25. Experiences of New Faculty in a Transitional Institution

Abstract

This research project studies the induction and socialization of new faculty at Mount Royal University, recently transitioned from college to undergraduate university status. There is extensive documentation in the literature on issues faced by new faculty in post-secondary institutions; however, very little is published on how a culture in flux may complicate this socialization. This project uses interpretive inquiry to study the experience over three successive years of new faculty experience. We use themes found in the prior literature of stress, time, socialization, and evaluation to structure our initial findings, but propose that a more complex framework is required to understand new faculty experience under these conditions of institutional transformation.