Asynchronous Faculty Onboarding

Project Overview

The Challenge

Faculty onboarding materials were scattered across emails, documents, and informal communication channels. This created a situation in which new faculty faced increased cognitive load and a sense of overwhelm. Expand for more details
  • Universities and community colleges often onboard faculty separately from professional staff, creating additional complexity
  • Faculty must learn both general campus processes and teaching-specific expectations
  • Onboarding information is frequently fragmented across emails, documents, and informal communication
  • Lack of a centralized, faculty-specific resource makes it difficult to locate key materials (e.g., handbooks, Canvas guides, professional development)
  • This fragmentation increases cognitive load and contributes to feelings of overwhelm for new instructors
  • Repeated requests for the same information place strain on departments and support units

The Design Approach

Worked with school chairs to identify faculty onboarding needs and organized them into a clear framework with the Center for Teaching and Learning team. Developed separate onboarding spaces for full-time and adjunct faculty, structured around administrative requirements, starting the academic year, and instructional technology resources. Expand for more details
  • Solicited a list of onboarding needs from school chairs to ensure alignment with faculty expectations and institutional requirements
  • Led the Center for Teaching and Learning team in organizing, prioritizing and translating identified needs into a structured framework
  • Leveraged the framework to develop two separate onboarding spaces- one for full-time faculty and one for adjunct faculty- to account for differences in roles, responsibilities, and time constraints
  • Organized the modules into three key areas: Administrative Requirements, Getting the Academic Year Started, and Instructional Technology Resources
  • Expanded the onboarding resources to support ongoing professional growth, including guidance on AI course policies and instructional practices
  • Established a recurring update cycle three times per year to refresh academic calendars, policies, and professional development opportunities
  • Embedded just-in-time reminders and directions for key instructional milestones, including course checks, census submission, and grade submission requirements
  • Universities Integrated CTL onboarding workflows with Human Resources and Information Technology processes to ensure newly hired faculty are added to the appropriate resource as part of onboarding

Outcomes and Impact

Created a centralized faculty onboarding hub that streamlined access to administrative guidance, instructional resources, and key timelines for new instructors. Integrated CTL efforts with HR and IT workflows to improve communication and awareness of professional development and instructional policies. Expand for more details
  • Created a consistent, faculty-specific onboarding experience that supports continuous hiring of adjunct and full-time facult
  • Streamlined institutional academic processes and communications by centralizing onboarding materials, expectations, and instructional resources in a single asynchronous hub
  • Improved clarity around administrative requirements and instructional timelines through calendar reminders coupled with directions
  • Increased faculty awareness of professional development opportunities an instructional policies, including AI course guidance
  • Strengthened cross-unit collaborative by integrating CTL onboarding efforts with Human Resources and Information Technology workflows

Project Walkthrough


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Reflection and Transferability

This asynchronous onboarding approach demonstrated the value of designing for continuous hiring, limited onboarding time, and varied employee roles. By centralizing faculty specific essential information in a reusable, well-structured resource, onboarding shifted from a one-time events to an ongoing support system. For faculty in particular, this approach acknowledged the reality that onboarding sessions are often dense and time-limited; therefore, providing a persistent resource allowed instructors to return to information as needed rather than relying on notes from in-person training. For adjunct faculty- who typically receive onboarding only once per year- the resource created a consistent home base for communication, expectations, and instructional support throughout the academic cycle

This model could be transferred across campus departments and employee groups by maintaining a shared core of institution-wide content (payroll processes, requesting leave, accessing budget resources, etc.) while allowing role-specific modules to by layered on as needed. Because the resource is modular, updateable, and asynchronous, it offers a sustainable and scalable framework that other departments can replicate to reduce onboarding redundancy and unanticipated gaps in basic operational information.

Relevant Testimonials

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Collaborative Problem-Solving Dr. Aaron Jensen Dean Career and Technical Education, Southeastern Community College

I have had the great pleasure of working alongside Rhonda Gamble for a number of years and in a number of capacities. Rhonda is a wonderful colleague, and I consistently admire her dedication to her role and to the people she serves. She is exceptionally detail-oriented and brings a level of care and precision to her work that elevates everyone around her. She deeply values the importance of working conditions for her colleagues and team members and actively advocates for improvements that make a real difference.

She is an outstanding organizer and communicator who asks thoughtful, probing questions to truly understand challenges before jumping to conclusions. Rather than settling for easy answers, she encourages collaborative problem-solving and isn’t afraid to explore creative or unorthodox solutions when needed. Her flexibility, professionalism, and commitment to continuous improvement make her an invaluable asset to any team.

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Fulltime Faculty Dr. Joshua Holmes Department Chair Science & Outdoor Recreation, Associate Professor of Microbiology Western Wyoming Community College

I am writing to offer my higher recommendation for Dr. Gamble, whom I have had the pleasure of working with for the past three years in her role with the Center for Teaching at our college. During this time, she has been an exceptional resource, collaborator, and colleague whose impact on my teaching and course design has been both significant and lasting.

Dr. Gamble has played a critical role in helping me develop and strengthen my curriculum through thoughtful, effective integration of instructional technology. She guided me in incorporating tools such as Kahoot to enhance student engagement, and she had consistently provided expert support in improving both the visual design and functional organization of my Canvas courses. As a result, my courses are more accessible, intuitive, and effective for students.

One of Dr. Gamble’s greatest strengths is her ability to navigate emerging challenges and opportunities in higher education, particularly in the rapidly evolving area of artificial intelligence. She has been instrumental in helping faculty thoughtfully understand, adapt to, and responsibly incorporate AI-related consideration into course design and instruction. Her guidance in this area has been both practical and forward-thinking, and it reflects her deep commitment to teaching excellence and student success.

Beyond her technical expertise, Dr. Gamble is an outstanding colleague. She serves as a trusted sounding board for ideas related to course design, pedagogy, and innovation, always offering insightful, constructive feedback. She approaches her work and her interactions with warmth, professional, and genuine care, marking her a pleasure to collaborate with. Her ability to combine expertise with approachability sets her apart and strengthen every team she is a part of.

I give Dr. Gamble my strongest possible recommendation. She would be a tremendous asset in any role focused on faculty development, instructional design, or teaching and learning support, and I am confident she will continue to make meaningful contributions wherever she goes.

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