Today, I completed the new faculty orientation at UNCW. It was a great 3-day program. The first day, we listened to many different administrators from across the campus, and some spoke in learning workshops. That evening we went to the Chancellor’s Reception, which was also very nice. On the second day, we traveled to Jacksonville, NC (funny that it was Jacksonville) to visit Camp Lejeune and one of the research/community centers. On the third day, we went through the benefits program. I especially enjoyed meeting other new faculty from around the college. Here is what I learned:

1. UNCW takes collaboration among disciplines seriously. They even put their money where their mouth is when it comes to this.

2. UNCW does great scholarship within the region. The scholarship is rigorous, relevant, and regional it meets the needs of the local region and the world at large.

3. There is currently a pot of money for developing high quality online courses. I think this would be an excellent opportunity for the instructional technology program to grow its online offerings to a program level.

4. I also learned that UNCW has rigorous academic programs and has a strong commitment to its strategic plan. This pleases me as many other institutions have plans but act in opposition to those plans. Unity in vision is helpful. Also, UNCW is the third most competitive for admissions in the state of North Carolina (only behind Chapel Hill and NC State).

Anyway, the orientation has reinforced my decision to join the UNCW community. It is going to be a busy year!