Orientation for First-Year Faculty and Librarians

 

Getting Connected

2010-2011

 

The Bridgewater community is excited to welcome 26 new faculty to campus this year. Our campus cares deeply about your success in the classroom, in scholarship, and in your career. The primary purpose of this orientation program is to help you connect to colleagues and to resources at BSU and to provide a forum for sharing experiences and ideas during this formative year.

Session I: Welcome, Introductions, and Getting Started, Tuesday, August 31, Dunn B Conference Room, East Campus: At 8:30 - 10:00 a.m., you will meet each other and members of the administration, MSCA and faculty. Presiding will be Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, President, and Dr. Howard London, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.  Following at 10:15-11:45 a.m. there will be open conversation with current BSU faculty and students.

At 12:15 - 1:15 p.m. we will have lunch, RSVP requested, in the Dunn B Conference Room, East Campus.  After lunch there will be a walking tour of the BSU campus.

From 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. there will be an Essential Faculty Development Resources session, Moakley 221, CART conference room.  In this session, you will learn about four faculty development services key to your success at BSU: the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL), the Faculty Advocacy Network (FAN), Teaching and Technology Center (TTC), and the Center for the Advancement of Research and Teaching (CART).  Join us for small group discussions of these crucial services and how they support your professional development as a new Bridgewater State University faculty member.

At 2:45 - 4:00 p.m. we move to Moakley 220, where Mr. Reid Kimball from the Teaching and Technology Center will offer a hands-on workshop for new faculty on using the university's electronic and online resources. Basic "survival skills" will include: accessing BSU e-mail from off campus; resources available via Outlook; Web for Faculty, the website where faculty access class rosters, submit course grades, and obtain vital advising information; and the Blackboard course management system, which provides faculty with an easy-to-use template for course Web sites. The session will start with a brief overview and a check to determine that your accounts are set up and functional. You will then do some hands-on work with Web for Faculty and Blackboard, based on participants' interest and prior experience.

Session II: Wednesday, September 15, 9:30 - 10:45 a.m., and Thursday, September 16, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m., East Campus Commons, ECC 113.

Human Resources: Representatives from the Human Resources Office will discuss important information to help with your transition to the University. Topics will include:  the BSU mission, institutional statistics, the structure and function of the seven divisions at BSU, various policies and procedures, and the resources that are available to you. In addition, the HR representatives will answer any benefit and payroll questions.

Counseling and Consultation Services on Campus: Counseling Center staff will speak with faculty about clinical and consultation services, including counseling resources, the administrative team that addresses extreme or troubling student behaviors, and how and when to make referrals to the Counseling Center.

Session III: Faculty-to-Faculty Networking: Mixer, Thursday, September 16, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m., Barry House, Presidential Residence, across from Maxwell Library: A group of Bridgewater faculty called the Faculty Advocacy Network (FAN) have volunteered to serve as contacts for you. This mixer is an informal get-together to meet and talk with them, along with the President and Provost. This event is being conducted by Dr. Pam Russell, Associate Professor of Movement Arts, Health Promotion, and Leisure Studies, and Dr. Jeffery Bowen, Associate Professor of Biology. RSVP requested. Subsequently, you will be invited to an end-of-semester event, session V below.

Session IV: Advising and Scheduling: Wednesday, October 6, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., Harrington Hall, Room 211: We know that advising at all levels has a tremendous impact on student success, and we hope this session will help you think about how to advise and mentor students more effectively.

Session V: First-Year Social, Friday, December 3, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m., Bridgewater Dining Room (BDR), Rondileau Campus Center: You will be invited by the Faculty Advocacy Network headed by Drs. Pam Russell and Jeff Bowen to participate in some end-of-semester regrouping and down time, while talking in a relaxed setting with colleagues.

Session VI: Faculty Development Resource Fair, Tuesday, January 18, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Dunn Conference Room, East Campus. Join us for an interactive, informative and fun open session on the many faculty development resources available at BSU.  Meet colleagues and administrators who will share information and lead small group discussions on internal and external financial resources for scholarship, mentoring undergraduate research, seminar development, student academic support services, engaged learning and teaching resources, and technology support for teaching.  You will also have an opportunity to meet the Faculty Advocacy Network (FAN) director and sign up for as faculty advocate. 

Session VII: Conversation with President Dana Mohler-Faria and Provost London, Tuesday, January 25, 3:30 - 4:45 p.m., location TBA: This session features an open conversation with President Dana Mohler-Faria and Provost Howard London. It is informal, off-the-cuff, and unscripted. It is a time to report on your experiences at the university and ask any question you want about its future.

Session VIII: Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure, (TBA) What are the standards and procedures for reappointment, promotion, and tenure at Bridgewater State University? This important question will be addressed by the two people best able to answer: Dr. Howard London, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Professor Jean Stonehouse, President of the Bridgewater chapter of the Massachusetts State College Association. Come to this session, see the process demystified, and get pointers on building your portfolio.

Session IX: Succeeding at Bridgewater: Setting and Meeting Realistic Scholarly and Creative Goals, Thursday, April 28, 12:00 - 2:30 p.m., Moakley 221: One of the challenges of working at a teaching-intensive college is that it is difficult to find time for one's scholarly or creative endeavors.  We all have long-term goals and projects, but it can be overwhelming to develop strategies to work towards them! Though there are no magical or each answers, it is possible to creative realistic and successful scholarly and creative agendas while at BSU.  CART (more specifically, the research fellow, Theresa Coogan) invites new members of our teaching and library faculty to participate in a workshop to learn about, discuss, and start developing a meaningful, and manageable, strategy for achieving scholarly and creative goals. 

Participants will:

·        Hear from peers who have had success with their scholarly and creative undertakings

·        Work together in small groups to map out short- and long-term academic or creative goals

·        Learn about resources and strategies that can help them succeed with their objectives

Participants will not only leave the workshop with information, and hopefully inspiration, but also with a plan in hand for meeting some of their short- and long-term scholarly and creative goals.  Whether you are trying to finish your first big project or shifting gears and starting on a second or third project, this workshop will provide some time, space, and ideas to help you to keep moving forward.


 

 

Last Modified: April 6, 2011