Faculty, as a result of student numbers, expectations, finances, and diversity, will need to be aware of these changes in students and be prepared to change the manner in which education is delivered in the 21st century. As I begin my faculty career, I find that my passion for doing scientific research and telling students about science is only increasing. I recently read my student evaluations in which most of the students commented that they thought I was excited about chemistry. I am and I'm glad that they could see it. It is not enough to be interested in chemistry.
Science is a laboratory-based discipline.
Most of what we know about our natural world was learned by observadon. Thus, I believe, it is important to engage budding scientists in hard-core research with the goal of publishing the results in a refereed scientific journal. In order to do this, and expect and lead others to do it, a faculty member has to be willing to spend significant amounts of time thinking about science, reading about science, talking about science, and plotting strategies for accomplishing new science. I am more inclined to follow somebody who has done this themselves, so I am trying to lead by example. I read the journals, think about experiments, talk with my colleagues and friends, and plan for my experiments by writing grant proposals.