New Faculty
1. New Faculty Orientation: During their first fall semester, all new full-time teaching faculty will participate in New Faculty Orientation. These sessions are designed to help new faculty thrive at GU. Sessions will focus on teaching, campus culture, the faculty development and review process, as well as finding one’s way around campus. New Faculty Orientation will be coordinated by the chief academic officer and the dean of instruction.
2. Evocative Coaching for New Faculty: New faculty will be matched with a trained evocative coach. The evocative coach is not an evaluator. The evocative coaching model is one that begins with the premise that faculty members are capable individuals with great potential for personal transformation and who are interested in pursuing excellence. Through building a shared culture of trust, the evocative coach listens more than talks, asks more than tells, and reflects more than comments. Tschannen-Moran & Tschannen-Moran (2010) describe evocative coaches as ones who “invite teachers to identify and build on their strengths” (p. 18) through non-judgmental relationship. The evocative coaching relationship will typically last one year before the new faculty member transitions to a Faculty Learning Community.
3. New Faculty Faith & Learning Seminar: During their first spring semester of employment, new fulltime faculty members will complete a New Faculty Faith & Learning Seminar. This “F&L Seminar” will meet weekly, and new faculty participating in the seminar will receive a 2-3 credit load reduction during the spring semester.
a. The F&L Seminar will be coordinated by the chief academic officer or his/her designee.
b. Along with key readings in the F&L literature, the bulk of seminar sessions will feature presentations by multiple veteran faculty members from a variety of disciplines who will share their F&L wisdom, vision, and experience.
c. A principal outcome of the seminar will be the production of a researched essay that explores how each new faculty member anticipates approaching the integration of Faith & Learning at Greenville University. This F&L essay will be reviewed by the seminar coordinator, the faculty member’s school dean, and the faculty member’s department chair, all of whom will offer suggestions for further reflection, research, development, and revision. (A revised version of this F&L essay will be included in the new faculty members’ Professional Portfolio.)