Faculty Motivators
How do you motivate Faculty to be a part of Orientation? Our Orientation is the Friday before classes start and our faculty have no interest in cutting their vacation time short a day in order to attend Orientation.
This is something that needs to be addressed by your campus administrator and academic dean. Realistically, asking them to cut vacation short is never a popular idea. However, this is their opportunity to set the tone for their classroom and programs...and no one can do it better than faculty! Most institutions who incorporate faculty in to orientation have this clearly stated in their position descriptions.
Susan
I concur. We require our fulltime instructors to attend orientation and graduations (unless they are actually teaching.
And I would suspect that attending these events does several things for the faculty, including reminding them why they teach. It is a great bonding and 'reality check' experience...we all need reminders that it is about students transforming their lives.
We do not involve faculty in our orientations. They are conducted by the School Director. I think it would be a good idea to include more staff and particularly the faculty that the new students will be working with during their first term.
Richard--
If at all possible, involving faculty and staff from other departments would be very helpful I believe. This is a way for students to be introduced to some of the people they will be dealing with regularly once school begins. It helps to take the 'jitters' out of the first day.
Susan
I totally agree with them needing the reality check--We all do! I think that faculty, like most of us, sometimes lose sight of why they "do what they do" and need reminders from time to time. The daily grind can cause you lose your focus, and gentle reminders might help. On a lighter note, I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I've seen about "feed the teachers." Budget permitting, a little luncheon fare to demonstrate appreciation may go a long way.
In our program we do involve our faculty staff in our orientations. Usually the rotate the orientations according their schedule. Furthermore on the orientation days, they usually offer snacks to the staff. By allowing the students to meet the faculty and to learn were everything is located and this does reduce stress level in the new students.
New students are probably the most anxious about the faculty and academic experience, so allowing them to interact prior to the first day is always a bonus.
Food is always a good thing...amazing how quickly that can break the ice :)
Susan
I agree is very hard to get faculty to get involve in the orientation before classes start.
the key here is that we should not look at orientation as "we have to be there" but rather as "we want to be there".
we all teach because we are passionate about it, so spending a few extra hours with our students on this most exciting day should be a pleassure.
I agree. This actually needs to be part of the culture in the academic department as well as the entire school. I plan to give a speaking part to our lead instructor each orientation going forward.
