University of the PACIFIC

Principles of Good Practice Supporting Early Career Faculty

American Association of Higher Education (2001) http://www.aahe.org (type early career)

IMPROVING TENURE PROCESSES

1.  Good practice communicates expectations for performance

• Orientation program for new faculty
• More specific and descriptive unit guidelines
• Promote more encompassing criteria that promote the scholarship of teaching

2.  Good practice gives feedback on progress

• Annual review should be clear, honest, highlight what is going well, clarify what merits attention and offer concrete suggestions for improvement
• Develop other means than student ratings on the evaluation of teaching such as peer review and teaching portfolios

3.  Good practice enhances collegial review processes

• Incorporate a thorough peer review evaluation in the third year

4.  Good practice creates flexible timelines for tenure

• Include options for “early tenure” by counting previous work of “stopping the clock” for parenting or illness

ENCOURAGING COLLEGIAL RELATIONS

5.  Good practice encourages mentoring by senior faculty

• Develop different mentoring programs and models at the department/unit level
• Evaluate and reward senior faculty of nurturing new faculty
• Encourage collaboration between senior and junior faculty in scholarship or team-teaching

6.  Good practice extends mentoring and feedback to graduate students who aspire to become faculty members

• Duplicate for graduate students many of the supportive activities provided for faculty

7.  Good practice recognizes the department chair as a career sponsor

• Write helpful evaluations in the first and second year
• Facilitate and monitor points 1-5

EASING STRESSES OF TIME AND BALANCE

8.  Good practice supports teaching

• Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE)
• Educational Technology Specialist
• Internal grants for teaching

9. Good practice supports scholarly development

• Try to have a lighter teaching load or to minimize preparations for early career faculty
• Internal grants for faculty scholarship
• Increase start-up packages
• Promote undergraduate research

10. Good practice fosters a balance between professional and personal life

• Year-long orientation program for a new faculty