This one-credit seminar course is designed for those contemplating a career in higher education, particularly as a faculty member. We will cover how colleges and universities work, stages of a career, planning for transitions in career stages, effectively preparing for evaluations at various levels, how to write funding proposals, dealing with the broader academic community in your field and allocating time.
The objective of this seminar is to provide an overview of the many aspects of life in academia that underlie faculty positions but are typically not formally discussed during a student's undergraduate or graduate studies, and are assumed will be obtained by "osmosis" by a faculty member as their career advances. The instructor has been extensively involved over many decades in the diverse roles of a faculty member, has been an advisor to many individuals and programs at all levels of higher education institutions and has been involved in many leadership roles in research, education, campus and national service. The seminar will proceed through formal presentation and discussion of a collection of topics to provide a basis for an academic career. Throughout we will acknowledge the multiple routes to a successful academic career, in terms of different institutions, different emphases throughout a career, and life stage transitions.
Topics to be discussed include: How colleges and universities work; Various roles of a faculty member and prioritizing among them;; Stages of a career; Planning for transitions in career stages; Position searches and how to apply; Mentoring - getting it and giving it; Enhancing your teaching; Building your communication capabilities; Administrators and how they impact your career; Effectively preparing for evaluations at various levels; Funding your scholarship; Participating in the broader academic community in your field; Building effective collaborations; Combining your personal life and academic expectations; Time management. Participants are welcome to suggest additional topics and to assist the instructor in prioritizing among the wide variety of topics.
All registered students are expected to attend each class session, participate in discussions, and read appropriate background material. Participants are also expected as the semester proceeds to prepare an Individual Development Plan (IDP) that is a formal process to plan to leverage your expertise and values to enable you to pursue a satisfying and productive career. At the end of the semester, each participant will present an overview of their IDP to the class.
This course is offered online synchronously and the course meeting time is 2:50-3:40PM on Mondays, starting January 25. We will use Zoom for class meetings.
New York Times article How to Pay for College (and Not Lose Your Shirt) by Daniel Markovits Book review of The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make by Ron Lieber> (link to book)
The B&B Primer on First Job Haggling (link)
Notes on Writing and Getting Grants - L. J. Gross (link)
Applying for a job, haggling for a job, and keeping a job - L. J. Gross (link)
AAAS Science Careers website with many resources (link)
New York Times article - Feb 6, 2021 by Anemona Hartocollis - Students Punished for ‘Vulgar’ Social Media Posts Are Fighting Back: A lawsuit against the University of Tennessee questions when schools can discipline students because of their online speech. (case study for discussion at Feb 8 class session)
AAAS MyIDP site to assist in developing an IDP (link)
Lindstaedt, B. et al. 2013. Making Sense of Your Self-Assessment. Science Careers. Mar. 20, 2013. (link)
Hobin, J. A. et al. 2012. So You Think You Have Skills. Science Careers. Sep. 21, 2012 (link)
Lindstaedt, B. et al. 2012. Interests. Science Careers. Nov. 2, 2012 (link)
Lindstaedt, B. et al. 2012. What Do You Care About? Science Careers. Dec. 7, 2012 (link)
The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM from the National Academies (link)
Nature's guide for mentors (link)
Educause mentoring guide (pdf)
Best practices for mentoring graduate students from Jackson State University (link)
Slides of Basics of Higher Education on costs of college and missions from Presentation on February 1, 2021 (.pptx file)
Slides of Basics of Higher Education on positions and hierarchy of positions from Presentation on February 8, 2021 (.pptx file)