Beyond Traditional Faculty Orientation: UC San Diego’s New Faculty Academy
A unique cohort model redefines professional development for early-career and newly appointed faculty members
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The first years as an early-career or newly appointed faculty member can be both exciting and overwhelming.
“The challenges faced by new faculty are tremendous. New faculty have to navigate learning how to serve as instructors of record, how to advise graduate students, what constitutes sufficient research activity for tenure, and how to get all that activity done in a short span of time while also managing their own lives,” says M. Myrta Leslie Santana, Associate Professor of Music and New Faculty Academy facilitator.
For this pivotal period, UC San Diego offers vital support beyond a typical faculty orientation program. The Teaching and Learning Commons and the Center for Faculty Success and Engagement, launched the New Faculty Academy (NFA) for faculty who joined UC San Diego in recent years with expectations for teaching, service, and research. The NFA is a unique, cohort-based, year-long professional development program for new and early-career faculty designed to help them understand general expectations and learn strategies for faculty success and advancement, while building a community of colleagues across campus. The year-long program consists of eight sessions with at least half of the six content sessions held in person. Participants in the last 2 cohorts have represented 31 different departments and programs, spanning all schools and colleges.
Stanley M. Lo, Teaching Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and NFA Facilitator, explains the value of the NFA, “Being a faculty member is quite a different role than a graduate or postdoctoral researcher. It almost requires a brand-new skill set complementary to the research and disciplinary expertise within a topic that they have already developed. The New Faculty Academy helps fill that important gap, in addition to the cross-department community building it fosters.”
During the first NFA cohort of 2024-2025, 42 faculty members completed the program, from seven general campus schools, two colleges, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the School of Medicine. Participants learned from facilitators including tenured faculty and staff from departments and programs across campus, the Academic Senate, Research Development, and the Teaching and Learning Commons.
Kumiko Haas, Director of Engaged Teaching for the Teaching and Learning Commons, highlighted that the content presented in the NFA is consistent with best practices of education and connects participants with valuable faculty resources at UC San Diego such as Teaching Consultations, Observations, and Early Student Feedback. Education Specialists offer faculty one-on-one support on any teaching topic of interest and can help in collecting early student feedback on how their learning is progressing.
“Being a faculty member is quite a different role than a graduate or postdoctoral researcher. It almost requires a brand-new skill set... The New Faculty Academy helps fill that important gap, in addition to the cross-department community building it fosters.”
“For faculty, student feedback data can help identify what’s working, reveal what isn’t and help guide them toward more impactful instruction. Early-career and new faculty members are still discovering their instruction style and classroom strategies. These tools can help new instructors cultivate more meaningful learning environments and establish habits that will support their future career growth and advancement,” says Haas.
Past participants reviewed the NFA program positively, with 91 percent of post-academy survey respondents being satisfied or very satisfied with the academy and finding the information, strategies and tools shared during the sessions helpful or very helpful. All respondents said they would recommend the NFA to colleagues Survey respondents valued the connections and community created through participation in the program, as well as learning about resources, especially from other faculty, and an overview of the tenure process.
Past participant Nabora Reyes De Barboza, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, found the connections she built with faculty and staff to be the most valuable. “I recognize faculty and staff outside the& academy setting and feel part of a community.” She also appreciated the program providing examples of what is expected to submit for career and merit reviews, saying, “It was nice to see actual package examples.”
New Faculty Academy participants mingle after a session
Past participant Marcelo Caetano, Assistant Professor in the Department of Music, also noted specific resources that he found valuable from the NFA, stating, “I find all the resources from the New Faculty Academy to contain invaluable information, from the mentor map to the information about how to start and fund a lab. The NFA also connected me with a more senior faculty member from my department who is a former participant of the NFA and the Faculty Success Program
The 2025-2026 New Faculty Academy is already underway, from October 2025 through May 2026. With the success of the New Faculty Academy, the organizers are thinking of ways to expand the impact of the program. The NFA plans to continue engaging the 2024-2025 cohort in a supplemental series of in-person workshops during the winter and spring quarters as part of a new “2.0” initiative to further promote a continued partnership of support for new faculty.
“The New Faculty Academy is one of the ways UC San Diego supports faculty success, leadership capacity and excellence. These efforts not only support individual faculty but also strengthen our entire campus community and the university’s commitment to academic excellence,” says Vic Ferreira, Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Success and Engagement, and Professor in the Department of Psychology.
Applications for the New Faculty Academy are open each August through September. Learn more about the New Faculty Academy on the Center for Faculty Success and Engagement’s website.
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