New Faculty Orientation (NFO)
A Letter from the Provost:
Dear WCU Faculty Class of 2023,
Welcome to West Chester University! It is my pleasure to extend my warmest congratulations on your appointment as a new faculty member. We are pleased to welcome you as part of our community of educators.
Student success is our north star, directing everything we do here at WCU. At WCU, we are reimagining student success by enhancing student learning, advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and fostering and sustaining community. Those are the three pillars for West Chester's new strategic plan, which will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
You arrive at an exciting time as we begin a new chapter, one that embraces our role and responsibilities as an "R2" regional comprehensive research university that produces the next generation of leaders—leaders that contribute to the common good. We like to say we proudly educate the 99% at West Chester, offering equitable access to academic excellence while at the same time promoting the common good. Not just because we are part of a state system, but because higher education at its best is a public good—a good that not only benefits the individual but also benefits society.
At West Chester University, we are committed to ensuring an environment of trust, collaboration, equity-mindedness, compassion, grace and honesty as outlined in our Trusting Team Statement and hold these guiding principles as paramount to carrying out our mission:
- Fostering student, team, and university success.
- Employing rigorous and systemic institutional planning and assessment to ensure continuous improvement.
- Providing honesty and transparency in communication and policies.
- Upholding our strong commitment to shared governance.
- As a new faculty member, you will play a critical role in the future development of your department and the University as a whole. Therefore, we share a special interest in your future success at WCU.
To make sure you get a good start, we have developed a New Faculty Orientation program that runs August 15, 2023 – August 16, 2023, and continues with fall sessions (NFO Extension Series).The goals of this program include giving you an overview of the mission, values, and strategic goals of the University and providing you with information about what it takes to be successful at West Chester University. During the orientation program, you will have an opportunity to meet faculty and administrators in key leadership roles. In addition, you will meet other new faculty from the "Class of 2023" who will likely have questions similar to yours about beginning this new experience.
The elements of the orientation program have been carefully designed and selected to provide you with critical information regarding both expectations of your appointment as well as benefits and resources available to you as a faculty member. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to structure your August schedule to attend all orientation sessions.
We understand that you may have specific questions or concerns as you prepare for your arrival. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our orientation committee or the Human Resources department at HRS@wcupa.edu. We are here to support you and address any questions you may have.
Once again, congratulations on joining the West Chester University family. We eagerly anticipate your arrival and look forward to working with you to achieve our shared goals of academic excellence and student success.
Warm regards,
Jeffery L. Osgood, Jr., Ph.D., MPA
Interim Executive Vice President & Provost
Professor of Public Policy & Administration