January 22, 2025 • 17 mins
Dr. Aimee Weinstein joins Keystone Concepts host, Dr. Rachel Yoho, to discuss how to get started as a new faculty member... or perhaps, how you – as an experienced faculty member – might support your new colleagues.
Resources: Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/ George Mason University motto, mission, vision, core values, and more: https://catalog.gmu.edu/about-mason/university/ Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning First Year Five program: https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/first-year-five-fy5/ George Mason University Library: https://library.gmu.edu/ George Mason University Korea (Mason Korea): https://masonkorea.gmu.edu/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rachel (00:08):
Hello and welcome to Keystone Concepts in Teaching, a
higher education podcast fromthe Stearns Center for Teaching
and Learning.
I'm your host, Rachel Yoho.
In this podcast, we work toshare impactful and evidence
based teaching practices tosupport all students and
faculty.
And we are joined today by ourspecial guest, Dr.
Aimee Weinstein, who's aninstructional associate
(00:30):
professor with the HonorsCollege at George Mason
University, where she teachesresearch writing, creative
nonfiction, writing and reading,and works with the community
based learning team to guidecollege essay mentors for the
early identification program.
Welcome.
Dr.
Weinstein is also affiliatefaculty with Into Mason, where
she works with internationalgraduate students on their
(00:50):
research writing, transitionmanagement, and other assorted
aspects that characterize a moveto a new culture and American
university life.
So thank you so much for joiningus today.
Aimee (01:00):
It's great to be here.
Rachel (01:03):
So as we have this conversation, we wanted to chat
about one of what I think is oneof your passions is really
helping new faculty.
And so our conversation, ourtopic for today is how we get
started as a new faculty member.
And so, as we begin, gettingstarted as a new faculty member
can be pretty daunting.
(01:24):
So whether that's moving roles,like graduate student or
postdoc, into a faculty role, oreven just changing institutions.
So what are some of yourrecommendations for success?
Aimee (01:35):
So glad to be here to discuss this topic with you,
Rachel, because it really is apassion of mine.
I got very lucky when I firststarted in teaching.
Prince George's CommunityCollege took a chance on me.
I had never taught anything toanyone ever.
And, uh, they really helped meget started, but you're right
(01:57):
that it was hard to sort ofbreak in.
The best advice I have for whenyou're switching roles or when
you're switching departments,things like that, is to keep an
open mind, reach out tocolleagues, and use the
resources that they are givingto you.
Sometimes it can be superoverwhelming with all of the
(02:19):
information coming to you all atonce.
But sort through it, take itslowly, and it could be a great
experience.
Rachel (02:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
I see where you're coming fromwith all of the information.
I mean, each time I've movedinstitutions, it's like learning
a whole new alphabet soup ofacronyms and terms.
And well, this building, it'sactually called this, but we'll
refer to it as this or any ofthose things as well.
So I definitely see that.
And so when we're talking aboutgetting started, how might you
(02:49):
approach or recommend findingresources or connecting with
different types of resources?
Aimee (02:57):
A great place to start, as you well know, is the
Teaching and Learning Center, ifthe university has one.
It's invaluable.
The Stearns Center at GeorgeMason has great resources for
faculty, including the FirstYear Five program that we
started together a few yearsago, where George Mason has a
(03:18):
value of inclusive excellence,and it's the best way to help
professors get involved in thatvalue system.
And to meet each other.
And it's a program that's runthrough our teaching and
learning center.
That's for faculty and manyuniversities have these
wonderful places that aresometimes even a refuge for help
(03:42):
and assistance.
I just, you'll find so manypeople there who are welcoming
and interested in teaching andhelpful with resources that are
around there.
Rachel (03:55):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you for the shout out.
And absolutely, it's been greatto work with you, Aimee, on the
First Year Five program and evensee that continue now that we're
hosting the program in Canvasand the new ways we're helping
faculty to engage with eachother.
It's been very exciting to seethat develop from the work that
you started.
But I also agree with you.
I think here and connecting withothers from the Teaching and
(04:17):
Learning Center or through theTeaching and Learning Center can
be great ways to connect withfaculty across disciplines.
I know for me, when I was at mysecond institution as a faculty
member, I did the new facultyprogram, not for the teaching
stuff, but just to meet people.
Just to meet people who areinterested in teaching from
(04:37):
other areas.
Like, I had already done all thenew faculty types of programs at
my first institution, but I wasjust like, you know, hey, this
is worth my time.
I want to connect with thesepeople.
And I think that's a great wayto look at this.
And so making some of theseconnections outside of our
departments can be reallyimportant, but also within our
(04:58):
department.
So how, Aimee, might yourecommend trying to increase
your visibility or foster asense of belonging within the
department?
Aimee (05:08):
So glad you asked that because I think that's the
number one predictor of successfor faculty is a sense of
belonging in the department.
Rachel (05:14):
Yeah.
Aimee (05:15):
It's definitely belonging is everything in these times.
Whether you want to or not,you're going to that faculty
meeting.
It's the best way to connectwith people.
There are usually meetingsbefore semesters begin, meetings
when semesters end, but it'sabout more than the meetings.
When I was at Prince George'sCommunity College, I actually
(05:37):
asked for a desk to hold myoffice hours, I was only
teaching one course thatsemester, just to put myself in
an area where I could be seen orsee what was happening, just to
learn the comings and goings.
It was just great.
I also had a really wackyexperience.
I was On the faculty at theJapan campus of Temple
(05:59):
University for a number of yearswhen I lived there, and they
have a big, huge bullpen styleof offices for professors, just
one big bullpen.
Rachel (06:10):
Ooh, that sounds...
mmm.
Aimee (06:11):
Something, yeah, it was just crazy, but fun too, because
I could hear the math professortalking with the Asian studies
professor and things like that.
And it's okay to put yourselfand good to put yourself into
places where professors meet.
(06:34):
There are areas in the library,use the library for finding
other faculty.
There are just so many ways thatpeople can connect.
In the department though, mostpeople will not say no if you
say, Hey, I'm new, care to get acup of coffee?
It's really about puttingyourself out there and jumping
(06:54):
in with both feet.
Rachel (06:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
So do you have any thoughts onpeople who might not be
physically present on campus?
Like if we have adjuncts whomight be working at a distance
or even the fact that we havemultiple campuses for George
Mason University, including ourKorea campus, which has the
added layer of, you know, a verysignificant time difference.
(07:19):
So how might we have presence ordo you have thoughts on how we
might have presence in differentways when we're not all
physically in the same location?
Aimee (07:29):
Really interesting question and important for us
today, I think, to think about.
I know through the StearnsCenter with the grant
programming that you all do, youhave meetings to connect the
grant teams, which is verythoughtful.
So I think that things likegrants or other type of
(07:49):
programming that happens at theuniversity, that is between
campuses is so interesting, butnot just for the work that
you're doing.
It's also connecting you tocolleagues.
I know the Stearns Center doestheir Course Redesign Academy.
I did the Redesign Academyprobably my third or fourth
semester that I was here atMason and I've been here, this
(08:13):
is year number nine.
Um, and it just was so helpfulto meet the other people, not
just the person I was designingwith because we were co
designing a course at the time.
So, I know that George Mason isvery thoughtful about how to
work across campuses and timezones and things like that.
(08:35):
I'm sure many universities havesimilar programs.
Rachel (08:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think there's a lot ofprogramming that can still be
very present even if it's notphysically present.
Some of our things are alsoasynchronous, so it might be
opportunities to have, you know,conversations on discussion
boards or whatnot, but even likeyou were mentioning, Aimee,
having that cup of coffee mightnot have to be we walk to the
coffee shop together.
Aimee (09:00):
Sure.
Rachel (09:00):
Maybe we're having a cup of coffee in our own locations,
but connecting at a time thatworks for us or works across our
time differences, you know, anyof those things.
So I think that's really great.
Aimee (09:12):
You know, Rachel, I think teaching, it's just not a nine
to five job.
It isn't a job where you evenjust go to your classroom
either.
There's so many things that youcan do that you should do, and
it's good for you, for yourmental health and all kinds of
other things to be with otherpeople and belong in a program
(09:33):
so taking advantage of all thethings that are happening around
is good for you.
Rachel (09:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think here, you know,when we talk about teaching,
teaching can feel veryisolating.
You know, if you're the only onein the room and you are always
responsible for how things areplaying out and all of the
dynamics and the discussions andthe learning outcomes, all of
that, and maybe you're luckyenough to have a teaching
assistant or someone else inthere with you, but most likely
(10:00):
not.
And so having that, that feelthat you're the, the one, the
only, can carry over into theother aspects of our work as
well.
I mean, our own researchprogram, our own scholarship, or
creative projects, or whateverthose might be, but making those
connections outside of that canbe so useful, like you
mentioned, Aimee.
I think that's such a greatpoint.
Aimee (10:22):
Here in the Honors College, we have several people
that teach the same course.
And we do have get togethers viazoom actually to be convenient
for everybody, in course teams.
And I think it's crucial to takeadvantage of those kinds of
opportunities to talk to otherpeople who are teaching the same
course.
Rachel (10:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
There are a lot of great ideaexchanges and, and lots of great
things that I've seen in theHonors College as well.
But do you have any otherrecommendations on ways or
connecting with colleagues?
You know, what, how might youapproach someone for those
connections or collaborations orany other thoughts in that
(11:04):
space?
Aimee (11:06):
It takes a little bit of effort and confidence which is
hard to build when you're firststarting in a new position, but
just reaching out to one or twopeople.
Professors are normally nice,they're welcoming.
They have to be with students.
And it could be a very funthing.
(11:26):
Building relationships is mybest piece of advice.
Rachel (11:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
And especially for ourcolleagues who are in adjunct
types of roles, who maybe don'thave the ability to join us at,
you know, the Wednesday 9:30 AMdepartment meeting or something
like that, even reaching out andsaying, Hey, I'd like to connect
with you.
Or once you have thatconversation, maybe even saying,
(11:51):
Hey, is there one other personyou could connect me with?
Any of those things or asking,you know, I personally really
enjoy connecting people like,hey, I know so and so, have you
met them?
And I think other people do aswell, so I think that's such a
great point.
You know, Aimee, I think a lotof your interests, your
strengths, and a lot of the workyou've done advocating for new
(12:11):
faculty and their programminghas really been around not only
that belonging, but also how weengage and how we teach.
So I'm wondering how, or do youhave recommendations on how to
be engaging and innovative as afaculty member, rather than just
perhaps replicating what many ofus saw in the courses that we
took, however many years ago,that might be?
Aimee (12:36):
That's a really excellent question.
And I feel like that's sort oflike the special sauce of
teaching these days.
Rachel (12:43):
There we go, we've branded it now.
Aimee (12:47):
Students today are different than we were when we
were taking classes.
They have different needs.
They're not going to respond tothe same teaching methods is the
way we were taught.
I know I keep going over it, butanother plug for the Stearns
Center here, because the ways ofteaching are so important, and
learning new ways of engagingand teaching so important, but
(13:10):
we have to really focus in myopinion on transparency with
students today.
They want to know, why do I haveto do this assignment?
Where will I use this again?
The Honors College has a baseresearch class that every single
student takes, some of them geta little bit annoyed that they
(13:34):
can't AP out of it.
They can't test out of it, butwe know that the skills that
they'll use in a proposalwriting class will be for the
rest of their academic career.
And it behooves the professorswho are teaching that class to
say, listen, this is not fornow.
This is also for later.
(13:55):
I'm going to take you throughthis process and if it goes well
for you, or even if it doesn'tgo well for you, you're going to
use this information in yourpsychology class, in your
biology class.
And even in your computerscience research class, and that
type of transparency is justcrucial to students today.
And they'll respond better,truly respond better if a
(14:19):
professor can tell them wherethey're going.
With the information, whatthey're going to do with it, how
it's going to be useful.
Students today are nervous andthey want to know what's
happening.
Surprises are not a good thing.
Rachel (14:35):
I mean, surprises aren't a great thing for any of us when
we're talking about stuff thatmatters.
It's not one of those surpriseslike, ah, look, flowers,
something like that, or a nicelittle gift.
But yeah, I think that's such agreat point because it's not
just about showing that it'srelevant, but it's demonstrating
the relevance.
It's not just convincing people,yes, this is actually worth your
(14:56):
time to do.
We're not begging someone to doour homework assignments or
something like that, but we areshowing why this is an important
skill, how we're connecting thiswith the broader learning goals,
or even skills like you werementioning, Aimee, that the
students will take into othercourses or other things in their
professions.
So I think that's such a greatpoint.
(15:16):
And thank you again so much forthe shout outs for the Stearns
Center.
We might need a conflict ofinterest statement here with Dr.
Aimee Weinstein, who was afabulous faculty fellow with the
Stearns Center for Teaching andLearning.
But I think this is such a greatpoint.
You know, we're not just lookingat what we're teaching, but
we're also looking at how weteach, how we demonstrate
relevance and how we build ourown community.
(15:37):
Because community is soimportant when we get into those
perhaps undesirable situationsor the stressful times as well.
So I really appreciate that.
So as we finish up, personally,I think we're really looking
here at our main keystoneconcept being community, how we
connect with others, whetherthat's our students or with our
(15:58):
colleagues.
But I'm wondering if you haveany final thoughts, Aimee, as
we're wrapping up any finalwords of wisdom or other things
that you'd like to share withnew faculty.
Aimee (16:09):
Keep reaching out.
Really! It's hard to be juststarting.
Reach out to the faculty memberswho are in your department, your
deans hired you for a reason,but also it's okay to reach out
to students and ask them howthey're feeling and what they're
doing and about theirexperiences in the department
(16:31):
and, in a casual way, in apositive way.
But that's how we all buildcommunity together is really
reaching out for each other.
And it's just crucial in thesetimes.
I really feel to be connectedwith other people.
Rachel (16:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, thank you so much for yourtime.
Thank you so much for all of thework that you've done, not only
with the Stearns Center, butbuilding programs and building
things for new faculty and allof that advocacy as well.
But I really enjoyed ourconversation.
I look forward to connectingwith you again soon.
Aimee (17:03):
Rachel, thank you.
Rachel (17:05):
Alright, well thank you so much for joining us for this
episode as we talked about howwe get started as new faculty
members or maybe we got someideas on how to support the new
faculty members in our lives.
And so we can't wait to shareour next episode with you on
Keystone Concepts in Teaching.
And in that episode we're goingto be talking about libraries
and librarians as resources.
(17:25):
So come back and join us and welook forward to sharing that
episode with you.
Hello and welcome to Keystone Concepts in Teaching, a
higher education podcast fromthe Stearns Center for Teaching
and Learning.
I'm your host, Rachel Yoho.
In this podcast, we work toshare impactful and evidence
based teaching practices tosupport all students and
faculty.
And we are joined today by ourspecial guest, Dr.
Aimee Weinstein, who's aninstructional associate
(00:30):
professor with the HonorsCollege at George Mason
University, where she teachesresearch writing, creative
nonfiction, writing and reading,and works with the community
based learning team to guidecollege essay mentors for the
early identification program.
Welcome.
Dr.
Weinstein is also affiliatefaculty with Into Mason, where
she works with internationalgraduate students on their
(00:50):
research writing, transitionmanagement, and other assorted
aspects that characterize a moveto a new culture and American
university life.
So thank you so much for joiningus today.
Aimee (01:00):
It's great to be here.
Rachel (01:03):
So as we have this conversation, we wanted to chat
about one of what I think is oneof your passions is really
helping new faculty.
And so our conversation, ourtopic for today is how we get
started as a new faculty member.
And so, as we begin, gettingstarted as a new faculty member
can be pretty daunting.
(01:24):
So whether that's moving roles,like graduate student or
postdoc, into a faculty role, oreven just changing institutions.
So what are some of yourrecommendations for success?
Aimee (01:35):
So glad to be here to discuss this topic with you,
Rachel, because it really is apassion of mine.
I got very lucky when I firststarted in teaching.
Prince George's CommunityCollege took a chance on me.
I had never taught anything toanyone ever.
And, uh, they really helped meget started, but you're right
(01:57):
that it was hard to sort ofbreak in.
The best advice I have for whenyou're switching roles or when
you're switching departments,things like that, is to keep an
open mind, reach out tocolleagues, and use the
resources that they are givingto you.
Sometimes it can be superoverwhelming with all of the
(02:19):
information coming to you all atonce.
But sort through it, take itslowly, and it could be a great
experience.
Rachel (02:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
I see where you're coming fromwith all of the information.
I mean, each time I've movedinstitutions, it's like learning
a whole new alphabet soup ofacronyms and terms.
And well, this building, it'sactually called this, but we'll
refer to it as this or any ofthose things as well.
So I definitely see that.
And so when we're talking aboutgetting started, how might you
(02:49):
approach or recommend findingresources or connecting with
different types of resources?
Aimee (02:57):
A great place to start, as you well know, is the
Teaching and Learning Center, ifthe university has one.
It's invaluable.
The Stearns Center at GeorgeMason has great resources for
faculty, including the FirstYear Five program that we
started together a few yearsago, where George Mason has a
(03:18):
value of inclusive excellence,and it's the best way to help
professors get involved in thatvalue system.
And to meet each other.
And it's a program that's runthrough our teaching and
learning center.
That's for faculty and manyuniversities have these
wonderful places that aresometimes even a refuge for help
(03:42):
and assistance.
I just, you'll find so manypeople there who are welcoming
and interested in teaching andhelpful with resources that are
around there.
Rachel (03:55):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you for the shout out.
And absolutely, it's been greatto work with you, Aimee, on the
First Year Five program and evensee that continue now that we're
hosting the program in Canvasand the new ways we're helping
faculty to engage with eachother.
It's been very exciting to seethat develop from the work that
you started.
But I also agree with you.
I think here and connecting withothers from the Teaching and
(04:17):
Learning Center or through theTeaching and Learning Center can
be great ways to connect withfaculty across disciplines.
I know for me, when I was at mysecond institution as a faculty
member, I did the new facultyprogram, not for the teaching
stuff, but just to meet people.
Just to meet people who areinterested in teaching from
(04:37):
other areas.
Like, I had already done all thenew faculty types of programs at
my first institution, but I wasjust like, you know, hey, this
is worth my time.
I want to connect with thesepeople.
And I think that's a great wayto look at this.
And so making some of theseconnections outside of our
departments can be reallyimportant, but also within our
(04:58):
department.
So how, Aimee, might yourecommend trying to increase
your visibility or foster asense of belonging within the
department?
Aimee (05:08):
So glad you asked that because I think that's the
number one predictor of successfor faculty is a sense of
belonging in the department.
Rachel (05:14):
Yeah.
Aimee (05:15):
It's definitely belonging is everything in these times.
Whether you want to or not,you're going to that faculty
meeting.
It's the best way to connectwith people.
There are usually meetingsbefore semesters begin, meetings
when semesters end, but it'sabout more than the meetings.
When I was at Prince George'sCommunity College, I actually
(05:37):
asked for a desk to hold myoffice hours, I was only
teaching one course thatsemester, just to put myself in
an area where I could be seen orsee what was happening, just to
learn the comings and goings.
It was just great.
I also had a really wackyexperience.
I was On the faculty at theJapan campus of Temple
(05:59):
University for a number of yearswhen I lived there, and they
have a big, huge bullpen styleof offices for professors, just
one big bullpen.
Rachel (06:10):
Ooh, that sounds...
mmm.
Aimee (06:11):
Something, yeah, it was just crazy, but fun too, because
I could hear the math professortalking with the Asian studies
professor and things like that.
And it's okay to put yourselfand good to put yourself into
places where professors meet.
(06:34):
There are areas in the library,use the library for finding
other faculty.
There are just so many ways thatpeople can connect.
In the department though, mostpeople will not say no if you
say, Hey, I'm new, care to get acup of coffee?
It's really about puttingyourself out there and jumping
(06:54):
in with both feet.
Rachel (06:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
So do you have any thoughts onpeople who might not be
physically present on campus?
Like if we have adjuncts whomight be working at a distance
or even the fact that we havemultiple campuses for George
Mason University, including ourKorea campus, which has the
added layer of, you know, a verysignificant time difference.
(07:19):
So how might we have presence ordo you have thoughts on how we
might have presence in differentways when we're not all
physically in the same location?
Aimee (07:29):
Really interesting question and important for us
today, I think, to think about.
I know through the StearnsCenter with the grant
programming that you all do, youhave meetings to connect the
grant teams, which is verythoughtful.
So I think that things likegrants or other type of
(07:49):
programming that happens at theuniversity, that is between
campuses is so interesting, butnot just for the work that
you're doing.
It's also connecting you tocolleagues.
I know the Stearns Center doestheir Course Redesign Academy.
I did the Redesign Academyprobably my third or fourth
semester that I was here atMason and I've been here, this
(08:13):
is year number nine.
Um, and it just was so helpfulto meet the other people, not
just the person I was designingwith because we were co
designing a course at the time.
So, I know that George Mason isvery thoughtful about how to
work across campuses and timezones and things like that.
(08:35):
I'm sure many universities havesimilar programs.
Rachel (08:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think there's a lot ofprogramming that can still be
very present even if it's notphysically present.
Some of our things are alsoasynchronous, so it might be
opportunities to have, you know,conversations on discussion
boards or whatnot, but even likeyou were mentioning, Aimee,
having that cup of coffee mightnot have to be we walk to the
coffee shop together.
Aimee (09:00):
Sure.
Rachel (09:00):
Maybe we're having a cup of coffee in our own locations,
but connecting at a time thatworks for us or works across our
time differences, you know, anyof those things.
So I think that's really great.
Aimee (09:12):
You know, Rachel, I think teaching, it's just not a nine
to five job.
It isn't a job where you evenjust go to your classroom
either.
There's so many things that youcan do that you should do, and
it's good for you, for yourmental health and all kinds of
other things to be with otherpeople and belong in a program
(09:33):
so taking advantage of all thethings that are happening around
is good for you.
Rachel (09:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think here, you know,when we talk about teaching,
teaching can feel veryisolating.
You know, if you're the only onein the room and you are always
responsible for how things areplaying out and all of the
dynamics and the discussions andthe learning outcomes, all of
that, and maybe you're luckyenough to have a teaching
assistant or someone else inthere with you, but most likely
(10:00):
not.
And so having that, that feelthat you're the, the one, the
only, can carry over into theother aspects of our work as
well.
I mean, our own researchprogram, our own scholarship, or
creative projects, or whateverthose might be, but making those
connections outside of that canbe so useful, like you
mentioned, Aimee.
I think that's such a greatpoint.
Aimee (10:22):
Here in the Honors College, we have several people
that teach the same course.
And we do have get togethers viazoom actually to be convenient
for everybody, in course teams.
And I think it's crucial to takeadvantage of those kinds of
opportunities to talk to otherpeople who are teaching the same
course.
Rachel (10:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
There are a lot of great ideaexchanges and, and lots of great
things that I've seen in theHonors College as well.
But do you have any otherrecommendations on ways or
connecting with colleagues?
You know, what, how might youapproach someone for those
connections or collaborations orany other thoughts in that
(11:04):
space?
Aimee (11:06):
It takes a little bit of effort and confidence which is
hard to build when you're firststarting in a new position, but
just reaching out to one or twopeople.
Professors are normally nice,they're welcoming.
They have to be with students.
And it could be a very funthing.
(11:26):
Building relationships is mybest piece of advice.
Rachel (11:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
And especially for ourcolleagues who are in adjunct
types of roles, who maybe don'thave the ability to join us at,
you know, the Wednesday 9:30 AMdepartment meeting or something
like that, even reaching out andsaying, Hey, I'd like to connect
with you.
Or once you have thatconversation, maybe even saying,
(11:51):
Hey, is there one other personyou could connect me with?
Any of those things or asking,you know, I personally really
enjoy connecting people like,hey, I know so and so, have you
met them?
And I think other people do aswell, so I think that's such a
great point.
You know, Aimee, I think a lotof your interests, your
strengths, and a lot of the workyou've done advocating for new
(12:11):
faculty and their programminghas really been around not only
that belonging, but also how weengage and how we teach.
So I'm wondering how, or do youhave recommendations on how to
be engaging and innovative as afaculty member, rather than just
perhaps replicating what many ofus saw in the courses that we
took, however many years ago,that might be?
Aimee (12:36):
That's a really excellent question.
And I feel like that's sort oflike the special sauce of
teaching these days.
Rachel (12:43):
There we go, we've branded it now.
Aimee (12:47):
Students today are different than we were when we
were taking classes.
They have different needs.
They're not going to respond tothe same teaching methods is the
way we were taught.
I know I keep going over it, butanother plug for the Stearns
Center here, because the ways ofteaching are so important, and
learning new ways of engagingand teaching so important, but
(13:10):
we have to really focus in myopinion on transparency with
students today.
They want to know, why do I haveto do this assignment?
Where will I use this again?
The Honors College has a baseresearch class that every single
student takes, some of them geta little bit annoyed that they
(13:34):
can't AP out of it.
They can't test out of it, butwe know that the skills that
they'll use in a proposalwriting class will be for the
rest of their academic career.
And it behooves the professorswho are teaching that class to
say, listen, this is not fornow.
This is also for later.
(13:55):
I'm going to take you throughthis process and if it goes well
for you, or even if it doesn'tgo well for you, you're going to
use this information in yourpsychology class, in your
biology class.
And even in your computerscience research class, and that
type of transparency is justcrucial to students today.
And they'll respond better,truly respond better if a
(14:19):
professor can tell them wherethey're going.
With the information, whatthey're going to do with it, how
it's going to be useful.
Students today are nervous andthey want to know what's
happening.
Surprises are not a good thing.
Rachel (14:35):
I mean, surprises aren't a great thing for any of us when
we're talking about stuff thatmatters.
It's not one of those surpriseslike, ah, look, flowers,
something like that, or a nicelittle gift.
But yeah, I think that's such agreat point because it's not
just about showing that it'srelevant, but it's demonstrating
the relevance.
It's not just convincing people,yes, this is actually worth your
(14:56):
time to do.
We're not begging someone to doour homework assignments or
something like that, but we areshowing why this is an important
skill, how we're connecting thiswith the broader learning goals,
or even skills like you werementioning, Aimee, that the
students will take into othercourses or other things in their
professions.
So I think that's such a greatpoint.
(15:16):
And thank you again so much forthe shout outs for the Stearns
Center.
We might need a conflict ofinterest statement here with Dr.
Aimee Weinstein, who was afabulous faculty fellow with the
Stearns Center for Teaching andLearning.
But I think this is such a greatpoint.
You know, we're not just lookingat what we're teaching, but
we're also looking at how weteach, how we demonstrate
relevance and how we build ourown community.
(15:37):
Because community is soimportant when we get into those
perhaps undesirable situationsor the stressful times as well.
So I really appreciate that.
So as we finish up, personally,I think we're really looking
here at our main keystoneconcept being community, how we
connect with others, whetherthat's our students or with our
(15:58):
colleagues.
But I'm wondering if you haveany final thoughts, Aimee, as
we're wrapping up any finalwords of wisdom or other things
that you'd like to share withnew faculty.
Aimee (16:09):
Keep reaching out.
Really! It's hard to be juststarting.
Reach out to the faculty memberswho are in your department, your
deans hired you for a reason,but also it's okay to reach out
to students and ask them howthey're feeling and what they're
doing and about theirexperiences in the department
(16:31):
and, in a casual way, in apositive way.
But that's how we all buildcommunity together is really
reaching out for each other.
And it's just crucial in thesetimes.
I really feel to be connectedwith other people.
Rachel (16:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, thank you so much for yourtime.
Thank you so much for all of thework that you've done, not only
with the Stearns Center, butbuilding programs and building
things for new faculty and allof that advocacy as well.
But I really enjoyed ourconversation.
I look forward to connectingwith you again soon.
Aimee (17:03):
Rachel, thank you.
Rachel (17:05):
Alright, well thank you so much for joining us for this
episode as we talked about howwe get started as new faculty
members or maybe we got someideas on how to support the new
faculty members in our lives.
And so we can't wait to shareour next episode with you on
Keystone Concepts in Teaching.
And in that episode we're goingto be talking about libraries
and librarians as resources.
(17:25):
So come back and join us and welook forward to sharing that
episode with you.
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