A Kick-start for First Year Faculty: The Faculty Forward Program

Abstract

Teaching and learning centers are poised to equip new faculty with tools needed to be successful during their first year of teaching (and beyond). Approaches to faculty development for new faculty members during the first year are varied and diverse across institutions. Some institutions extend their new faculty orientation with special seminars, workshops and mid-semester course analyses or plug new faculty into their existing services and events. Our interactive presentation will highlight the structure of Faculty Forward, a teaching and learning program series for new faculty during their first year at Western Carolina University. We will discuss the pilot program (2021-2022) and changes made to the current iteration (2022-2023), including the updated “anchors” of the program and our resource book selection. We will also discuss cultural and contextual considerations in the current academic climate and how we incorporated a faculty fellow into the program. Attendees will have an opportunity to connect and discuss their ideas for designing and implementing successful programs for first-year faculty at their own institutions.