Stanford welcomes diverse group of faculty for 2020-21

With in-person meetings not possible due to the pandemic, New Faculty Orientation this year consisted of online activities for new members of the professoriate. (Image credit: Andrew Brodhead)

This academic year, Stanford welcomes 91 new members of the professoriate, including 40 women and 51 men, representing six schools, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the Dean of Research office and 43 departments.

At the “Welcome to Stanford” portion of New Faculty Orientation held on Tuesday, Provost Persis Drell spoke about the diversity of the Stanford community and the importance of inclusivity. “As teachers, we need to practice inclusive teaching – being sensitive to the diverse perspectives, identities and experiences that our students bring to the classroom,” she said.

Drell also expressed her enthusiasm for getting to know the new faculty members. “Recruiting and welcoming new faculty members to Stanford each year is one of my greatest pleasures. You have all been carefully selected as leaders in your fields. We’re delighted to have you here, and we believe you’ve made a very good choice in Stanford,” she said.

A panel discussion followed welcoming comments by Drell and Matt Snipp, vice provost for faculty development, diversity and engagement.

Read the profiles of the new faculty members on the Office of Faculty Development, Diversity and Engagement (OFDDE) website.

Orientation for new faculty

With in-person meetings not possible due to the pandemic, New Faculty Orientation this year consisted of two different kinds of activities: an asynchronous set of online video modules and information housed in Canvas, and a series of 11 live Zoom meetings held Sept. 8–11.

Presentations over the course of the week included Research at Stanford, Who Are We Teaching?, Mentoring, Advising and Starting Your Lab, Fundamentals of Course Design, Facilitating Equity and Inclusion Online, Stanford funding opportunities, Stanford libraries, and information about resources available for faculty members, as well as administrative matters. The OFDDE developed and coordinated this new program.

Beginning next week, New Faculty Wednesdays will be held each Wednesday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. The first few meetings will feature informal conversations with recently tenured faculty members. A new Slack Channel for New Faculty is also available to help new faculty members get to know one another. For more information, please contact facultydevelopment@stanford.edu or visit the OFDDE website.