August 14, 2015

Advice to new faculty, Fall 2015

Posted by Laura Guertin

Here are some tweets I’ve been collecting that may be helpful to new faculty that are starting out in their first teaching position.  One excellent website to start with would be SERC’s website for Early Career Faculty: Teaching, Research, and Managing Your Career.  But here are some other points mentioned in the Twitterverse worth sharing. Good luck!

This one is a fascinating item I’ve discussed with colleagues across my own university. At my campus (Penn State Brandywine), all faculty are referred to as “Dr.” or “Professor.” At the main campus (Penn State University – University Park), some students will refer to instructors by their first name – it’s an accepted part of the culture of that campus, but not mine.

Speaking of names, there are the student names to learn…

Some advice offered to new faculty can serve as a “warning message,” – more of a “proceed with caution” (I hate to tell any faculty member that they can’t “do” something – it really warrants a conversation between that new faculty member and their department chair and/or mentor).

Some faculty that have been teaching for quite some time can offer valuable reflections for new instructors to think about.

And some wise follow-up advice to the thoughts from these senior colleagues…

Here are some other items to consider.

Is there any other advice others would like to offer to instructors in their rookie season? (this is not even close to an exhaustive list!) Please comment below!