New Faculty Orientation
Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs, Academic Deans
Project Purpose
To provide consistent and comprehensive onboarding experiences for faculty college-wide.
Deliverables
- Develop an agenda for the event, identify dates and invite new faculty
- Create an onboarding checklist with topics for HR, IT, business services, deans and student affairs to cover at the event
- Utilize surveys to assess effectiveness of the orientation experience
- Host the events at least once per year (late summer and January as needed)
- Administer survey, evaluate data and adjust deliverables based on survey results
- Determine future orientation dates
Project Scope
In Scope
Collaborating with other departments to attend and share information.
Out of Scope
Requiring participation.
Constraints
Timing of event and scheduling conflicts, limited event hours and having a lot of information to cover.
Effectiveness Measures
Project Goals
- Providing new faculty with the tools and knowledge needed for a successful start to the school year.
- Networking and connecting with other new peers and supervisors.
- Ensuring consistent onboarding experiences (all employment statuses (e.g. full-time, part-time, etc.), all modalities and campuses).
Key Performance Indicators/Metrics
- Percent of new faculty that attended orientation.
- Overall satisfaction results from the survey.
Metric Review Schedule
- Annually
Reporting of Results
- Cabinet and academic deans
Constraints
Timing of event and scheduling conflicts, the amount of information to cover in a limited timeframe.
Financial Impact
Possible increased retention of new employees.
Summary of Results
The first New Faculty Orientation event was held in July 31, 2023 with 11 faculty in attendance. Survey results showed (n=6):
- 100% found the training engaged their attention moderately well to extremely well
- 100% liked the training content
Future suggestions for improvement included:
- More time to expand the content
- Hands-on activities and/or work time (e.g. HR help with new hire paperwork, etc.)
A mid-semester Follow-up Survey was also conducted to gather input on additional content that could be included in the orientation that new faculty learned about after the event. Suggestions included:
- How to reserve a room/lab
- D2L training (e.g. setting up gradebook calculations)
- Lecture room technology and what is/is not available in the classrooms (including whiteboard markers)
- Self-evaluation and professional development plan process
Future Direction
New Faculty Orientation is now college practice and has been institutionalized. The frequency of the college-wide orientation events will be dependent on the number of new faculty being onboarded. Surveys will continue to be conducted and results used to improve the orientation content and experience.
