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| Cal Poly Pomona's new faculty members for the 2003-04 academic year. |
Thirty-six new faculty from all over the world have joined Cal Poly Pomona this fall to instruct students and share their experience and knowledge with their respective departments. To welcome them to Cal Poly Pomona, the Faculty Center for Professional Development hosted a two-day new faculty orientation, Bronco Sunrise, Sept. 18-19 in the Bronco Student Center.
The program offered a chance for faculty to share professional background stories with one another and meet key personnel and administrators in the areas of technology resources and faculty support programs, including the California Faculty Association and Academic Senate. Other program highlights included a tour of the campus, a benefits orientation and library presentation.
?For many new faculty, the most valuable part of orientation was the opportunity to begin building relationships with key campus leaders and other new faculty across fields,? said Ian Stewart, director of the Faculty Center for Professional Development. ?Cultivating informal networks enhance faculty's ability to do good work and live satisfying lives.?
Faculty also participated in an open forum with President J. Michael Ortiz, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Tomás Morales and Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs Debra Brum who clarified performance expectations. Ortiz emphasized to faculty that their top priority is to be effective teachers, but also encouraged them to contribute to academic research and engage in community service-learning.
?Our philosophy is learning by doing, so I anticipate that you will become involved in activities that will engage the students not only on campus but in the community,? said Ortiz.
Becoming involved in academic government is also important, Ortiz said.
?You need to be involved in the lifeblood of the institution,? he said. ?If we?re going to have an effective shared-governance model, it is critical that you be involved in the governance of this campus.?
Brum said that many of the new faculty will spend their career at Cal Poly Pomona.
?This is a place where people are productive and happy, and they stay,? she said. ?There is tremendous support for you within your department and from your colleagues.?
Pamela Arroues, who started working in the library in November, called the orientation program ?wonderful.?
?Finding out all of the different resources and where everything is located makes the transition much easier for us,? she said.
This year?s class of new faculty could be the most diverse group ever hired at Cal Poly Pomona, says Stewart.
?This serves to help the faculty mirror just a little bit closer the diverse student population that we serve, and more importantly, it provides more role models for all of our students,? he said.