by Monika Sziron, Ph.D.
Whether it is your first semester as a faculty member or you have just started teaching at new institution, in episode 17 of the HigherEdJobs Podcast Dr. Emily Allen Williams shares her advice for solidifying your place as a new faculty member.
Williams says, “Stay engaged with the community you’re serving. And that starts with the students, but also in working as a new faculty member, specifically with your department chair.”
See if you can build a strong relationship with your department chair from the very beginning, “…with the department chair at my first two institutions, I went in and I said, ‘You know I’m new. You hired me. Is it okay if we have a standing meeting? I get on your schedule once a month, at least for the first semester, and then if I find that I’m paddling myself down the stream pretty well next semester, I’ll ask for other standing meetings.'”
It is also important to network with the other faculty within and outside of your department.
Williams shares her own experience as a new faculty member and how she acclimated to new environments, “…when I was new faculty at Morehouse, I started listening very carefully in department meetings of who was doing what, what their scholarly and research interests were about. And I would invite myself to their office during their office hours and say, ‘Hi, I’m Emily, new faculty here. Do you have a few minutes? Of course if a student comes, I’ll dismiss myself.'”
Listen in to the HigherEdJobs Podcast to hear more advice from Dr. Williams and how you can find your footing as a new faculty member.
