New Faculty Orientation

Welcome to the University of Mary Washington! 

Separate orientation sessions are held for full-time faculty and for adjunct faculty. This page was last updated on July 31, 2023.


Full Time Faculty

Orientation for new full-time faculty starts during the “pre-semester” (the period from August 16 until the first day of the fall semester) and continues throughout the year.

Here is the pre-semester schedule of events for full-time faculty for the August 16 – August 28 period. New faculty should note that some events are scheduled for new faculty while others are scheduled for all faculty.

Additional “followup” new faculty orientation events for full-time faculty may be scheduled later in the fall semester and in the spring semester. In addition to providing an opportunity to check in and see how everything is going, these additional orientation meetings would deal with other important issues relevant to facilitating a successful new faculty experience at UMW. Details about such meetings will be provided directly to new faculty members.

Adjunct Faculty

The next opening orientation session for new adjunct faculty members will occur on Monday, August 21, 2023 at 5 p.m. This will be an online (Zoom) meeting. New adjunct faculty will receive the meeting link. Any adjunct faculty member not receiving the link but who wishes to participate in the orientation should contact Victoria Russell, Director of Center for Teaching. The orientation will focus on a number of practical tasks such as: an overview of basic UMW academic policies and procedures; an introduction to Title IX requirements and expectations; how to retrieve course rolls and grade rosters; how to get help with IT needs and issues; how to use “early alerts” to notify students of academic concerns and issues; and assorted other useful topics designed to help new adjunct faculty get off to a great start.

 

RESOURCES FOR ALL NEW FACULTY

Navigating the campuses

A map of the Fredericksburg campus

Directions to UMW’s campuses at Stafford and Dahlgren

Learning the lingo!

This handout offers help in “decoding” some of the terms, nicknames, and acronyms you’ll hear tossed about on campus.

Preparing your course syllabi

All faculty are required to submit a digital copy of the syllabus for each course taught.  These documents provide useful instructions about preparing the course syllabus.

Digital Syllabi Guidance for New Faculty

Key dates to keep in mind when preparing the syllabus

Student Learning Outcomes and the Syllabus

•Student Learning Outcomes for General Education Courses

New general education requirements with revised student learning outcomes (in the document above) went into effect in fall 2020. 

•Required Syllabus Statements

§5.4.6 of the UMW Faculty Handbook requires that the course syllabus contain three policy statements: an accessibility statement; a course recording policy statement; and a Title IX policy statement.

Example syllabi statements are provided on the Provost web site as a reference. Questions should be addressed to the office that is indicated as the source of the example syllabi statements listed below. Accessibility Statements  are provided by the Office of Disability Resources. The Title IX Statement is from the Title IX Office. Example statements for the Recording Policy are provided by the Office of the Provost.

Contact Information — Who can you turn to for help?

These two documents list the names, numbers, and web sites for a number of key administrators, offices, staff, and faculty members.

• Referral Sheet for New Faculty

UMW Academic Administration

Title IX Resources

Orientation to Library resources

Orientation to Information/Instructional Technology resources

For assistance with a broad range of IT issues, turn to the HelpDesk for assistance.

Also, take a look at this Guide to IT resources for new faculty.

Finally, the Canvas Guide will help you get acquainted with UMW’s Learning Management System

Orientation to Teaching Support and Development resources

The Center for Teaching works with faculty to design instructional experiences that use evidence-based practices in order maximize learning in the classroom (whether it’s a virtual, a face-to-face, or a hybrid classroom).

Digital Learning Support provides a variety of resources enabling faculty to implement a wide range of digital pedagogies in their courses.

The Writing Center — help for faculty in using writing assignments effectively, and peer tutoring for students on writing projects and assignments

The Speaking Center — help for faculty in using speaking assignments effectively, and peer consultations for students on speaking projects and assignments

The Digital Knowledge Center — peer tutoring to all University students on digital projects and assignments

Keeping up with the academic calendar

Important dates and deadlines are this useful calendar of Dates for Instructional Faculty.

You might also want to refer to the full Academic Calendar.

Course Evaluations

The course evaluation questions

The course evaluation process

The course evaluation calendar

Final Examination Schedule

You are to administer a final examination in a full semester long course during the exam week —follow this schedule.  For eight week courses, the last day of the course is the final exam day. Additional details about final exams are found at this location.

UMW policies regarding final examinations (and requests for rescheduling an exam time) can be found here. Also, note these important final examination reminders from the Faculty Handbook.

Incomplete Grades

Should the need arise, you have the option to issue a grade of incomplete (I) for student at the end of the semester. Here are the procedures for issuing a grade of incomplete; anyone wishing to issue an incomplete needs to submit this form to the Office of the Registrar.

To locate your UMW NetId

This is the identification login you will need to access UMW technology systems.  Find your Net ID and learn how to set and reset your password here.

 

Also, take note of the “Helpful Links” on the Provost’s homepage for additional materials that you might find useful, such as–

•The Academic Catalog

•The Faculty Handbook

•The Academic Procedures Directory