Faculty in New Jobs

Each year, hundreds of academics begin new faculty appointments.
Some are just launching new careers, while others are advancing to
new campuses. As faculty members and their institutions struggle to
ease the passage to a new environment, they are faced with critical
questions. What are the challenges of the transition process? And
how does that process differ for first-time faculty and seasoned
faculty?

Drawing on a study conducted by researchers at the National Center
on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, Faculty in New
Jobs shows how faculty and institutions can work together to ease
the transition to a new job and facilitate the process of mastering
academic work. Robert Menges and his associates offer practical,
real-world advice covering all phases of the faculty career--from
the difficult early process of settling in, to becoming socially
and academically established, to ultimately building the
institutional supports necessary for a successful career.

The authors provide newcomers with valuable strategies for adapting
to campus culture, building professional relationships,
establishing a teaching style, and successfully juggling the
diverse responsibilities of the faculty role. They also explain
what institutions can do to select, support, and evaluate faculty
more effectively. They describe the institutional climate that
supports effective faculty transitions into and out of academia.
They discuss what administrators can do to help faculty better
understand and participate in the institutional culture, while also
challenging and changing it in positive ways.