Embedded Files
When faculty are given time to focus deeply on their work, the results can be expansive, meaningful, and impactful. Below, Dr. Debra Mollen and Dr. Paul Bones (the two TWU faculty members who recently completed their Fall 2025 Faculty Development Leave) illustrate what sustained, protected time can make possible.
Dr. Debra Mollen (Professor, Counseling Psychology)
Dr. Debra Mollen (Professor, Counseling Psychology)
What was the focus of her leave?
Dr. Mollen designed her leave to assist "graduate students, particularly those interested in pursuing faculty careers, and colleagues aspiring to advance their careers, with joint projects that would result in peer-reviewed publications" on "pressing concerns central to contemporary practice and training in the field, including responding to ongoing threats to marginalized populations, strengthening health service psychology education, and promoting sexual and reproductive health and wellness."
What was the outcome of her leave?
Dr. Mollen produced "a cohesive array of scholarly works that furthered my research agenda and mentorship of emerging scholars." The result, she explains, "was integral to my productivity and the advancement of several projects with broad implications for counseling psychology."
Dr. Debra Mollen
Dr. Paul Bones
Dr. Paul Bones (Associate Professor, Sociology)
Dr. Paul Bones (Associate Professor, Sociology)
What was the focus of his leave?
Dr. Bones "worked on multiple projects, including articles on neo-eugenic discourse and horror film, music writing and mental health stigma, cumulative disadvantage and age at onset of work-related disabilities, military membership and consumption of child sexual assault material, the linkages between neurodiversity and smoking/vaping, and then a book proposal on female Texas serial killers and mass murderers."
What was the outcome of his leave?
Dr. Bones describes his leave as "key in my getting these projects off the ground, and has set me up for publication success beyond the one semester of leave."
Although their scholarly agendas differ, both faculty members describe Faculty Development Leave as pivotal in allowing them to move complex, high-impact work forward—work that continues to shape their research trajectories, collaborations, and contributions to their fields.
Faculty Development Leave applications for the academic year 2027-2028 will open in the fall. For more information, scroll down on this page.
Page updated
Report abuse