Pre-Tenure Faculty

As chairs, we are responsible for watching out for all members of the department. The faculty are at the heart of any department. We should do all we can to be in touch with all members of the department, to know what they're working on and what issues they might have regarding teaching, and to seek ways to help each person contribute to the department and to advance professionally. We should be accessible in times of trouble and should also be sure to celebrate achievements.

Within this general area of care and concern, untenured faculty have a special place. Once you've completed a search, it's time for the long follow-through, to help your new colleague succeed in the department and in the college generally. This attention to untenured faculty is of enormous importance to the chair's role. But unlike some of the more routine tasks (like course scheduling), there are no timely reminders that come to us. Here are some things to keep in mind regarding our responsibility towards untenured faculty.

In the first year

The first year is a crucial time of adjustment, and a new colleague will most likely need more of your attention now than at any other time. You'll want to strike a balance between two important goals: protecting a new faculty member from the onslaught of multiple demands and integrating them into the life of the department and the college.

Making Choices

New faculty will encounter many demands, demands that come to the faculty member directly, without you knowing about them, such as requests for independent studies, membership on (or even chairing) honors committees, and advisory projects or committees. Consider recommending that a first-year faculty member not take on being chair of an honors committee, and that they hold off on independent studies as well. Talk to them about how many ad hoc requests they may receive and ask that they consult with you before giving an answer. The goal is to mentor them through making decisions about the various choices they have—and will always have—about how they spend their professional time. In the past, senior faculty believed they needed to “protect” new faculty, a rather paternalistic approach that doesn’t help the faculty member learn how to make choices based on their own professional goals; the mission and goals of their department, college, and the university; or the actual professional values and criteria on which they will be assessed.

We encourage you to talk with faculty about making these choices, using the following prompts as a guide. They can be adapted for teaching, research, service, community engagement, or administration.

List your professional goals for the next five years;
List your particular talents and strengths (e.g., detail-oriented, conceptual thinker, task-oriented, etc.; assessment knowledge, curriculum development, online teaching, teaching with technology, etc.);
Given your goals and strengths, what kinds of professional development activities and service [insert the appropriate term] activities might help you match the two?

Sometimes a new faculty member is very eager to get involved with all kinds of things on campus, and of course that is a good thing. But you can help them set priorities, and to keep at the top of the list those things most crucial for their successful establishment as a teacher, scholar, and member of the Boise State community. One way to help--since you will not necessarily know all that they commit themselves to--is to check in with them mid-year to see if they are getting overcommitted. Or, if they seem not involved enough, this is a good time to talk about other things they might be doing.

In the case where the faculty member has not yet finished the terminal degree, there is a special urgency to ensure they faculty member will be successful. Do check in on their progress.

With regard to teaching assignments: remember the enormity of the task of multiple new preparations in the first years of full-time teaching. Give new (and untenured) faculty first choice on courses whenever possible. Ask what classrooms they prefer. Whenever possible, have them teach subjects they're already familiar with. If there's the possibility of their teaching multiple offerings of one course, let them do that so they have fewer preps.

Integration into the life of the department/college

Even while you're mentoring new/untenured faculty to manage multiple demands, you also want to be sure that they feel they are a member of the department and of the college community. You can help them by self-consciously integrating them into the various academic and social arenas of college life.

Introduce them to people beyond the department, people you see as potentially good resources for this particular person, both as peers and as potential mentors. Think of people with whom they may share intellectual interests, personal interests, family situations, etc.
Find occasions to talk about teaching and encourage attendance at the Center for Teaching and Learning events. Encourage departmental discussion on courses taught in common. Share syllabi, assignments, exams from these and other courses. If certain courses are taught in a sequence, be sure there's discussion so the new person is fully aware of the extent of coordination needed. Invite them to observe classes taught by others in (or outside of) the department, just asking permission first. Do offer your own classes as one possibility.
Encourage them to present their current work on campus if the opportunity arises.
Consider inviting them to sit in on one or two advising sessions, perhaps in September to see a session with a first-year student, and later, to see a session with a major advisee.
Socialize them into campus events. But be careful how you do this. Encourage participation, but don't apply pressure, and do make clear that no one has to attend every one of these events.
Have an occasional social gathering for the department (or delegate this around the department).
Remind them that part of your job as chair is to be an available first contact for just about anything. You can initiate them into the various offices and procedures for accomplishing all the various tasks. Encourage them to seek out anyone else in the department as well, should you not be readily available.