Program Teaches New Instructors

And he was glad too. No more long hours listening to professors lecture, and no more dissertations.

He is the instructor now.

But even teachers need teaching, Anderson found out last week during a seminar designed to help new teachers adjust to the college classroom.

"I forgot what it was like to be a student again," he said.

During six-hour sessions and working lunches last week, Anderson and 14 other new teaching fellows ran through teaching methods and possible classroom scenarios they are likely to face as they begin classes this week.

Participant Melissa Franklin-Harkrider said the wide range of subjects covered in the seminar helped ease her nerves about teaching her first class today.

"I am a little bit nervous," she said. "But the classes helped us learn to direct our energy positively to teaching."

Organized by the UNC Center for Teaching and Learning, the pilot Future Faculty Program is an example of a new effort to ensure quality teachers in the classroom.

In the past, training was provided by individual academic departments, but some were more extensive than others, said Branson Page, Graduate and Professional Student Federation president.

"It is very decentralized, and every department does their own thing," Page said. "We need some kind of consistency to make sure every new instructor is at the same level of training."

Page and Student Body President Jen Daum initiated the program last spring, fulfilling election promises to institute paid preparation time for graduate students.

Participants were paid $500 for the week in exchange for coming back to school a week early.

The money for the pilot program, $17,000 in total, was provided by Provost Robert Shelton's office as one-time starting money, forcing organizers to scramble for new funding sources for next year. They are preparing a report to be released next week detailing reasons to permanently fund the program as part of the center's budget.

Ed Neal, director of faculty development for the CTL, said he is confident that the program will be held next year, but he admitted that the University's financial situation makes it more difficult to find money.

He said, "It will be hard to ignore the evaluations in the report that say how beneficial it is."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.