UAGC Faculty Behind the Numbers

The University of Arizona Global Campus instructor population consists of both full-time and associate faculty, who facilitate all the institution’s online courses. Full-time faculty maintain a designated annual teaching load, which they supplement with participation in critical university initiatives, such as program development, implementation, and review, course material development, and various institutional councils and committees. Associate faculty are contract-based employees who teach online courses according to institutional needs, such as student enrollment and program size. Full-time and associate faculty participate in academic governance via representation on the University of Arizona Global Campus Faculty Senate.

Both full-time and associate faculty undergo a rigorous application process, which informs hiring decisions. In addition to application review and interviews, faculty new-hire candidates must complete the New Faculty Experience, a three-week online training session that orients them to the University of Arizona Global Campus academic systems, the online classroom, and course requirements. Existing full-time faculty and Faculty Support and Development Associates facilitate the training and evaluate candidates’ aptitude, which – if successful – results in their full onboarding to the institution.

The Executive Deans of each college – under the direction of the Provost – manage all college activities and online programs, ensuring consistency in faculty work and experiences. Additionally, new faculty hires benefit from a multi-layered support system in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. This entity consists of Faculty Scheduling Administrators, Faculty Contract Administrators, and Faculty Support and Development Associates, who each play a critical role in the faculty lifecycle:

• Faculty Scheduling Administrators schedule faculty for all their courses at the University of Arizona Global Campus.
• Faculty Contract Administrators onboard faculty to payroll systems and disburse course contracts.
• Faculty Support and Development Associates collaborate with college leadership to provide specialized coaching to new faculty hires and continued support in each subsequent course they teach.