Join us for an interactive workshop exploring innovative approaches to online faculty onboarding and engagement within higher education! We will share best practices in empowering faculty in our program. The focus of this session is showcasing our General Education program's unique care model for faculty growth and development.

By fostering a university Care Model, we have built a culture climate where colleagues can thrive and grow creatively. Through this approach, we empower newly hired faculty by implementing specific strategies during the onboarding process that lead to sustainable engagement and better academic performance by students. Faculty members extend the care model into the classroom, fostering a unique learning culture. Given the tenet of an exceptional Care Model, we have found that students become motivated and engaged when faculty thrive. In addition, innovative teaching techniques emerge, and new ideas around pedagogy and methodologies flourish in the online environment. The care model also sets the tone for an inclusive community where all stakeholders are respected and valued. Therefore, we recognize that the new faculty orientation is pivotal in developing teaching excellence to usher faculty into the caring culture and provide the finest practitioner-focused education. During this interactive workshop, we will share some of our best practices and invite the audience to participate via an interactive dialogue using open-ended questions.

This interactive workshop will include best practices used in new faculty orientation, tailored coaching, and building community for faculty longevity resulting in sustainable engagement in an online program. We invite the audience to participate via an interactive dialogue using open-ended questions.

Our Care Model for faculty begins with the new faculty orientation. The new faculty orientation aims to empower and equip faculty with best practices catering to our unique student population. The training occurs over three weeks in a hands-on online course room where the new faculty experience the role of a student. In turn, the Associate Deans lead, guide, and train new faculty through the four essential areas of the orientation course.

These encompass:

1.      Introduction to the organization's mission, purpose, and vision.

2.      Introduction to the university’s policies.

3.      Training in the Learning Management System, various external integrated platforms, and tools used in courses.

4.      Faculty best practices and teaching excellence in the environment for General Education courses. 

New faculty are required to complete the orientation course requirements four weeks prior to their first teaching assignment. Upon completion of this training, faculty will gain access to their course, allowing them to apply the knowledge acquired during the orientation. The modules also include training on various platforms used in our courses to ensure digital readiness. This process fosters rapport and begins a professional working relationship between new faculty and each Dean.

Tailored Coaching after Orientation:

We continue to support new faculty as they navigate through the requirements of courses based on our approved curriculum. The Associate Dean meets with the newly hired online faculty two to three times during their first teaching session. The new hire and Dean review the course expectations in these meetings, revisit best practices, and teach excellence in the online course room. Therefore, these individual meetings provide a tailored coaching opportunity between the Associate Dean and the online instructor. This process gives the new online faculty a strong foundation for understanding the university’s expectations within the framework of the care model. Doing so strengthens a long-term professional relationship between Associate Deans and faculty.

Beyond the First Teaching Session:

Beyond the initial coaching, we build community within the general education program for continued faculty empowerment. Our best practices include:

1.      A cross-discipline collaboration approach between all disciplines

2.      General Education Faculty Forum - Kudos, scholarship, metrics, outcomes

3.      Using Teams collaborative channel for unified information delivery

4.      Course Collaboration Meetings within each discipline

Faculty engagement is also attributed to our cross-course collaboration sharing best practices and information relevant to the online General Education faculty. Every session, our online General Education faculty comes together in an online faculty forum. The forum starts with giving kudos to selected faculty from different courses who have shown exemplary care for our students. We also celebrate faculty achievements in advancing their education, completing scholarly work, or attending conferences. The Academic Leadership also uses this platform to share metrics, course outcomes from the previous session, and training on the new tools or processes being implemented. A key feature of these calls is faculty presentations. Our visiting professors share their best practices for student engagement, showcase new Canvas tools, and collaborate on course improvements during these meetings. Faculty presentations disseminate relevant and practical information, helping them feel included in the broader community, and demonstrating greater commitment to the organization and students.

The Online Communications Hub in Microsoft Teams and Forms

The collaboration between different teams is facilitated using a one combined Microsoft Teams channel for all our online General Education faculty. Course-related announcements, weekly updates, job aids, and training videos are posted on this channel and accessible to faculty in all General Education online courses. Other applications used by faculty and administrators in the teams are reminders of upcoming important dates, completing regular required tasks and completing required training for the university.

In contrast, Microsoft Office Forms are used to collect faculty feedback after our faculty forums, faculty can use it to apply for promotions, and we also use it as a tool for online course setup every academic term.

Course Collaboration Meetings:

We continue to make efforts to involve our online faculty in various course enhancement projects. Individual course faculty, the course lead and dean meet once a session to discuss the course outcomes, challenges, and any modifications that can improve student learning and engagement in the online courses. Online faculty, course leads, and other subject matter experts also collaborate in projects designed to map curriculum for General Education courses.

Summary:

Coaching online faculty throughout each term is essential to the Care Model.  Although an online faculty member may not be new to teaching, they are new to a specific institution.  The new faculty orientation course is designed to help the newly hired to navigate our school's unique culture, policies, and procedures. These faculty meet with a course lead or Associate Dean every other week to discuss best practices, review the online faculty member’s course, and ensure that they integrate smoothly into the school community. As a result, we have a very high faculty satisfaction and a low turnover in the General Education online program. This faculty longevity and engagement have pivoted ways for evidence-based best practices to improve student satisfaction, enhance course curriculum, and promote and empower newly hired members to become successful in their duties.

The engagement strategy and interactivity for the presentation include:

Introduction with an interactive icebreaker using a Google Earth map to identify states or organizations represented in the audience and ask for their favorite song via white board or survey (own onboarding experience or onboarding a team member). Ultimately, we will pull the songs into a playlist to build a community they can take with them after the presentation.

During the presentation: Use PowerPoint Slides for the actual presentation, surveys and Whiteboard that the audience can use to respond to open-ended questions and share ideas.

Dr. Puja Shahi, Ph.D.

Associate Dean at Chamberlain University-Illinois

As an Associate Dean in the general education program for 10 years at Chamberlain University, Dr. Puja Shahi oversees the Psychology, and Anatomy and Physiology courses, focusing on delivering high-quality, engaging content in the online environment. Additionally, she provides guidance and leadership for campus-based Science courses, striving to maintain excellence in virtual and traditional learning settings. With a background in Molecular Physiology and Biochemistry, her academic journey began with innovative research identifying the first glutathione transporter and deciphering the process of amyloid fibril formation in her graduate program. Following this, she spent seven years as a dedicated postdoctoral fellow, honing her skills and deepening her understanding of disease resistance in microbes. She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented key research findings at conferences.
Driven by a passion for education and a commitment to student success, Dr Puja Shahi transitioned into a leadership position while continuing to teach in the classroom. She has spent a decade managing online and online general education courses and teaches microbiology, chemistry, and anatomy physiology courses in the undergraduate program. With a passion for evidence-based teaching practices and developing curricula to prepare students for real-world challenges, she is dedicated to supporting faculty in delivering competence-based education while fostering a dynamic environment to support their growth through scholarship work.
With a deep-rooted belief in the transformative power of education, Dr. Shahi thrives on innovating and inspiring, shaping the next generation of thinkers and scholars while fostering an inclusive and supportive academic community.

Brigitte Powell Ph.D., Ed.D.

Associate Dean at Chamberlain University-Illinois

Powell is a proven leader and passionate historian with 35 years of experience in education and educational leadership. He possesses the knowledge and skills necessary to teach diverse learners and is dedicated to helping students succeed in higher education and become self-directed learners. With two advanced degrees, Powell has successfully managed and enhanced teams of faculty, implemented student retention initiatives, and collaborated across departments to achieve strategic goals. As a dynamic lecturer, she has served as a keynote speaker at conferences and given lectures and podcasts in higher education, covering various topics in two disciplines and leadership.

She received her Doctorate in Education, specializing in leadership and curriculum from Capella University, where her dissertation, Integration of Multimedia Resources to Enhance Curriculum: A Partnership Between Higher Education and Museums, earned the Presidential Management Fellowship nomination. She graduated from Liberty University with a Ph.D. in History with Honors of Highest Distinction. Her dissertation culminated in the book The Intellectual and Diplomatic Discourse of American Progressives and the Late Ottomans, 1830-1930.

As a research specialist with the Library of Congress, her research interests are intellectual and constitutional history, and she specializes in American foreign policy and political theory. Before working in higher education, Dr. Powell was a CFO in the beauty industry.

Brigitte Powell, Ph.D. Ed.D.

Dr. Audrie Cruz-Sealey, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean of Math at Chamberlain University-Illinois

Dr. Orlando Lobaina, Ed.D.

Associate Dean of General Education at Chamberlain University-Virginia