Faculty Affairs
Office of Faculty Affairs
The Office of Faculty Affairs at Willliam James College is committed to supporting faculty members throughout their entire journey at our institution, from recruitment to retirement. Our mission is to provide comprehensive support, guidance, and resources across all stages, including recruitment, onboarding, professional development, promotion, and mentorship. Through strategic initiatives and collaborative partnerships, we aim to cultivate a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and supportive environment where faculty members can thrive personally and professionally. We seek to empower faculty members to excel in teaching, scholarship, and service, thereby advancing our institution's mission of academic excellence and societal impact.
Services and Resources
Faculty Recruitment
Our office is dedicated to ensuring a smooth and efficient hiring process for new faculty. We act as a liaison between you, Human Resources, and the academic department. Additionally, we review non-HR benefits, including research funding support, professional development opportunities, clinical work time, and promotion opportunities.
Faculty Onboarding
All new faculty participate in our summer faculty orientation, as well as monthly first-year faculty meetings. It’s a great opportunity to meet other new faculty and work together to ensure a successful transition to the WJC learning community.
Faculty Professional Development
The Office of Faculty Affairs helps to coordinate and disseminate information around professional development opportunities for the community, including our T-Sel Series and EdTech Learning Programs. Throughout the year, we also offer new opportunities that may be needed by the community, which has included support and training around teaching/pedagogy or the development of a formative peer review process.
We also hold an in-person, full day All-Faculty Retreat every year at the end of the summer, which provides a great opportunity for faculty to reconnect heading into the academic year and is typically focused around timely topics related to teaching. Some examples of past topics include Teaching in the Era of AI, Increasing Student Engagement through Backward Design, and Critical Thinking in Graduate Education.
Promotions
The Office of Faculty Affairs is responsible for managing the faculty rank process, which has been developed to support, appreciate, and reward rank designations based on the expanded conceptual framework for scholarship posited by the American Psychological Association’s Education Directorate. This broader conceptualization recognizes scholarship in a number of areas, including teaching and learning, integration, engagement, and discovery (i.e., research). We also offer individualized consultation to help guide faculty through this process.
Mentorship
Mentoring is a critical component of a faculty member’s professional development. Faculty can seek mentorship in a variety of areas of their choosing and our office will help pair faculty with knowledgeable mentors in that area (e.g., teaching, starting a private practice, research, retirement). Mentorship relationships can take a variety of forms, ranging from just a one-time session to a continuous mentor-mentee relationship that spans their time at the institution.
Community Building
We love to celebrate your achievements through community events to mark promotions, achievements, and retirements.
Faculty Award Program
The Faculty Award Program has been designed to promote the development of new projects, programs, initiatives and curriculum within the college’s centers, concentrations and areas of emphasis. A director of a center, concentration or area of emphasis identifies an area for further development and asks her or his faculty if anyone would like to assume the project. Alternatively, a faculty member may propose a project to a director for consideration.
Once an area decides on a project(s), the faculty member submits a brief application which indicates the scope of the project and the measurable outcomes. The application is signed by the faculty member, the area director and the faculty member’s department chair. The director indicates the area’s priorities by ranking the importance of all submitted projects. The department chairs and the VPAA receive the application and meet to determine which faculty members will receive the award in the coming academic year. The award is a $1500.00 award for a 30 hour project. The faculty member must submit a summary report with measurable outcomes to the VPAA no later than June 15 of the academic year.
Our Team
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Jason Osher, PhD Director, Office of Faculty Affairs Director, Neuropsychology Concentration Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology Department |
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Shira Fishman, PhD Associate Director, Office of Faculty Affairs Associate Professor, Leadership Psychology PsyD Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology PsyD |