changing programs. By knowing where we currently stand, we can gain insight to move forward.

Assessing Our Faculty Handbook

At the University of Kansas Applied English Center, the first edition of our IEP faculty handbook was written in 1983 and was a foundational document marking the beginning of positive growth and change. Every 3 to 5 years, administrators updated our handbook and teachers were given the revised 3-hole punched pages to insert in faculty handbook binders. Over the years, more and more was added, including nine appendices, one of which was our 80-page Curriculum Guide. The handbook kept growing and the information became difficult to find. Teachers would ask: Where is the travel policy in the handbook? Why is my page 16 different from yours? Is this the most current job description? Some preferred asking someone for the information instead of finding it on their own in the handbook.

When new teachers entered our program, they assumed our weighty faculty handbook was very comprehensive, which it was, but mostly, it was simply overwhelming. During a recent new teacher orientation, I asked teachers to read various chapters in our handbook and then gave them a 20-question low-pressure quiz that became the basis of our discussion. The questions were not designed to be tricky, but in a few cases, multiple answers were found. It wasn’t even clear who our new director was. Seeing the handbook through these new teachers’ eyes gave me insight into their confusion as well as the impetus to volunteer to do the next edition even though I hadn’t worked on any of the previous eight.

Starting just like those before me, I set out to revise and update the information there. In fact, my revised Chapter 1 is not that different from the previous edition. But as I started to work on Chapter 2, it struck me that I didn’t just need to revise the handbook: I needed to re-vision it. It was no longer a coherent document and was far from concise. Sections had been added for almost 30 years and I needed to step back and reassess everything. Using the lens of a writing teacher, I saw voice, audience, and organization as the main challenges.

Voice: Several directors, administrators, and counselors had added to it over the years, creating many different voices in the handbook. It lacked a clear, unified voice of our program.

Audience: We rarely consulted our printed faculty handbooks because we prefer to read and take in information differently now. We don’t have the time or desire to read a long and chatty handbook. We want to get what we need to know quickly and have instant access to that information online.

Organization: The organization of the handbook did not reflect our current program. For example, while cross-cultural counseling and advising, technology, and short-term programs were mentioned in previous editions, they are now major components that warrant their own chapters. The longest chapter, Teaching, needed to be divided up into three chapters for stronger focus and accessibility.

Creating the New Faculty Handbook

As I started to get a handle on the problem, a solution grew more evident. Make a digitally accessible document with both internal and external links; write for ease in online reading; cut, tighten, reorganize, bullet, and make every word count; and talk to many people to get the full picture, but have one consistent voice throughout the handbook.

I had assumed I would enjoy solitary writing in my office, but quickly realized I needed a highly collaborative process to ensure quality information. I talked with stakeholders, experts, staff members, teachers, and administrators to see what they knew and what they were curious about. They also reviewed drafts to clarify and double-check the information. I asked a lot of questions and pushed for many deadlines. Using their input, over the summer, I worked on several chapters at once.

The new ninth (2012–13) edition has three more chapters, but these 11 chapters are shorter and more focused than the previous 8. They include: 1) Applied English Center; 2) Faculty and Staff; 3) Curriculum and Course Coordination; 4) Teaching; 5) Attendance and Grades; 6) Proficiency Testing; 7) Short-term Programs; 8) Technology; 9) Cross-Cultural Counseling and Advising; 10) Professionalism; 11) Policies; and Appendices.

The overall length of the handbook is less than half the size it used to be. Much of this is due to ruthless pruning of unnecessary information and using a tighter writing style. In addition, our Curriculum Guide and our annual Faculty Evaluation Plan, previously appended to the Faculty Handbook, are now separate documents. Together with the Faculty Handbook, these three documents are referred to as companion documents and are accessible on our program’s website via an authenticated login for our faculty and staff.

We are certainly not the first ESL program to go digital with the faculty handbook. In fact, it’s unfortunate we didn’t do this sooner. We relied on our hard copies for decades and that is still preferred by some faculty members. Even so, we strive to have everyone utilize the digital version, which will always be the most current in our rapidly changing program. Whether your faculty handbook is currently digital or not, I encourage you to take a look at it as a whole. Is it time to re-vision it? Does it accurately reflect your current program? Is it pertinent for all employees, both new and established?

Suggestions for Re-Visioning Your Faculty Handbook

• Don’t write a faculty handbook by committee. While it may seem expedient to assign chapters to various experts in your program, they are often blinded by their own expert status. A compilation of such chapters would contain many voices and styles and assumptions about the reader. Choose one person to be the writer, but encourage collegial exchange and timely review of draft chapters.
• See your program through new teachers’ eyes. Write about your complex program so that new teachers can understand the program’s vision and gather information to teach effectively. The faculty handbook should be a portal for new teachers and as their vision expands, they will be able to understand more of the big picture of your program through the handbook. Make sure the handbook is accessible to everyone, including someone new to the program.
• Address issues as they come up. In the writing process, outdated information and policies will need to be reviewed. Responsive administrators are needed to address concerns in a timely manner. One possible way to do this is through short, regularly scheduled meetings.
• Develop procedures and timetables for updates. Naturally, online documents can be continuously updated, but updating on a schedule may ensure it actually happens. With each update, double-check other information that may need to be changed as a result. Once changes have been made, develop a procedure for notifying all employees.
• Encourage wide readership. It’s a rare person who reads a faculty handbook from beginning to end even though that is a smart idea. At the minimum, both new and experienced staff should be fully familiar with its contents so they can find the information they need to be strong representatives of the IEP. To introduce our new handbook, we distributed a hard copy of the new Table of Contents at a presemester meeting. There are several other ways to encourage readership.
• Create a new look and feel to the handbook to draw people in.
• Give links to various sections of the handbook in your faculty newsletter.
• Encourage course coordinators to discuss sections of the handbook in teacher meetings.
• Refer people to the handbook for information until it becomes a habitual go-to resource.

Conclusion

While the faculty handbook revision process does take substantial concerted effort, both new and experienced faculty greatly benefit from having a revised handbook. In addition, by reexamining the institutional culture, expectations, policies, and procedures, administrators can see where the program is and where it should be headed.

Elizabeth Byleen, Associate Language Specialist at the Applied English Center, specializes in preparing advanced level students for university academic success.