Onboarding plan

Economics Professor Onboarding Plan (30-60-90 Days)

A practical, printable plan to take a new economics professor from first day to full productivity.

Updated By the Career Education Institute Curriculum Team
Economics 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 economics, Research grants (as applicable)
  • Prepare equipment and access: stata and R; python; economic databases; laTeX
  • Assign a buddy or preceptor
  • Enroll the new hire in Economics Professor training so foundations are covered before or during week one

Week one: orient and protect

  • Workplace tour, emergency procedures and incident reporting
  • Protect research data
  • Follow research ethics
  • Protect student privacy
  • Follow campus safety
  • Shadow an experienced economics 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: teach supply and demand with a classroom market
  • Supervised practice: run a regression analysis
  • Supervised practice: write a policy brief
  • 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 economics courses: independently
  • Analyze economic data: independently
  • Conduct research: independently
  • Publish papers: 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 economics)
  • Discuss the career path: Graduate Instructor → Assistant Professor → Associate Professor
  • 90-day review

Competency checklist

Skill or taskTrainedObservedSigned off
Teach Supply and Demand with a Classroom Market
Run a Regression Analysis
Write a Policy Brief
Economic theory
Econometrics
Statistics
Data analysis

How to measure onboarding success

  • Time to independent classroom work
  • Observation and evaluation scores
  • Licensing or compliance findings
  • First-year retention

How Economics Professor training maps to this plan

  1. Introduction to the Economics Professor Role
  2. A Day on the Job
  3. Essential Economics Professor Vocabulary
  4. Core Duties and Responsibilities
  5. Common Tasks, Step by Step
  6. Tools, Equipment and Technology
  7. Safety, Compliance and Professional Standards
  8. Skills Employers Look For
  9. Launching Your Economics Professor Career
  10. Final Knowledge Check
Get team pricing
Team pricing