Rewrite lectures. Fine-tune syllabuses. Master new computer system. Design Web site. And of course, inspire great scholarship.

These are just a few tasks on a slightly overwhelming to-do list for Brett Holland, an evolutionary geneticist who will teach his first college courses next week when the fall semester starts at California State University, Sacramento.

"I'm nervous; I've never been an instructor before," said Holland, who at 40 has spent most of his academic career in a competition-driven research environment.

"I'm looking forward to being in front of people who unconditionally value what you are telling them ... the warm, fuzzy feeling."

Holland's anxiety and anticipation are likely to be shared by CSUS' large batch of just-hired professors.

The campus's 110 new faculty members are spending this week in what some call "survival training," where they solicit advice from students, teachers who just finished their rookie year and polished practitioners. The three-day homeroom for first-year professors is put on by CSUS' Center for Teaching and Learning, a faculty-run organization that mentors teachers year-round.

Director Rosemary Papalewis, a CSUS education professor, says the center works closely with new and continuing faculty members to hone a range of teaching skills. Orientation for new faculty -- offered at Sac State for years -- is critical "if for no other reason than these professors can find out about all the resources available to them to help them succeed," Papalewis said.

Despite budget constraints and deep spending cuts imposed this year by the Legislature, the campus was able to hire new faculty members to replace retiring professors. The campus also landed enrollment growth funds earmarked for hiring more professors to meet the demands of a student body nearing 30,000, says David Wagner, dean of faculty and staff affairs.

"Up until two or three years ago, this campus was either the oldest or second-oldest in the system in terms of faculty age," Wagner says. "We knew that this (wave of hiring) was coming."

Among the major adjustments for many new professors is the campus's large population of students who are older, working full time and often raising families, Papalewis says.

Second-year engineering professor Milica Markovic says she became sensitive to those issues and decided even to allow cell phones in her classroom so her students who have children would be accessible.

Incorporating technology, regardless of discipline, also is a necessity. Student Jennifer Millsap told newcomers that putting class material on a faculty Web site is a big bonus.

"Anything that makes the class more accessible really helps," she said.

But peril can come with technology. New faculty members expressed worries about copyright infringement and what protected materials might be too risky to post on a Web site.

Another problem to anticipate: plagiarism. Second-year CSUS professor Donald Dixon said he rooted out dozens of offenders in his first year on campus and told the newcomers to expect the same.

Outside the classroom, new faculty members must tend to other activities, such as serving on academic committees and doing community service, that help build a résumé for winning tenure.

"It's a multidimensional honeycomb that I have to navigate," Holland said.

But most important for professors, said Millsap, the student: "Let your personality and sense of humor come through."