FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

Faculty development is a sometimes controversial (“Do I really want to be developed?!)” but always important concern for the Dean and department chairs. Not only do you need to be a leader in the sustained improvement of the department, but you should also realize that the best curricular program and the best teaching will occur if individual faculty members are nurtured and encouraged to grow and do their own best work. You should be something of a cheerleader and visionary for each of your individual colleagues, as well as a source of information on available resources. These include the Faculty Development Endowment (FDE) grants, various Targeted Opportunity grants, Headley Fund, Faculty Research and Assistance Fund, Curriculum Development Fund, the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching with its Mentoring Program for new faculty, Student Observer Program, and workshops on various topics, to name only sources internal to Carleton. (See the Dean of the College website for more information: http://www.carleton.edu/campus/doc/)

New Faculty

The help you give, even before your new colleague arrives in town, can be crucial. New faculty will have questions about:

• scheduling of courses,
• Bookstore orders.
• Carleton’s procedures and of local customs and expectations about reading lists,
• use of reserve readings in the library,
• purchase of library materials,
• course management software,
• how to work effectively with department assistants,
• where to get supplies,
• office hours.

You may want to serve as host to a new faculty member on arrival in Northfield, or you may want to designate a colleague to play the role of greeter and mentor and to answer questions about such things as banks or grocery stores. Your department assistant can be a great help in orienting new faculty.

Among the very practical things that a new faculty member will usually need to have explained very early include:

• how the department does its business,
• who may be consulted for help of various kinds (including the Deans’ Office and the LTC),
• how to assess one’s own teaching,
• what are grading norms,
• what are likely student requests (e.g. late papers) and ways to respond,
• what are likely student problems (e.g. repeated absences) and ways to respond.

On a continuing basis, newer faculty need regular mentorship regarding:

• how to balance the demands of teaching, scholarship, and service,
• how to nourish and advance creative or scholarly efforts,
• how to maneuver through College governance (you might begin this by bringing your new faculty member to faculty meetings), and
• how to keep a sense of humor.

Try not to be prescriptive (except where absolutely necessary); try to encourage a young colleague to see a range of options and to develop his or her own voice and style.

Perhaps one of the most useful things a chair can do is convey a sense that he or she can be asked all sorts of basic questions and that the new teacher will be heard clearly and responded to with respect. It is important that this process of helping new faculty settle into teaching at Carleton begins as soon as they are hired.

The week before new students arrive, the Dean’s Office and the Learning and Teaching Center will host New Faculty Orientation, which should be useful in introducing newcomers to each other and in providing a good bit of basic information about Carleton. This is no substitute, however, for careful, on-going departmental orientation. New faculty will also be assigned a College mentor and be invited to participate in the Mentoring Program sponsored by the Learning and Teaching Center.

Your junior colleagues need to be told that you will be an evaluator of their performance at review times. This is a critical piece of information. This complicates your role as supportive colleague and advocate. Yet, you need to do both well. As complicated and thorny as this may seem to you, remember that it is even more so for untenured faculty.

A few things that may be helpful, well in advance of formal reviews, are:

• Recommend the new faculty member regularly administer mid-term and end-of-term student evaluations. Also, recommend that he or she share these with you, some other senior colleague, or the Director of the LTC. Since you will be conducting the end-of-year conversation, sharing these with you is often the best option.
• Recommend the new faculty member sit in on a sample of your classes or those of another senior faculty member and set up a time to talk about what he or she has seen. This takes the pressure off the new faculty member but provides a great opportunity to talk about teaching effectiveness at Carleton.
• Recommend that the new faculty member use our student observer program. This has received national attention because it is so sensible.
• Offer to observe one or two classes. You will need to be very careful to allow the new faculty member an easy way of saying “no.” Report respectfully but candidly back to the faculty member as soon after each observation as possible.
• Offer to look over graded work (tests, quizzes, etc.) or to share yours with your new colleague.

Short-Term Faculty

Leave replacement faculty are invited to participate in New Faculty Orientation and the LTC’s Mentoring Program, have access to support from the Dean’s discretionary funds, and are usually treated as full members of their departments. But we should remember that they are in a transient, delicate situation and be mindful of ways we can help them. Here are some suggestions:

• Volunteer to visit a few classes (or find a colleague to do so) so you can give helpful feedback and write a knowledgeable recommendation for them.
• Give them a reasonable teaching schedule that isn’t loaded with new preparations.
• First-year faculty aren’t asked to advise or do committee work; honor this within the department.
• Be mindful of their need to spend time applying for jobs, going to conventions and interviews, etc. Talk about this in advance when their schedule is being planned. Be helpful when they need someone to fill in for a class or two.
• Be aware of their need to produce something professionally while they’re here in order to enhance their c.v. and their chances to land the job they want.
• Never assume it’s easy for them to get the next job. Give what help and support you can.