My first committee at Carleton was called the “teaching methods committee”. This committee consisted of several new faculty members, mostly in their second year. We who had the least experience in teaching were appointed to a committee that was supposed to do something about pedagogy at Carleton. We were given no instructions, and no specific charge. When we met, we were confused and, even though we were well intentioned, we had no idea what we were supposed to accomplish. Yet this was the one body at Carleton that was supposed to examine teaching and come up with innovations.
Similarly, in my first year, new faculty orientation lasted about two hours. We heard from a few colleagues who were ahead of us by a year or two and then met with a panel of students. We did not meet people on the staff who might be able to help us in our teaching. We were not given appointed mentors, but were supposed to find people in our department to give us advice. For some of us this worked out well, but for others it left a vacuum. There were no weekly sessions to let us see how the school really functioned, or to hear about examples of good teaching. The only places to pick up on the subtleties of the school were department and faculty meetings, or reading the campus paper.
This is quite a contrast to the current state of affairs. As I finish my time at the LTC, it is striking to me to see how much is now in place to assist faculty members and to show them what the College values, and how the place works. It has been a privilege to be a part of this.