New Faculty

Faculty Orientation

Welcome New Faculty

“Creating better teachers to better serve our students” is the slogan of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). To fulfill this mission, New Faculty Orientation (NFO) is designed to cultivate a culture of teaching excellence. The NFO curriculum aligns with CTL’s mission to:

Provide faculty development that fosters a culture of teaching and learning excellence, transforming faculty teaching practices.
Promote best practices for teaching excellence in both traditional and online pedagogy.
Offer faculty opportunities for research, scholarship, service, and leadership development, encouraging pedagogical innovations to improve student outcomes.
Collaborate with the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) and other campus offices to foster a culture of collaboration.
Develop strategies to increase awareness and participation in all CTL activities and initiatives.

The Center for Teaching and Learning, through New Faculty Orientation, underscores the importance of career planning. It helps faculty understand how and when to provide service within the department and the college, plan for publishing, and balance teaching responsibilities—critical elements for tenure-track faculty to achieve reappointment, tenure, and/or promotion.

During the 2024–2025 academic year, the NFO sessions will focus on building a sense of belonging and community. These sessions will feature structured activities with guest presenters, alongside opportunities for NFO participants to connect and bond. The ultimate goal of NFO is to provide a supportive and safe environment for faculty to continue growing and thriving in their roles.

New Faculty Orientation is an ongoing introductory program for all new faculty hired at the college. In the 2024–2025 academic year, we welcomed 7 new faculty members. The program consists of thirteen mandatory 3-hour sessions and one year-end celebration, where new faculty members are introduced to the CTL Advisory Council. The training covers a variety of topics, including:

Integration into the Hostos community
Team-Based Learning
Mentoring
Journey to Cultural Awareness
Path to Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion
Governance and College Policies
Applying for Grants and Research Planning
Sexual Harassment and the EEO/Non-Discrimination Policy
Understanding Contracts and Other College Policies
Peer Observation
Research Matters: Developing Student Ownership of the Research Process
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)/Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Service and Leadership: Being Open to Opportunities
Introduction to College-wide Committees
Teaching Online Courses, among others.

Fall Conversations

Welcome; Introductions; Overview of the Orientation Process; Virtual Tour; Hostos Archives and The First Year of Teaching

The goal of this session is to welcome the new faculty joining the Hostos community and introduce them to the history of Hostos CC.

Journey to Cultural Awareness and Identifying Student Support Systems

The goal of this session is to discuss the available opportunities to sensitively support our students.

Moving Toward Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion and Governance

The goal of this session is to ensure the success of the new faculty.

Learning Sciences & Best Practices, Assessment

The goal of this session is to review the scholarship pertaining to high-impact practices and assessments.

DEI vis-à-vis the Spring 2023 Schedule and Reflections

The goal of this session is to discuss our understanding of DEI and its impact on our pedagogy, curriculum, and student learning. Additionally, we will initiate the beginning of an end-of-term reflection.