New Faculty Categories Strengthen Educational Mission
As we shift our thinking to imagine how our university can prepare today’s students for the jobs of tomorrow, expanding the categories and descriptions that define faculty member roles is essential to enhancing instruction at California State University, Long Beach.
Among the many lessons learned from dramatic shifts of the past few years is that the rapid changes we experienced in working, learning, and teaching will continue to evolve, as the workforce reexamines their relationships to each of these. By expanding faculty lines, we are enriching our campus, laying the groundwork for new opportunities to bring in instructors who offer skills and experience that go beyond existing faculty definitions. Service learning, co-curricular programming, industry practices, clinical education, and other student success programming that does not fall into current teaching, research, or service descriptions are among the specializations that these new positions could provide our campus.
In the 2022-2023 academic year, the Reimagine Faculty action zone team capitalized on momentum around the development of three new faculty lines. Definitions to support Professor of Practice, Artist in Residence, and Clinical Faculty are currently in process, and white papers are being developed with the help of three dedicated working groups comprised of faculty from across the university. These white papers provide in-depth descriptions and details about purpose and contributions to the university that these new lines could offer.
A hallmark of our efforts to promote intellectual achievement at The Beach is our mission to advance collaborative and interdisciplinary research, scholarship, and creative activities in all we do, setting us apart from other institutions through our leadership in a knowledge-based economy and society. In tandem with the valuable work of our current team of dedicated CSULB faculty, new opportunities for specialized instruction at CSULB helps fulfill this goal.
As we aim to enhance curriculum and prepare students with the knowledge and skills necessary for the job market, these lines can provide CSULB learners new opportunities to learn from industry professionals while gaining hands-on experience in their field. At the same time, these expanded definitions will allow us to leverage existing and forge new partnerships, amplify student learning and advance the university’s regional and global engagement goals.
