The Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost (also known as the Provost's office) sponsors activities designed to support your various backgrounds, needs, and goals so that you may begin laying the groundwork for your faculty appointment at Iowa State.
Scroll down and review the detailed information to learn about the orientation activities and goals.
New faculty (term, tenure-eligible, and tenured) are strongly encouraged to orient themselves to Iowa State University prior to their official hire dates, using the New Faculty Orientation course. Through this course and other onboarding and orientation activities, we seek to:
These resources are offered to provide support and information and facilitate a smooth transition to your faculty appointment. New faculty will retain access and use of the New Faculty Orientation course after their appointments formally begin.
In addition to the New Faculty Orientation course, Tera Jordan, assistant provost for faculty success, and Katharine Hensley, faculty success coordinator, moderate a real-time, virtual conversation to allow new faculty an opportunity to receive important information about Iowa State, build community, and ask questions early in the onboarding process. Information about this virtual session is forthcoming for the 2026-2027 academic year.
New faculty orientation, an in-person meeting, will be on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at Reiman Gardens in the Garden Room. All new faculty (term, tenure-eligible, and tenured) who have joined Iowa State since September 1, 2025 are invited to attend. If newly appointed faculty are not available to attend the August 19 orientation, the next orientation meeting is Wednesday, January 13, 2027, noon to 5:00 p.m., in the Memorial Union, Campanile Room.
Attendance is strongly recommended. Registration is encouraged.
Goals of orientation:
The Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), the Graduate College, the University Library, Extension and Outreach, and the Office of the Vice President for Research sponsor a series of programs and events to introduce all newly-appointed faculty to promote a smooth transition to life at Iowa State and central Iowa. For more information about these orientation meetings, scroll to the bottom of this page and select the menus that reflect your position responsibilities (e.g., teaching, research, graduate faculty, extension and outreach).
Fall 2026 CELT Teaching Symposium
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) hosts the CELT Teaching Symposium to discuss effective teaching practices and student support resources available at Iowa State University. All new faculty and staff with a teaching role are encouraged to attend on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., as they prepare for a successful first semester.
Symposium Goals:
Whether you arrived on the Iowa State University campus this year or in the past couple of years, we truly value your contributions in helping achieve our aspiration to be the university that cultivates a welcoming and respectful environment where all students, faculty, and staff flourish.
The Office of the Vice President for Research is delighted to host a Research Faculty Orientation information exchange – featuring a made-to-order (by the VPR!) omelet station – on the morning of Friday, January 23, 2026. Our program will focus on the life cycle of a research project from ideation through award management. We’ll start serving omelets at 8:00 a.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. Our information session will follow and our VPR team will be available to answer your questions through 11:00 a.m.
Registration is required - and to become better acquainted with your colleagues expertise – we ask you to come prepared to share a quick overview of your research interests and expertise using this simple template. Upload your slide with your registration prior to January 23.
The Graduate College will hold two graduate faculty orientation sessions for newly appointed tenured/tenure-track and associate graduate faculty this spring so that they can be added as instructors on courses and serve on program of study committees.
New tenured/tenure-track faculty MUST attend one of these sessions before they will be eligible to serve on program of study committees. We recommend that all new associate graduate faculty attend one of the sessions as well. Both sessions will be identical, so sign up for only one.
If you have been a graduate faculty member for many years and/or have already attended an orientation, you are not required to attend. All graduate faculty are welcome to attend these orientations to get a refresher.
Additional information is forthcoming about the 2026 orientation dates.
Contact Natalie Robinson, Assistant Director of Student and Faculty Services, nbr@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5020, for more information.
