Joining the Mission: a guide for (mainly) new college faculty

by Susan Vanzanten

Joining the Mission is a helpful guide for new (and experienced) faculty at religious colleges and universities. Susan VanZanten here provides an orientation to the world of Christian higher education and an introduction to the academic profession of teaching, scholarship, and service, with a special emphasis on opportunities and challenges common to mission-driven institutions. From designing a syllabus to dealing with problem students, from working with committees to achieving a balanced life, VanZantens guidebook will help faculty across the disciplines Art to Zoology and every subject between understand better what it means to pursue faithfully a vocation as professor. Susan VanZantens Joining the Mission is an exceptional resource for all faculty members at Christian colleges and universities. While it is a very practical guide to teaching at a university, the book also helps the reader understand and wrestle with the nuances of what it means to be a faculty member at a mission-driven institution. I appreciate VanZantens contribution to articulating why mission is important at our institutions, why we care about it so much, and how we can better accomplish it. Thomas Cedel President, Concordia University Texas

222 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2011

About the author

Susan VanZanten (PhD, Emory University) is professor of English at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, and leads faculty workshops and retreats across the country. She is the author or editor of seven books, including Joining the Mission: A Guide for (Mainly) New College Faculty, Mending a Tattered Faith: Devotions with Dickinson, and Truth and Reconciliation: The Confessional Mode in South African Literature. She frequently reviews contemporary African fiction in Books & Culture.

Reviews

[Justin Dewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are early in your academic career as a professor, or looking to start teaching soon this book is a valuable resource. Vanzanten covers multiple topics relevant to teaching as a professor. Don't expect the deepest dive on each chapter's topic. Instead, this provides helpful insights that you can then dive into through additional books. I will say, this perhaps has the best chapter on the history of higher education.

[Jonathan Den Hartog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although in need of an update, this is a valuable book for acculturating new faculty into faith-based institutions.