Avoiding Faculty Burnout

June 4, 2009

Practitioner Document – ABSTRACT

This Practitioner Document compiles key points on how to identify strategies for better time management for online teaching; understand exemplary techniques for administrating large online student groups; and learn what teaching practices are working for online professors at other institutions. Themes of the workshop include faculty issues and suggestions for avoiding faculty burnout. Each section includes a bulleted list of important “take-aways” from the sessions. Full documents are available for paid OLC members.

Faculty Issues (sample):

  • Are educators just glutton for punishment or do other professionals find themselves so stretched?
  • How to be more supportive for teachers during times of low morale.
  • New ideas to support the teaching staff with their daily functions of facilitation.
  • Dealing with 24/7 accessibility.

Suggestions for Avoiding Faculty Burnout (sample):

The joy of online instruction does allow you to take it poolside.

  • I learned to put family first… I find that investing in my family allows me the freedom to throw myself into my work with full abandon.
  • Create a ‘statement of availability’ which sets boundaries as to when you will/will not be available and via what medium (e.g. cell phone, instant messaging, email).

With acknowledgements to the participants of the OLC workshop Avoiding Faculty Burnout, May/June 2009 for their contributions to the discussions that formed the basis for this Practitioner Document – Thank you.

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Member only – PDF document:
application/pdf iconpractitioner_burnout.pdf