Onboarding plan
Biology Professor Onboarding Plan (30-60-90 Days)
A practical, printable plan to take a new biology professor from first day to full productivity.
Biology Professor onboarding at a glance
Week one covers orientation, safety and shadowing. Days 1–30 build vocabulary and supervised practice on core procedures; days 31–60 move to independent work with competency sign-offs; days 61–90 focus on full productivity, cross-training and a credential plan.
Before day one
- Confirm start date, schedule, pay and supervisor in writing
- Verify required credentials: Ph.D. in biology, Postdoctoral training (as applicable)
- Prepare equipment and access: lab equipment; microscopes; sequencing data tools; statistical software
- Assign a buddy or preceptor
- Enroll the new hire in Biology Professor training so foundations are covered before or during week one
Week one: orient and protect
- Workplace tour, emergency procedures and incident reporting
- Follow biosafety and chemical safety
- Comply with IRB and IACUC
- Protect student privacy
- Train lab members
- Shadow an experienced biology professor through a full shift
- Training modules 1–3: role foundations, a day on the job and essential vocabulary (15 terms)
Days 1–30: learn
Goal: perform core tasks safely under supervision.
- Supervised practice: build a course-based research experience
- Supervised practice: teach a large intro biology class
- Supervised practice: mentor a new graduate student
- Training modules 4–7: duties, step-by-step tasks, tools and safety
- 30-day check-in: confidence, questions and early wins
Days 31–60: contribute
Goal: handle a regular workload independently.
- Teach biology courses: independently
- Run teaching labs: independently
- Lead a research lab: independently
- Mentor student researchers: independently
- Competency sign-offs completed (see checklist below)
- Training final knowledge check and certificate of completion
- 60-day check-in
Days 61–90: own
Goal: full productivity and a growth plan.
- Meet productivity and quality targets for the role
- Begin cross-training on a secondary task
- Agree on a credential goal (for example, Ph.D. in biology)
- Discuss the career path: Postdoc → Assistant Professor → Associate Professor
- 90-day review
Competency checklist
| Skill or task | Trained | Observed | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build a Course-Based Research Experience | |||
| Teach a Large Intro Biology Class | |||
| Mentor a New Graduate Student | |||
| Biology expertise | |||
| Lab techniques | |||
| Research design | |||
| Statistics |
How to measure onboarding success
- Time to independent classroom work
- Observation and evaluation scores
- Licensing or compliance findings
- First-year retention
How Biology Professor training maps to this plan
- Introduction to the Biology Professor Role
- A Day on the Job
- Essential Biology Professor Vocabulary
- Core Duties and Responsibilities
- Common Tasks, Step by Step
- Tools, Equipment and Technology
- Safety, Compliance and Professional Standards
- Skills Employers Look For
- Launching Your Biology Professor Career
- Final Knowledge Check