Approaches which recognize the inadequacy of many existing faculty preparation programs, while facilitating role and career transition of new faculty members are needed by today's 2-year colleges. Recognizing these facts, this monograph looks at the orientation program as one solution. Recent research on faculty background in terms of occupational and teaching experiences, occupational attitudes, and academic credentials reveals the great variation at both the state and national level. This variation, when considered with the diverse recruiting methods and environments, adds immediacy to the need for programs that can begin the unification process and obtain support for each institution's locally prescribed mission. A review of orientation programs in California, Michigan, and New York characterizes recent approaches to this situation. Related research on the planning, conduct, and activities of individual programs, as well as their regional distribution, offer additional insight. Characteristics of existing programs that appear important include participation of incumbent faculty members, and introduction to real problems faced by each institution. After considering this research, a model for a new orientation program is suggested, including discussion of goals, planning, duration, actual conduct, and evaluation. The concluding section investigates future circumstances which should be considered in developing orientation programs. (JO)