First Year Program Annual Report 2004

Section 5: Faculty and Instructional Development

  1. 2003 Training Workshops in April and August were reorganized to accommodate the different needs of FY faculty and SPLs. (See Appendix E: Training Workshop Schedules.) These workshops are coordinated by the First Year Program and involve various campus offices, including, Academic Advising, Multicultural Affairs, and the library. In addition, several past FY faculty have made presentations on relevant topics, such as critical thinking, integration of student affairs activities, group facilitation, and faculty-student peer leader relationship. Their experience is invaluable to new FY faculty and SPLs.
    1. One recommendation from the 2003 report requested more attention to FY writing assignments. This spring Training Workshop for fall 2004 included a session on preparing writing (constructing assignments, length of writing assignments, and grading).
  2. The First Year Program coordinated fall semester meetings for both FY faculty and SPLs. The Administrative Assistant was primarily responsible for coordinating the SPLs and preparing sessions that are helpful to their individual roles in FY sections.
    1. In addition, there was one mid-semester meeting of FY faculty to discuss their progress in their courses and to address any concerns. This meeting also provided a means of establishing a sense of community among the FY faculty.
  3. Two faculty members and the administrative assistant presented at conferences related to first year experiences.
    1. Darcy Schultz and Anita Lorentzen Wells, FY faculty teaching English 101, presented at the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience, "Reflections on a First-Year Composition Course," February 2004. Subsequently, they revised their presentation for 2004 Spring Training Workshop of new FY faculty and SPLs
    2. Kristi Bryant, Administrative Assistant, presented "The Transference of Academic Citizenship Skills" at Annual Philological Conference at Idaho State University, April 2004. Fall 2004 Kristi will teach a FY section of English 101.