Fleming & You

Welcome to Module 1! Human Resources and your school office will provide you with lots of information to get you off to a good start at Fleming College. The Learning Design and Support Team is here to help you get started in your new role as a faculty member and to support your course delivery so that you can put your energy into supporting student learning.

Let’s start by hearing from a couple of your fellow faculty members.

The advice from Darlene and Rose emphasizes the importance of connection and building relationships with your colleagues. This is even more crucial when many of us are working remotely and may not have the opportunity to meet face-to-face. During the CFE program, we will point out a number of places you can go to connect with other faculty online.

The conversation between Darlene and Rose is a good example of reflective practice which is simply taking the time to examine what you are doing and how it is working. This process will help you to build your confidence, increase your connections with other faculty, and to improve your effectiveness as a teacher. Reflective practice in teaching can be done individually, with your peers, or more formally with a mentor or supervisor. The Learning Design and Support (LDS) team is also happy to meet with you anytime to help you examine your teaching practice and find areas for improvement.

First, you may find it helpful to know a bit more about the College. The Strategic Plan (2019-2024) is named “Our Fleming. Our Future.” It is the roadmap that will determine the direction of change over these five years not just for the college, but for our students, our employees, and the communities we serve.

The Strategic Priorities outlined in the Strategic Plan are:

• Deliver Outstanding Student Learning and Experiences
• Collaborate and Prosper With Our Communities
• Excel as an Organization
• Enhance Financial Health and Sustainability

As a faculty member at Fleming College, you bring your experience and connection to professional, industry, and community organizations and this will help to make the workplace more real to your students. Another Fleming saying is, “If you’re ready, so are we,” which speaks to the engagement and ownership of our teaching and learning experience. Just like every student has their own reasons for why they chose Fleming, so does each faculty member. It is worth a moment of your time to consider what you bring to Fleming College and who you are as a teacher.

Fleming College also has a statement that defines our reason for existing – students! Our Core Promise to Students is summarized in three words:

As a new faculty member, you will be assisting your students to learn, belong and become at Fleming and you will also engage in this process yourself. Starting with this course you will be learning new and effective teaching skills, you will belong in the community of faculty, staff, and students at the college, and you will become more aware of your strengths and your goals for improvement in your teaching practice. Our Core Promise to Students is supported by the Academic Plan, which you can review on the Vice-President Academic Experience website.

 

Now that you know a bit more about Fleming College, let’s learn a bit about you.

Activity: Demographics Questions

 

We’re all always improving at teaching and Fleming has many opportunities to develop your teaching skills, and to build on your previous experience and education.

Let us introduce you to Life@Fleming. On this page, you can learn about what Fleming has to offer internally and externally in the communities surrounding our campuses. Some of the benefits of working at Fleming include support for ongoing learning and development, an excellent working environment, a diverse, inclusive, and accessible workforce.

Fleming College is made up of 4 different campuses: Peterborough, Lindsay, Cobourg, and Haliburton. You can find out more about the different campuses through this link.

To gain a better perspective of the campuses that make up Fleming College, take a look at this drone footage:

For each Academic School, there is a Dean, Chair, and Administrative Assistant (AA), as well as Program Coordinators and Union stewards (representatives), who can support you as you settle into your teaching role at the college and continue your career as a faculty member.

Hopefully, you have had a chance to work through the Human Resources (HR) New Employee Guide and are aware of Fleming Policies & Procedures, Health & Safety training and other legislative training, and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion practices. On the HR website, you can also find Human Rights information, and descriptions of the different roles at Fleming, including faculty, instructor, part-time, partial load, co-ordinator, chair, dean, reporting structure, and more…

For example, Policies and Procedures around Academic Affairs are important things to know about at colleges and other post-secondary institutions. You can find them here: Policies and Procedures. Remember to check out these policies and procedures when necessary throughout the semester.

Activity: Mandatory Training

If you haven’t done this already, it is time to locate and make a plan to complete the HR New Employee Guide and Mandatory Training. If you don’t yet have access to the Employee Guide, please contact Human Resources at hr@flemingcollege.ca, they will provide you with information and directions to complete the training.

Advice: Your School Office is a great place to ask questions! Your Chair and program coordinator are also available to help you get familiar with the processes that are part of teaching and learning at Fleming College.

Wrap Up

Now you know a little more about Fleming College and how to get started as a professor here. In the next module, you will learn more about what services are available to support you as a faculty member at Fleming and get used to some Fleming Terminology and Acronyms.  

Resources

• HR New Employee Page
• Academic Training (through Academic Operations)
• Learning Design and Support Team (Us!)

Module 1 Reflection

 

How confident are you in your ability to effectively relate your teaching practice to the college’s Strategic and Academic Plans?