New Faculty Workshop Application FAQs

This workshop is intended for faculty in the first three years of their first tenure-track or long-term contract position in Chemistry (broadly defined). More experienced faculty may be considered on a space-available basis. Early-career faculty from both two-year and four-year institutions are encouraged to apply. Faculty who will be starting positions outside of the United States are eligible for this workshop .

Yes; this workshop is for faculty with a current appointment or those who have a contract and start date. You are eligible to apply to a workshop occurring prior to your start date. We are unable to accommodate postdoctoral scholars but encourage them to consider the ACS Postdoc to Faculty Workshops.

The New Faculty Workshops focus on sharing and developing essential skills that faculty need to successfully navigate the early years of their research and teaching careers. The workshop is very intentionally structured around the primary topic of active learning; participants will work towards presenting a 5 - 10 minute lesson in small groups using the techniques demonstrated throughout the workshop. 

The New Faculty Workshops focus on active learning, but aim to address a number of other topics that are important to early career faculty. These additional topics include mentoring, laboratory safety, research group management, time management, DEIR, and funding. Faculty interested in learning about the proposal writing process would likely benefit from the discussions at this event, but should also consider more focused grant writing workshops, webinars, or other events (e.g., from the NSF or NIH) if funding is the primary concern.

Yes. Much of the workshop is group- and discussion-based, and having participants with varied career backgrounds and perspectives enhances the experience for everyone.

The New Faculty Workshop application requires a letter of support from your department chair (or another appropriate department or campus leader who knows you well). These workshops are increasingly competitive and because we simply cannot accommodate all applicants, a strong letter of support will help you stand out amongst a large group of highly qualified faculty applicants.

The letter of support should indicate why you are a strong candidate for this workshop; in particular, it is good to discuss what courses you have or will be teaching and how your new knowledge of active learning strategies will impact your students and your department. Additionally, if your department or campus is exploring ways of incorporating novel teaching approaches, these are good to highlight. Your chair is also encouraged to describe any additional honors or accomplishments that they feel contribute to your ongoing success in the department.

If you are outside the eligibility requirements noted above but still feel that you would benefit from the workshop, a strong letter of support from your department chair can help the reviewers fill in any gaps or answer questions as to why you may be an appropriate candidate. 

Yes. We have found that having multiple participants from the same department creates an additional level of support once the faculty are actually teaching!

All completed applications are thoroughly reviewed; the review process can take a few weeks to complete. Any target deadlines will be communicated to you before and/or during the process. Please do not email regarding the status of your application within the review period. Thank you.

The registration rates vary between workshops depending upon location and length of workshop. The registration fee covers all meals during the workshop, workshop materials, and usually covers any overnight lodging. This and other logistics information will be provided to accepted applicants well ahead of the workshop.

There is a limited amount of funding available to cover half or all of the registration fee.