New Faculty Institute

The New Faculty Institute (NFI) fosters a spirit of intellectual curiosity and community among UMass Dartmouth’s new faculty hires every year. 

NFI Goals

• support the formation of a professional cohort among newly-hired UMassD faculty and librarians
• integrate new faculty and librarians into the life of the university
• engage and support faculty in an active, rigorous teaching and scholarship program
• offer weekly workshops and information sessions that introduce new faculty and librarians to various units, offices, and personnel across the university
• review contractual issues and the processes for contract renewal and planning for tenure
• connect faculty and librarians with colleagues across colleges for potential interdisciplinary collaboration

Weekly Meetings

NFI meets every Wednesday from 3-5 pm in the OFD (Library, Room 213) throughout the academic year. A detailed schedule will be provided at the start of each semester and refreshments are provided at each NFI meeting. NFI is led by Dr. Jay Zysk, OFD Director, and features several guest presenters over the course of the year.

All new tenure-track faculty receive a course release for their first two semesters in support of their commitment to the NFI and thus are required to attend the weekly meetings.

During these meetings, new faculty will:

• learn about various units and departments on campus, including: Student Affairs, Registrar, International Programs, Honors College, Office of Undergraduate Research, Faculty Senate, Faculty Federation, Office of Research Administration, Claire T. Carney Library, CITS Instructional Development, the Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and the Writing and Multiliteracy Center
• engage in reflective practices for teaching and scholarship
• create and maintain a dossier for annual reviews and contract renewals
• develop strategies for teaching across modalities (face-to-face, blended, fully online) and implementing various instructional technologies into pedagogical practice
• create a plan for tenure (specific sessions will be devoted to helping new faculty consider how they plan to develop their teaching and research agenda as they move toward tenure)