Universities comprise a community of learners; teachers and students, mentors and apprentices. The quality of their partnership - the teaching and thinking that occur in classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and within a discipline - forms the foundation of academic excellence. Just as students are actively engaged in the learning process, so, too, are faculty members within their own fields. Francis Marion University is committed to nurturing the creative endeavors of its faculty members.

To maintain and build on its stature as an institution of quality education, Francis Marion University must provide its faculty members with the resources to work at the forefront of their disciplines. Funding for faculty development assures students that Francis Marion University's academicians are not only abreast of their fields but are also firsthand participants in new discoveries. Leadership in research improves the content of instruction and reinforces the University's commitment to the Pee Dee region and the state. But the real beneficiaries of faculty development are the students, who profit from the professors' knowledge through one-on-one interactions. Francis Marion University boasts a student/faculty ratio of 15 to 1 and an average class size of 20.