Chapter 18: Meeting New Faculty at the Intersection

Abstract

Faculty developers canplaya significant role in increasing theretention of newfaculty. This chapter presents a study conducted at a public research university that reveals that first-year faculty need personal, relational, and professional support. However, theimportance of each type of support shifts during this first year, suggesting that faculty development efforts aimed toward newfaculty should adjust accordingly. This study uses a sequential mixed-method design and is grounded in adult development theory, which views newfaculty as adult learners in a career-life transition and faculty developers as adult educators.