There’s more to teaching effectively than just knowing your subject matter—and no one knows this better than Georgia Perimeter College engineering instructor Dr. Debbie Kim. 

It’s the reason Kim and 10 of her faculty colleagues signed up for GPC’s New Faculty Academy, which kicked off last fall and culminated with a completion ceremony in May.

The purpose of the yearly academy, which is centered on new faculty development for student success and sponsored by the college’s Center for Teaching and Learning, is to welcome, educate and promote excellence in teaching among newly hired instructors.

“NFA gave me a lot of useful information, including various procedures and policies that I needed to know, including … what to know about evaluation procedures for tenure and promotion and various teaching resources I could use,” says Kim, who teaches at Dunwoody Campus.

Dr. Donya Andrews-Little, Physical Education instructor at Clarkston, says the academy sessions that focused on understanding FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, were most helpful for her.

She also appreciates the personal attention she received from administrators such as Dr. Pamela Moolenaar-Wirsiy, who oversees the Center for Teaching and Learning. “Pamela was a great support system,” Andrews-Little says.

Academy enrollment is “highly encouraged,” says Moolenaar-Wirsiy. Hosted once a year, it includes two full-day meetings just before the fall semester begins and several additional gatherings during the academic year. Session topics bear titles such as "Organizing for Success," "Faculty Expectations" and "Promoting Success: Perspectives of Senior Faculty," which give new faculty the opportunity to explore teaching techniques and discuss factors that affect the learning environment with a supportive group of campus colleagues.

“All that we do is based on the premise that excellence in teaching is a necessity in the development of successful students,” says Moolenaar-Wirsiy.