New Faculty Orientation 2025
Eastern Illinois University
The Faculty Development and Innovation Center is foundational in helping our new colleagues become part of the Eastern Illinois University community by hosting an in-person New Faculty Orientation (NFO) at the beginning of the Fall semester. This year, the NFO will be on Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 (8:00-5:00 CDT).
We invite all faculty to Eastern Illinois University for Spring, Summer, or Fall 2025, including those who moved from an adjunct to a Unit B position, or from a Unit B to Unit A position, to join us for information and activities to help you succeed during the academic year and beyond.
All new faculty, however defined, are encouraged to self-register for the NFO to make sure you receive information in a timely manner (see your email for the link). New faculty are also encouraged to consult this New Faculty Quick Start Guide for information about EIU, contact information for academic departments, and information on being prepared for their first semester as member of our community.
The New Faculty Essentials website is now available. Use this guide to navigate your way through everything from Human Resources to Course Policies and Development, and some important information about your first year experience.
The New Faculty Guidebook (2024 edition) is now published! This comprehensive guide is a welcome guide for new faculty, assisting in launching you into your new position at EIU!
New Faculty First Year Experience
A unique program to our campus, especially geared toward our new faculty, is the New Faculty First-Year Experience. Many universities build first-year experience programs for their incoming freshmen, but the FDIC @ EIU has crafted a first-year experience for our new faculty members as well!
There are three distinct parts to this program: monthly "meetups" on Microsoft Teams to touch base and talk about interesting or critical issues throughout the academic year; social and cultural events around campus and the community; and a peer-to-peer mentoring program.
The monthly meetups are time for all new faculty, if interested, to check in with each other, hold space and conversation with myself, each other, and invited guests from around campus, as well as explore important issues and topics throughout the year. The peer-to-peer mentoring program links interested new faculty with a member of the EIU community - a faculty ambassador - and two or three other new faculty for a small mentoring cohort. This cohort meets periodically, but also serves as a point of contact throughout the first year (and hopefully beyond!). Finally, the socially events, which include a campus tour with resident historian Mark Hudson, an evening of art at the Tarble, sports events, and more, are a way to introduce you to campus, and to introduce campus to you.
The 2025-2026 Meetup and Experience Schedule (details coming soon) outlines the dates and times for these events.
Page updated: August 18, 2025
