Faculty Forum: Forging Career Paths for ACC Faculty, Event Results

The Teaching and Learning Excellence Division (TLED) has been taking a closer look at the faculty experience and what that means for new professors, mid-career instructors, and seasoned faculty at Austin Community College District.

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We hosted a Faculty Forum on October 27th, giving all ACC faculty the opportunity to hear about the history of our faculty orientation and what successful community colleges do around the country for on-boarding. Our own history faculty member, Suzanne Summers, lead this presentation & the following dialogue. She started the discussion by asking attendees to recall what it was like when they were new to ACC. Twenty-six faculty members from diverse disciplines were in attendance.

This forum served as a time for faculty to give us input on the ideas we have for improvement. Suggestions focussed on creating a sense of community, collegiality, and celebrating/considering the diverse experiences we bring with us when we start at a new institution. One of the faculty members in attendance, David Lauderback, described it best when he said that onboarding is the “beginning of a conversation with faculty as they start a relationship with the college.”