The COVID-19 pandemic enabled an unprecedented remote teaching experience for world language faculty who had to move their courses online in spring 2020. Previous studies show that faculty background characteristics affect their perceptions of and experience with online teaching. The present study examined the effect of two college-level world language faculty background characteristics (prior experience with online language teaching and academic rank) on their perceptions of online language teaching during the pandemic (perceived value of online language teaching, self-confidence in online language teaching, and stress felt during the pandemic). A mixed-methods approach was adopted to analyze data collected from a large-scale online questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The results show very complex relationships between college-level world language faculty background characteristics and their perceptions of online language teaching during the pandemic. Based on the findings, the study also provides suggestions for world language faculty professional development to prepare for crisis-prompted and planned online language teaching in the future.