Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of how well the current New Faculty Experience (NFE) properly prepares instructors to be successful at the University of Arizona-Global Campus (previously known as Ashford University). The idea for this study came from reports in which the Faculty Support and Development Team (FSD), as well as the deans of the college of education and mentors working alongside newly trained faculty members, expressed concern for the preparedness of several new hires after they completed training. In this quantitative study, the researchers sent an online questionnaire to all graduates, numbering 145, of the NFE program over an eighteen-month period. One hundred and twenty-one graduates returned the survey for this study. Respondents answered questions aimed at determining areas of training that they found prepared them properly for the expectations of the job, as well as areas which they did not feel well prepared for. A separate questionnaire was sent to all members of the FSD team, as well as the deans of the college of education and mentors working alongside newly trained faculty members, to determine perceived areas of strengths and weaknesses of newly hired staff in the past. Information from the eighty-nine returned surveys was then used to guide redevelopment of the university’s NFE and, therefore, support all students throughout the university by having properly prepared faculty.