UGA Accelerate

2023-2024 UGA Accelerate

UGA Accelerate was piloted in 2022-2023 and will extend its reach in 2023-2024. The program provides select faculty members who are part of the Presidential Hiring Initiative with resources to accelerate their success at UGA. The program's foundation rests on early outreach and monthly meetings with a group of senior faculty and leaders, the Accelerate Committee. Each committee has a meeting convener who organizes the group and facilitates the discussion. The Office of Faculty Affairs provides professional development and support for the committee’s convener. In addition, Faculty Affairs organizes a fall event for the new hires and their committees to socialize, enrich their networks, and learn from one another.

UGA Accelerate Committee Membership 

Committees offer multiple perspectives regarding success at the university. This group enables the new faculty to begin their careers with a cohort of knowledgeable mentors brought together to support their unique professional identity. We recommend this structure for committees:

  • New faculty member
  • Department chair (or appropriate unit head)
  • Senior faculty member with related interests from within the department
  • Senior faculty member with related interests from outside the department
  • Senior faculty member who moderates the meeting (Convener)

UGA Accelerate Kickoff Event 

All Accelerate Committee conveners are invited to to the kickoff event on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, from 11:00 am-2:00 pm in the Administration Building’s Peabody Boardroom. More details about this session will be sent to conveners over the summer via email.

Proposed Meeting Topics

The following lists suggest topics that you may want to plan to cover across the academic year.  Both the new faculty member and committee members should have input into the topics addressed.

Faculty responsibilities and relationships

  • Delineation between your previous responsibilities and the role for which you were hired at UGA
  • Foundational habits for success
  • Understanding role of teaching and service
  • Meeting potential collaborators. Getting to know other people in department/school/college. Finding like-minded persons
  • Expectations for success, both written and unwritten, in this department

Research

  • Fundamentals of start up for research space, equipment, personnel, etc.
  • Preparations and opportunities for internal and external funding. Key procedures, offices, and personnel
  • Relevant resources and facilities, such as libraries, archives, photo services, and technical support. Access to start-up funds. Ordering procedures
  • Support and preparation for domestic and international field research, visits to archives, conference travel, etc.
  • Management of research agenda, including prioritizing multiple projects
  • Personnel management and student mentoring: Policies that apply to students (e.g., recruiting, qualifying exams, lab rotations). Hiring post-doctoral fellows and lab managers. Cultivating productive and appropriate work culture across research team
  • Writing and publication habits and support. Guidance in turning dissertation into publications
  • Identification of appropriate journals and presses

Service

  • Defining department and university service in the context of faculty contract. Expectations related to role and time commitment
  • Networking for service opportunities

Teaching

  • Expectations around course level/difficulty, office hours, student workload, graduate assistant roles, and more
  • Connecting with Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Addressing student concerns
  • Resources for adapting to new technologies

Evaluation Processes

  • Expectations around annual, third year, and tenure reviews
  • Documenting effectiveness for dossiers

Work/Life Integration

  • Policies and resources for work-life balance
  • Resources for children, families, and dual-career partners
  • Disability accommodations
  • Time and project management 

Time Frame

The Accelerate Committee exists for 10 months, August to May, of the assistant professor’s first year.

Convener Responsibilities

The Convener in the Accelerate Mentoring Program will be responsible for:

  • Setting up appointment times
    • We recommend using the free online tool, Doodle, to acquire the group’s availability.
    • Once date and time are confirmed, we suggest utilizing your UGA Outlook calendar to send invites with Zoom links to your committee members.
  • Fostering relationship building and effective communication with the committee
  • Structuring meeting agendas to ensure a wide range of topics are addresses to meet the needs of the new faculty
  • Communicating with committee members about the characteristics of effective mentors
    • Good listener
    • Effective organizational skills
    • Willingness to promote others
    • Ability to support others
    • Ability to challenge while offering support
    • Reliable
    • Collaborative skills
    • Insightful
    • Caring and professional
  • Creating a mentoring contract/compact so that committee can discuss and clarify goals, responsibilities, and meeting structures
    • Examples from UGA’s Graduate School can be found here. 

Participation

The UGA Accelerate program is geared toward select incoming professors who are part of the Presidential Hiring Initiative and whose work entails significant start-up research responsibilities. 

FAQs

When do new faculty find out if and when they will get an Accelerate Committee? If an Accelerate Committee is created, a convener will contact the new faculty member with information about the committee prior to or soon after the contract start date. After this contact, the convener will arrange a time to speak to the faculty member and learn more about transitioning to the university. The convener will also begin coordinating the scheduling of the first committee meeting. This meeting typically takes place during the first month at UGA. 

What benefits do new faculty derive from this program? The Accelerate Committee ensures monthly support by senior faculty and consistent access to the Chair throughout the new faculty member’s first year. This regularity enables a new faculty member to onboard quickly and smoothly. New faculty can map out their first few years, discuss teaching strategies, receive advice on setting up a lab, build rapport with their Chair, and expand their scholarly network. 

What if I have questions about the Accelerate Program and Accelerate Committees? Please contact the Office of Faculty Affairs (Mary Carney at mary.carney@uga.edu or Harper Davison, harper.davison@uga.edu) with your questions.