Next Generation of the Professoriate Program
The Next Generation of the Professorate Program (NextGen) was initiated by the University of Minnesota Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Council in 2002 to help new faculty members develop the theory and practices needed for effective teaching in the TEL classrooms of the present and future. It is sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost (SVPP) and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and implemented by the Digital Media Center (DMC), a unit of OIT.
Principles
Billie Wahlstrom, the vice provost for distributed education and instructional technology, and the TEL Council members summarize the framing principles of the program as follows:
"The TEL Council believes that several key assumptions underlie the need to provide new faculty with the opportunity to develop TEL competencies:
- In the near future, all faculty will be using TEL techniques and traditional teaching techniques in about equal proportion, whether or not they teach any classes actually online.
- The goal of TEL training for new faculty is to help them become the best teachers they can be, not to focus on technology, per se.
- Ability to use TEL techniques and best practices will increase faculty productivity by making it easier to expand the classroom and bring more learning tools to it and to develop metrics for determining effectiveness of a variety of approaches.
- Having a variety of traditional and TEL teaching techniques increases a faculty member's ability to address differences in student learning.
- Introducing [TEL] resources to new faculty who are just developing their teaching and research identities is one way to change the teaching culture of a university."
Components
Each year, administrators from several University of Minnesota units are invited to select from five to seven new and five to seven experienced faculty members to participate. Each new faculty member is paired with an experienced faculty member in his or her discipline who serves as a mentor.
Events
The new and mentor faculty members are invited to attend several events throughout the school year:
- a fall welcome lunch,
- mid-autumn discipline-specific meetings,
- a two-day January workshop, and
- a late spring wrap-up meeting.
These events are arranged and managed by our DMC consultants, and based on faculty feedback, we suggest programmatic changes to the TEL Council. In addition, participants from several units have set up their own meetings and developed their own resources such as mailing lists.
Benefits
The faculty members are offered incentives to take advantage of University TEL resources. Faculty mentors receive a small stipend to thank them for participating in the program. New faculty members who participate fully in the program receive a $1,000 cash award that can be used to purchase TEL-related electronic equipment, specialized software, in-depth training, or technical assistance.
Further Information
Currently, TEL Council members are restructuring the Next Generation of the Professoriate Program based on feedback from past participants. Please check back later for further updates.
