Faculty Lifecycles

Overview

Moving beyond one-size-fits-all faculty development means taking account of how faculty experiences and needs differ across their careers. Prospective faculty wonder what life is like at DU. Early-career faculty need to develop navigational capacity and experience a sense of belonging to thrive at DU. Those in mid-career may reflect on how their career connects with their values and potential leadership skills. Faculty in the later stages of their careers have questions about legacy and retirement, and may want to continue to share their intellectual gifts with the campus after they become emeriti. The VPFA provides intentional support customized for the different stages of the faculty lifecycle and in times of transition.

Career experiences also differ by appointment type and series. The VPFA deliberately designs purposeful resources for Teaching and Professional lines, part-time faculty, and tenure-track faculty. Intentional work across the faculty lifecycle contributes to DU’s Strategic Initiative #3, helping “cultivate an exceptionally diverse, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming community,” where all faculty can succeed. It aligns with goal three of the university’s DEI Action Plan, which includes a commitment to “Advance Faculty Diversity & Retention,” and connects to the “Pursuing Careers & Lives of Purpose” dimension of the 4D Experience. Finally, focus on the faculty lifecycle helps the VPFA meet the goal of seeing and valuing each faculty member for the gifts they bring to the DU community.

Signature Programs

New Faculty Onboarding

With leadership from the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) and the VPFA, new faculty onboarding efforts have expanded considerably. Since summer 2019, new faculty are welcomed with staggered letters from campus leaders and relevant offices, and with a newly created asynchronous Canvas Course containing resources on campus policies; support for teaching excellence and growth; research, scholarship, and creative activity; and equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. In addition, faculty attend a half-day orientation session hosted by the Provost’s Office and are invited to join a year-long faculty learning community (FLC) and other stand-alone workshops through the OTL, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) division, the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP), and more. In the future, the faculty onboarding experience will extend through the first three years of employment and provide more opportunities for community and collaboration.

Faculty Learning Community: Teaching and Professional Faculty Tools for Success

This FLC explores areas essential to the success of teaching and professional faculty, including community building, effective instruction, DU culture, promotion and academic careers, national trends, and TPF roles. Sessions offered in AY 20–21, 21–22, and upcoming in 22–23 FLC include the text, Inclusive Collegiality and Nontenure-Track Faculty: Engaging All Faculty as Colleagues to Promote Healthy Departments and Institutions.

Career Advancement Workshops

The processes of promotion, reappointment, and tenure are consistent drivers of faculty stress, consternation, and insecurity. The “Pathways to Promotion for Teaching & Professional Faculty” workshop, offered yearly since 2018, opens space for teaching and professional faculty across campus to share resources and experiences about the promotion process outlined in the Policies and Procedures Relating to Faculty Appointment, Promotion, & Tenure guidelines approved by the Board of Trustees in 2015. Likewise, “Crafting the Narrative Arc,” offered yearly since 2019, offers strategies for shaping myriad faculty accomplishments into a cohesive statement structure that will present a strong case for tenure, promotion, or reappointment. Over 150 faculty members have attended at least one of these workshops.

Cross-Identity Mentoring Community of Practice

In early 2022, Faculty Fellow of Mentoring Initiatives and Teaching Professor, Heather Martin, convened 15 faculty-mentoring leaders from across faculty lines for an in-depth exploration of cross-identity mentoring at DU. The Community represented nine schools and colleges, including three department chairs and five full professors. Over nine months, faculty explored mentoring approaches happening across DU and engaged mentoring approaches discussed in the literature that attend to intersections of gender, race, and identity. The Community is currently developing an institutional guide to mentoring best practices, while using a train-the-trainer approach to develop events, activities, and resources for use in departments and programs across campus. The goal of the Community and other mentoring programming is to build an inclusive culture of mentoring across campus.