First-Year Faculty Experience (FYFE)
This fall, Virginia Tech is launching the First-Year Faculty Experience (FYFE), a new year-long professional development and community-building program for teaching and/or research faculty in their first year at Virginia Tech. Led by the Office of Faculty Affairs in partnership with colleagues across the university, the program is designed to help new faculty successfully navigate their first year by connecting them with campus resources, colleagues, and practical strategies for success in teaching, research, service, and community.
The program features monthly interactive sessions throughout the academic year, each highlighting a key aspect of faculty success while introducing new faculty to the people, resources, and networks that support their work.
Registration for individual sessions will be required and sent out three weeks prior to each session. Location confirmation will be sent out approximately two weeks in advance to those who registered.
2026-27 Session Schedule
Date | Session | Facilitator, Presenter, Panel |
|---|---|---|
September 4, 2026 | Academic Freedom: Issues and Challenges | Jim Hawdon, Faculty Senate and Ron Fricker, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs |
October 2, 2026 | Building Your Scholarly Presence | Rachel Miles, University Libraries |
November 6, 2026 | Early Career Work-Life Balance | Ana Agud and David Andrews, Hokie Wellness |
December 4, 2026 | Cultivating Success in the Classroom – For Your Students and YOU! | Hannah Harris, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning |
January 22, 2027 | Teaching and Learning with Generative AI | Dale Pike and Team, Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) |
February 5, 2027 | Getting Started with Research Funding | Randy Heflin and Eleanor Nelson, Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) |
March 5, 2027 | Mentoring Graduate Students: A Faculty Panel Discussion | Graduate Advising Award Winners |
April 2, 2027 | Introducing the Institutes: A Panel with VT Institute Directors | VT Institute Directors |
FYFE Outcomes
- Navigate the Virginia Tech environment
- Build a professional network with campus partners and other first-year faculty
- Become acquainted with key aspects of faculty success:
- Academic Freedom
- Begin Building Your Scholarly Presence
- Start to find a Work-Life Balance
- Cultivating Success in the Classroom – For Your Students and You
- Teaching with AI
- Getting Started with Research Funding
- Mentoring Graduate Students
New Teaching and/or Research Faculty will receive a direct invitation to participate in the program and its associated Canvas site, but Faculty Affairs appreciates administrators and mentors sharing widely about this program with new faculty.
Program Contacts
Email Leslie Stevens, Project Director, Faculty Affairs, and Barbara Lockee, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.