| Abstract | The Office of the Provost has begun a re-evaluation of the recruitment process. One element of that assessment it to confirm and refine the attributes we seek in desirable candidates for any position. However, we also need to examine how well we have done in our hiring over the past five years and determine the strengths and weaknesses in our process. In addition, we plan to assess the difficult hiring areas, determine what will be the best attractions for the desired candidates in that field, and shape our invitations accordingly. We are also taking a new look at our new faculty orientation process and value. For years the University of Michigan-Dearborn restricted its new faculty orientation to one or two days before the fall term began. Like new faculty members everywhere, they said that it was too much information in too little time. Some essentials were grasped and much forgotten with new class preparations underway. In response to this concern, for the past five years we have been growing a "New Faculty Enrichment Series" that takes place throughout the year. The initial offering was one in which we sought to encourage new colleagues to meet faculty veterans who might be interested in developing interdisciplinary grants. We hoped that this would be a catalyst for early grant application writing. As this was repeated, we discovered that different academic units were providing other workshop opportunities for their new faculty members. We took all of these ideas and planned four additional opportunities: teaching strategies, student assessment, grant writing strategies, and electronic resources for teaching and research. The five workshops will be offered on Fridays throughout the first year of service. Other faculty members, both tenure-track and lecturer, are invited to participate as well, to encourage professional development and networking. |
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