OID held its inaugural New Faculty Teaching Engagement (NFTE, pronounced “nifty”) on November 7th, 2018 at the Luskin Conference Center.

All newly appointed faculty and lecturers from the College and professional schools were invited and 41 attended. Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh, Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel Michael Levine, and Dean and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Pat Turner welcomed the group during lunch and spoke about teaching based on their personal experiences in the classroom and from the perspectives of their current roles.

The program for the half-day event consisted of an interactive workshop on basic pedagogy and teaching at UCLA and a panel of faculty discussing the role of teaching in tenure and promotion, working with TAs, and the inherent rewards of teaching.

The goal of the event was to better prepare new faculty and lecturers to teach at UCLA. Participants had the opportunity to reflect on how they will develop and/or modify courses they are appointed to teach at UCLA and were introduced to a “toolkit” of best teaching practices to help them create inclusive classrooms that will engage students and optimize learning. Participants were also introduced to the demographics of UCLA students and aspects of teaching at UCLA, as they may differ from those at other institutions.

The day ended with a happy hour, where attendees were joined by several deans and Chancellor Gene Block.