Undergraduate students as partners in new faculty orientation and academic development

Abstract

Addressing both the increasingly complex process of becoming an educator at the tertiary level and the growing recognition of the importance of student engagement, student–faculty partnerships have emerged as one way of fundamentally rethinking academic development. Participant reflections suggest that the over-time, partnership approach to orientation and development presented in this article effectively supports new faculty as they develop their academic identities. The approach includes opportunities for dialogue and collaboration with students offered before new faculty arrive on campus, as part of orientation before classes begin, during the first semesters of teaching, and in subsequent semesters.

Keywords:

• New faculty orientation
• academic development
• student–faculty partnership
• professional identity

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Dorothe Bach, Peter Felten, Deandra Little, and Joel Schlosser for helpful feedback on drafts of this chapter and to the faculty members who read and responded to drafts and gave me permission to include their perspectives.