Onboarding of faculty workgroups at Delta College is facilitated by the faculty-run Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence (FCTE). As the workgroups have varying needs, the onboarding process for each is, likewise, varied. By tailoring the onboarding process to the workgroup, Delta College strives to achieve its mission to empower, include, and welcome our diverse community.

The FCTE designs onboarding experiences with an intensive focus on belonging because we believe it is the key to retention. To this end, we endeavor to ensure that the welcome is sincere, the integration of all parties into the group is successful, and all voices are heard and valued. Delta College recruits the best candidates available with the intention of retaining them for a long and productive career serving the Great Lakes Bay Region’s communities. Although each workgroup's onboarding process is tailored to its specific needs, the FCTE ensures consistency by incorporating key elements across all groups: teaching, campus culture, campus resources, and human connections.

About Faculty Workgroups at Delta College

Since its inception in 1961, Delta College has had two faculty workgroups: full-time faculty and adjunct faculty, with some exceptions such as one-semester or one-year appointments of adjuncts to full-time teaching loads. A third faculty work group was instituted at the college in January 2023: lecturers as needed. These lecturer positions are full-time appointments designed to meet enrollment needs or fill unexpected vacancies. Lecturer positions are temporary, not to exceed two years, and are teaching-only positions, without the expectation for productive activity and leadership that are required of regular full-time faculty.

In 2019, Delta College’s full-time faculty approved the formation of the Delta College Faculty Association (DCFA), making us the last of Michigan’s 28 community colleges to have a unionized faculty. A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) defines the work rules for full-time faculty. In 2022, Delta College’s adjunct faculty began negotiations to form their own union and to negotiate their own CBA, a process which was successfully completed in November 2024. Lecturer work rules are defined in the college’s lecturer handbook.

About the Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence

Delta College’s FCTE is a faculty-driven center for professional development. The center began 34 years ago as a grassroots effort to improve faculty practice as educators and, thereby, enhance student success. Over time, the FCTE became institutionalized, with office space, administrative support staff, a coordinator or pair of co-coordinators with release time for their duties, and a line in the college’s budget entirely dedicated to its work. Additionally, the college’s administration often confers and collaborates with the FCTE as an analog for the wider faculty body. One of the charges of the FCTE from college administration is to design and implement onboarding programming for all faculty workgroups.

Onboarding for Each Workgroup

Onboarding Full-Time Faculty

The DCFA collective bargaining unit takes a minimalist approach to defining requirements for the onboarding of new full-time faculty. The contract states that, “All newly hired full-time faculty members shall attend the college’s mandatory orientation program, including educational training for distance learning.” The simplicity of this statement is one indicator of how well-received the FCTE’s practices are for onboarding this workgroup; faculty and administration are content to leave the design and implementation of onboarding largely to the discretion of the FCTE.

Our procedure for onboarding full-time faculty lasts one academic year and uses a cohort model. The process begins with a three-day orientation in mid-August, before the start of the academic year, then continues with a professional development course. Even faculty who have taught previously at Delta College as adjuncts or lecturers are required to participate in this onboarding process. Since each workgroup has its own work rules, responsibilities, performance expectations, and compensation and benefits packages, being hired as full-time faculty entails a new set of expectations and, therefore, a learning curve.

The orientation is designed to promote bonding between members of the cohort; introduce new faculty to a network of college staff whose roles support student success; familiarize new faculty with procedures relating to attendance, grading, Title IX, safety, and more; discuss teaching best practices as they relate to belonging and inclusion; create or fine-tune syllabi for use in the upcoming semester; and address fundamentals of distance learning technologies that can be implemented in the upcoming semester. The purpose of this intensive orientation is to provide information that is practical and time-sensitive for those preparing to take on full-time faculty responsibilities in the very near future.

After the orientation, the new faculty cohort is enrolled in a professional development course sequence. The sequence includes two one-semester courses: the two-credit EDU 390AW: Teaching Best Practices course and the one-credit EDU 390BW: Teaching Best Practices II course, both taught in a blended modality. Subject matter in both courses includes teaching best practices; belonging, equity, diversity, and inclusion (BEDI); the learning management system, Desire2Learn (D2L); organization and time management skills; self-care; the annual process of self-evaluation; tenure and promotion; and special topics suggested by the new faculty cohort, which has included subjects such as imposter syndrome, teaching neurodiverse learners, and flipped classrooms.

Feedback from the new faculty cohort is an important component in the full-time onboarding process, both to build buy-in for the year-long process and to ensure that the diverse needs of the group are being fully accounted for. The cohorts include a mix of faculty from across disciplines, with varying amounts of teaching experience and familiarity with Delta College. Therefore, asking them about their needs, their perceived strengths and weaknesses, and subjects that pique their intellectual curiosity is a core practice. Feedback acquisition begins in the orientation with an appreciative inquiry session and continues with regular opportunities for the cohort to evaluate how the onboarding process is going for them. Based on this input, FCTE coordinators can individualize the programming to the needs of a specific cohort.

Onboarding Adjunct Faculty

New adjunct faculty at Delta College are often hired with little time to spare before the start of the semester to meet pressing staffing needs. The FCTE’s approach to onboarding new adjunct faculty follows a just-in-time model of workplace training, wherein key information is provided to workers when and where they need it. This learning opportunity is provided at an annual Adjunct Academy, held the Wednesday before the fall semester begins. While the event is designed to provide crucial information about college policies and procedures, the FCTE also amplifies the affective side, providing a warm welcome and introducing administrators, from immediate supervisors to the college president. Unlike the onboarding model for the other faculty workgroups on campus, returning adjuncts are also encouraged to attend Adjunct Academy. This practice demonstrates the college’s gratitude for their work, acknowledges their years of service, provides a networking opportunity, offers them a chance to talk teaching with colleagues, and provides a refresher on college policies and procedures.

Adjunct Academy has evolved over time based on the creative vision of a succession of FCTE coordinators. In 2023, the coordinators charged a committee of stakeholders from across the campus to review existing onboarding practices for adjunct faculty, from interviewing to human resources paperwork and required trainings, and then to make recommendations for Adjunct Academy topics. Based on the findings and recommendations from this year-long review process, the August 2024 Adjunct Academy was formatted as a three-hour event, with one hour dedicated to college policies and procedures; one hour for a buffet dinner and president’s welcome as well as recognition for years of service and prizes to the longest-serving, most recently hired, and furthest traveling adjuncts; and one hour of best teaching practice lightning round presentations. Adjunct Academy also serves as an information-sharing opportunity for on-campus groups, such as the adjunct faculty union, Office of BEDI, and Faculty Investment Teams (FIT).

In previous years, the FCTE offered Adjunct Academy in both the fall and winter. Most recently, however, there has only been a fall offering and we recommend, rather than mandate, attendance for new faculty. In the future, we hope to add mandatory, biannual onboarding for adjunct faculty new hires.

Onboarding Lecturers

Because of the different expectations embedded within lecturers’ job descriptions (i.e., no committee work, no professional development expectations, increased credit loads), their onboarding topics and experiences are also different. These hires have had adjunct experience at Delta College and are highly regarded for their abilities, so the onboarding process is similar to that for new full-time hires, with tweaks for their unique needs. Lecturers are welcomed with a lunch and an afternoon of conversation. This includes highlighting the responsibilities of their role, sharing ideas and resources, and building connections within the cohort. Most of the lecturers are teaching a heavy load of classes, so it is critical to support them without overwhelming them with extra work. Bi-weekly emails and check-ins remind them that they are supported and valued. Some of the emails are simple touch points with reminders; others request responses to prompts. Prompts are low-stakes and emphasize inclusion and rapport. Examples include, “Share a high point and low point of the last two weeks” or “It’s been really busy; respond with an emoji to let us know how you are doing.” In their second semester as lecturers, new lecturers are required to participate in an FIT group.

Onboarding Modules

The following are activities used in the onboarding processes for faculty workgroups at Delta College. Many of the standalone modules listed below include potential activity extensions, while modules that are intended as ice breakers, to build rapport, or to establish a pedagogical approach do not.

First-Day Planning/Belonging Practices

From the first day of orientation, the facilitators model teaching best practices in all of their interactions with the cohort: building a welcoming classroom climate; employing inclusive and active teaching practices; being mindful of cognitive load; debriefing after talks and experiences; and making visible the structures, resources, and cultural expectations that will allow new hires to better understand and more effectively find their place at the college. Facilitators then ask the cohort to imagine what an ideal first day in their own classrooms might look like, what they would like to communicate about their content and educational goals, and how they would like to be perceived by their students. Facilitators reference the ways they have organized the first day of orientation to stimulate thinking, discussion, and planning. The cohort is challenged to identify behaviors, activities, and/or teaching best practices that would allow them to realize their vision of the ideal first day. Individuals share their ideas with the group, and members make suggestions or offer affirmation as needed. An option for extension is for participants to write a reflection on how the first day of one course went and what might be modified for next time.

Gallery Walk

Participants are divided into small groups and spend 3-5 minutes answering questions posted on a whiteboard or large sticky notes around the room. Questions include:

• Describe how you feel when you walk into your first day of class.
• Describe how you want your students to feel when they walk into the first day of class.
• What works well on your first day of class?
• What questions do you have about EDU 390?

This exercise helps participants get to know new colleagues, share experiences and ideas, get answers to significant questions, and experience an activity they can adapt to their classrooms.

Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry is a positive organizational approach to development and collective learning (Cooperrider & Whintey, 1999). The model uses questions and dialogue to help groups determine their strengths, advantages, and opportunities as a way to move forward together. The FCTE makes use of this approach in the onboarding process for both full-time faculty and lecturers because their onboarding extends over a period of months and allows time for customization of activities and content. FCTE coordinators act as facilitators, asking members of the cohort what they want and need to thrive throughout the onboarding process, then adjusting the curriculum of EDU 390 accordingly. This model for collective learning focuses on positives, encourages sharing, involves all stakeholders, is future-focused, and is adaptable to the classroom setting should participants in the cohort wish to use it themselves.

20 Questions

New faculty are given blank sticky notes and directed to write questions down as they come to mind throughout each session. At the end of each session, questions are collected and easier questions are answered on the spot. Other questions are researched and answers compiled for distribution later. The format is relaxed, with facilitators sharing experiences and encouraging participant stories as well. This is an ongoing activity that can be replicated in participants’ classrooms.

Syllabus Workshop

New faculty bring hard copies or have access to digital copies of their syllabi. Facilitators show new faculty how to access Simple Syllabus digital storage for common syllabus policies and statements at Delta College. Participants generate a list of syllabus headings, necessities, and niceties, explaining particulars and rationale as needed. For example, facilitators and new faculty may share their artificial intelligence or civility policies, as these policies may be tricky for new faculty to develop and approaches to them are quite varied. In the syllabus workshop, emphasis is placed on clarity; student-centeredness; faculty and student rights and responsibilities; and attention to equity, diversity, and inclusion (DEI) in both language choices and course expectations. Participants share syllabus language they are particularly proud of and questions they still have about their syllabus development. An option for extension is to have new faculty revise a syllabus section in light of the activity and discussion.

Teaching Persona Reflections

New faculty are asked to respond to the following prompts:

• Write about a time when a teacher made you feel welcomed, included, smart, important, or any other positive quality. In addition to the teacher’s actions and how they made you feel, describe the personality trait the teacher exemplified in this instance.
• Write about a time when a teacher made you feel excluded, stupid, unimportant, small, or any other negative quality. In addition to the teacher’s actions and how they made you feel, describe the personality trait the teacher exemplified in this instance.
• What about yourself do you want to project to your students? Why? How do/can you show these characteristics?

After responding to the prompts, volunteers share their experiences. Facilitators segue the discussion to include how these experiences relate to teaching persona, or the version of oneself an instructor presents to their students. Facilitators emphasize being deliberate about developing a teaching persona and enacting specific moves that enforce it. An option for extension is a reflection assignment aimed at each new faculty’s ideal teaching persona and specific ways to exemplify the characteristics therein.

Office Set-Up as an Extension of Teaching Persona

Facilitators lead a discussion on the value and purpose of student office hours, gathering input from new faculty on their office hour experiences as college students and now that they are faculty. Facilitators ask new faculty to brainstorm reasons that so many students needing help do not utilize office hours and discuss the correlation between office hour visits and student success. Facilitators posit that students’ perceptions of faculty and their spaces can contribute to whether they will pursue office hour conversations. New faculty are invited to discuss how they might present student office hour information in their syllabi to encourage student visits and how they could organize and decorate their office spaces to align with their intended teaching personas. New faculty are given time to write a description of their ideal office space, formulate a plan to make that space a reality, and share ideas and rationale, borrowing tips and tricks they like from one another as they go. An option for extension is for new faculty to share a before and after photo of their office space or a spot within their offices that they redesign with student belonging in mind.

Policy and Procedure Lightning Talks

Facilitators invite speakers from around campus to debrief on pressing or required policies and procedures in short, carefully scheduled windows of time. Our speaker roster this year included representatives from the Teaching and Learning Center, Disabilities Resources, Title IX, Equity, DCFA, Public Safety, Student Support System, Counseling, Advising, and Registration. Because of the speed and volume of the presentations, participants jot remaining questions on sticky notes as each lightning talk wraps up. Sticky notes are collected as the sessions conclude and emails answering those questions are sent to the whole group shortly after the meeting. An option for extension is a call for syllabus revisions based on information learned from the presentations.

Networking Lunches

Facilitators invite staff from the faculty union, administration, support staff, and administrative professional workgroups to introduce themselves and answer questions during planned lunches. Networking lunches offer a deliberate break from more official presentations and information sharing. Our most recent series of networking lunches included (1) an administration day, wherein we invited the college president, vice presidents, deans, and associate deans; (2) a cohort day for new faculty to get to know each other and their facilitators a bit better before the launch of fall semester; and (3) a New BFFs day, with administrative professionals from each area, coordinators from the tutoring centers and library, a representative from the onsite U.S. Post Office, the printing team, members of the counseling and advising staff, and bookstore staff.

Campus Tour

Facilitators walk new faculty around campus to point out areas of interest, discuss the layout of the campus, visit each cohort member’s office space, identify where facilitator offices are located, and emphasize important lesser-known locations. Although some places on our campus are clearly identified and easily located, we also include important areas that might otherwise be overlooked, such as pumping/breastfeeding spaces, gender-inclusive restrooms, meditation/prayer spaces, the student/staff food pantry, pretty areas of the college that have recently been renovated, the courtyard, and any other areas new faculty express interest in visiting. This tour serves many purposes, including getting new faculty out of the classroom and moving around, familiarizing them with the campus, and helping them to become resources for incoming students who will need help navigating when the semester begins. An option for extension is to have faculty share one stop on the tour they had not previously been aware of and how it might benefit them or their students.

Independent Study

After long periods of instruction or lecture during orientation for full-time faculty and lecturers, facilitators provide a one- or two-hour block of unstructured time to allow individuals in the cohort to reflect on information they have just heard, to plan, to develop teaching materials, or to engage in a self-care activity. Parameters for independent study time include the admonition not to check email or to leave campus, but to use the time to do something that will build them up or position them for greater success.

Desire2Learn Medium-Dive

Because some new faculty are unfamiliar with D2L, Delta College’s learning management system (LMS), or new to online teaching, facilitators poll the cohort to discern their skills, concerns, and questions. More experienced faculty, including facilitators and new faculty who report D2L comfort and familiarity, share knowledge to address the group’s pressing concerns and questions. At the end of the information sharing time, facilitators give new faculty time to work within their course shells. An option for extension is a discussion board for new faculty to share one key takeaway from the activity and/or any remaining questions they still have with the group, and the opportunity to chime in on each other’s responses and questions.

Desire2Learn Deep-Dive

Once faculty are familiar with D2L basics, facilitators invite a colleague with D2L expertise to teach more in-depth site development, maintenance, or best practices, along with lesser-known tips, tricks, and tools of the LMS. Again, as information sharing concludes, new faculty are given time to work while the expert remains in the room to answer questions and troubleshoot. As with the medium-dive, an option for extension is a discussion board for new faculty to share one key takeaway from the activity and/or any remaining questions they still have with the group, and the opportunity to chime in on each other’s responses and questions.

DEI Share and Development

Participants are asked to bring written details for one activity, assignment, teaching strategy, or policy that illustrates their deliberate incorporation of DEI in their classrooms. In class, facilitators ask participants to jot down definitions for each term with an emphasis on illustrating the differences between diversity, equity, and inclusion, then lead a discussion of the definitions. Each new faculty member shares their prepared DEI ideas, while others jot down any ideas that might work in their own teaching. If it’s clear that one area of DEI has been overlooked or underrepresented in the idea-sharing, facilitators and participants further discuss that core value and generate ideas for how to incorporate it into their classrooms. An option for extension is to have participants tweak an assignment, activity, or policy based on the ideas shared and subsequent discussion.

Faculty Investment Teams

FIT is a professional development experience that takes place over the course of a semester, with options to participate in both fall and winter. All faculty workgroups are welcome to join, and many Delta College faculty enroll in groups semester after semester. Groups usually consist of four to eight members. Participants are grouped based on day, time, and modality preferences, and groups meet biweekly for discussion. The dialog centers around four investments that faculty can make to support student success: build community, have conversations, provide timely feedback, and practice situational fairness. Faculty in the groups engage in confidential conversations surrounding how to enact the investments and share successes, struggles, and solutions.

New hires in the full-time and lecturer workgroups are required to participate in a FIT group for at least one semester; this requirement accounts for the additional credit in full-time faculty’s two-credit winter semester in EDU 390 BW. Adjunct faculty may self-select to participate, and an information and sign-up table is provided at Adjunct Academy to encourage this. For colleges that wish to adopt a similar model but lack an analog for FIT groups, consider requiring new hires to engage in existing professional development and networking opportunities, such as faculty learning communities or campuswide reads. An option for extension is a reflection including the names of group members and their divisions, a paragraph detailing the most interesting or important topic or strategy gleaned from the discussions, a paragraph about the benefits of participating in the FIT group, and a paragraph detailing any suggestions for FIT group improvement. Facilitators can share positive feedback in future FIT promotional materials and compile feedback for improvement to FIT leaders.

Comfort Food for Uncomfortable Topics

New faculty are asked in advance to come to this session with one pressing complaint, concern, or problem relating to any aspect of their work. Facilitators provide food appropriate to the dietary needs of the cohort and encourage participants to grab a plate of snacks before beginning. Then, facilitators lead a discussion in which each new faculty member shares their concern, and the group validates the concern, brainstorms solutions, and makes recommendations. If the cohort is large, special attention should be paid to timekeeping so that all concerns are heard. Timers are recommended to ensure equal time and opportunity. If possible, this session should be coupled with or followed up by a module, content, or activity designed to bring the participants back to a positive place. An option for extension is to have participants reflect anew on their concern, given the direction of the discussion.

Self-Care Speakers

Facilitators invite faculty speakers to share self-care practices, self-care benefits, and research on the importance of self-care. Our recent roster of speakers included a political science faculty member who spoke on the importance of faculty self-advocacy as a self-care practice and a psychology faculty member who spoke about the psychological benefits of self-care and offered self-care tips. Consider inviting biology faculty, who can share the value of enjoying nature and expert tips on interesting natural phenomenon to be on the hunt for in the current season; health and wellness faculty, who can lead the group in an exercise activity and discuss the benefits of physical fitness; or English faculty, who can share research on writing as an act of self-care and reflection. This self-care module is a great follow-up for a known stressful week, such as midterms, or a stressful topic, like tenure and promotion. An option for extension is to have participants form and then implement a self-care plan, and to schedule time for sharing the impacts of regular self-care at the next meeting.

Journaling for Self-Care and Celebration

Facilitators set up a warm and inviting space in advance of the cohort’s arrival. To create an appropriately calming environment, consider bringing electric candles, playing soft spa music, providing chocolate, or dimming lights. Facilitators distribute journals and offer a variety of writing utensils for each participant. Briefly, facilitators share research on the value of reflection to enhance one’s teaching practice and the value of journaling more generally. Participants share the ways they reflect on their teaching or use journaling in their personal lives. Finally, facilitators provide prompts and ask members of the cohort to respond in their journals to help them recognize, process, and celebrate triumphs and growth that happened over the semester. Prompts include:

• Describe a connection you made with a student.
• Describe a proud or heartwarming moment that took place this semester.
• Describe a way in which you have grown as an educator.
• Describe a positive interaction with or relationship formed with a colleague.
• Describe a classroom problem or obstacle you overcame or managed successfully.
• Describe a fun or funny moment in class or with colleagues.
• Describe a characteristic you’ve fine-tuned.
• Describe an essential member of your support system and how they help.
• Describe an instance in which you were pleasantly surprised by your students, teaching, or Delta College.
• Describe an amazing thing happening right now in your life outside of Delta College.

Careful attention should be given to time parameters for each prompt, and facilitators should attempt to elicit a response from each new faculty member, perhaps asking each to share the response of their choosing. This would be a great end-of-semester or end-of-academic-year activity. An option for extension is to invite new faculty to indicate on a discussion board their favorite response to any of the prompts and encourage them to share their responses with their students or support systems, if appropriate.

Last year, we requisitioned journals customized to fit each new faculty member’s interests, field of specialty, or a fun fact they had previously shared about themselves. When the cohort arrived for our Journaling and Self-Care Celebration, we asked them to walk around the room to see the individualized journals laid out on tables and to guess which would be theirs. This was a fun way to introduce the activity and build excitement for the events we had planned.

Impact

At Delta College, we aim to onboard and retain new faculty members from our faculty workgroups by creating an environment of belonging and inclusion. This is achieved through careful planning to ensure that onboarding meets the specific needs of each workgroup while developing their best teaching practices, familiarizing them with campus layout and resources, introducing them to the people who will support them and their students, addressing problems and concerns as they occur, celebrating achievements and progress, and supporting their well-being. If faculty feel included, their sense of belonging increases, encouraging them to settle into long and productive careers at Delta College. It is our belief that faculty who feel as if they belong will, in turn, work to create feelings of belonging and inclusion for our shared students.

Reference

Cooperrider, D. L., & Whitney, D. (1999). A positive revolution in change: Appreciative inquiry. Corporation for Positive Change.

Betheen Glady-Teschendorf is Coordinator, Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence, and Professor, English; Angela Trabalka is Coordinator, Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence, and Associate Professor, English; and Beth Kelch is Emeritus Coordinator, Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence, and Associate Professor, Mathematics, at Delta College in University Center, Michigan.

Opinions expressed in League Occasional Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the League for Innovation in the Community College.