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Transcript of Considering an Academic Career In Science and Engineering Future Faculty Seminar April 17, 2007 CS...
Considering an Academic CareerIn Science and Engineering
Future Faculty SeminarApril 17, 2007
CS 400Richard M. [email protected]
Introduction and Brief Overview
• Why Tomorrow’s Professor?• The academic enterprise• The Three-Way Stretch preparation strategy
• Finding, and getting, the best possible academic position
• Work-life balance• Tomorrow’s Professor mailing list
Why Tomorrow’s Professor?
• Lack of understanding of the academic enterprise.
• Decisions for and against academic careers made for the wrong (as well as the right) reasons.
• More to preparing for an academic career than getting a Ph.D.
• More to succeeding in an academic career than teaching and research.
The Academic Enterprise What You Don't Know Can Surprise (and Bite)
You
• A Consequential decision• Unlike any other institution• Differences among institutions• Comparisons across the disciplines
The Academic Enterprise
A Consequential Decision
• Long-term commitment• Limited options within a given geographic region
• Dual-career considerations
The Academic Enterprise Unlike an Other Institution
• Individual autonomy• Accountability• Rewards and recognition • Tenure
The Academic Enterprise Differences Across
Institutions• Baccalaureate ~630• Master’s Granting ~530• Doctorate ~110• Research ~125
The Academic Enterprise Comparisons Across the
Disciplines
• Funding sources• Faculty offsets• Research costs• Size of research programs• Collaboration• Teaching commitments
The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy
• Why you need a strategy• Elements of a successful strategy• Applying the strategy
The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy
Elements of a Successful Strategy
• Breadth-on-top-of depth
• Next-stage
• Multiple option
The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy Breadth-on-Top-of-Depth
Places your developing expertise in a broad
context, allows you to see connections between
your work and that of others, to develop related
areas of depth, and to make a more compelling
case for your own contribution.
The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy Next -Stage
Enables you to think ahead, look ahead, and act
ahead of the stage you (and your futurecompetition) currently occupy and thus not only
demonstrate your willingness, but also your
readiness, to assume the position you are seeking.
The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy Multiple Options
Allows you to prepare concurrently for careers in
academia, government, and industry.
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
• Identifying the possibilities• Applying for positions• What departments look for in new faculty
• Getting the results you want
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Identifying the Possibilities
• Explore Now, Search Later• Deciding What You Want• Researching What’s Out There• Preparing for the Search
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Applying for Positions
• Preparing Your Application Materials
• The Application Process
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
What Departments Look for in New Faculty
• Overall promise• General teaching ability,ability to
teach courses in need of staffing• Ability to do research, scholarship
in specific areas, a specific research orientation
• Compatibility with department and institution
• Potential for securing external research funding
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Getting the Results You Want
• Your Negotiating Approach• Negotiating Principles• Dual-Career Couples• What if You Don’t Get the Job
You Want?
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Your Negotiating Approach
• The shift from seeking an offer to having received an offer
• The department chair’s legacy• The department’s investment in
your success
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Negotiating Principles
1. Make sure you have an offer.
2. Know what you want - and what you don’t want.
3. Clearly communicate what you want - but only to the right people.
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Negotiating Principles
4. Always try to use your work quality or productivity as the rationale in your negotiations - align your goals with those of your employer.
5. Make requests in an informational manner rather than in a controlling manner.
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Negotiating Principles
6. Negotiate hard on things that are "out of bounds," negotiate more gently on things that are "in bounds.”
7. Learn about the tenure process,but don't get hung up on it.
8. Start as high as you can in institutional prestige.
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position
Negotiating Principles9. Get as high a
starting salary as you can, but be realistic.
10. Create options and keep as many open for as long as you can
11. In making a decision, combine logic and emotion.
Seven – Not so Obvious - Keys to Surviving and Thriving in Academia
Work-Life Balance
The Academics Dilemma
“As a graduate student my prevailing thought was
'If I can just find a good problem,' or 'If I can just
find a way to prove this conjecture.' As an assistant
professor, my prevailing thought was, 'If I can just
find the time!’” Terri Lindquester, associateprofessor of mathematics, Rhodes College.
Work-Life Balance
Key #1
Learn how to say YES
as well as NO
It’s easier to say no to unwanted tasks if you’ve already committed to something you do want to do.
Work-Life Balance
Key #2
Establish your ABSENCE
as well as your PRESENCE
Set a schedule for being physically elsewhere and unavailable, and stick
to it.
Work-Life Balance
Key #3
Do aLITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING
as well asALL OF ONE THING
Master the art of multitasking.
Work-Life Balance
Key #4
Determine your TASKS
as well as your PRIORITIES
Many activities, small and large, are the steps that lead to your
goal.
Work-Life Balance
Key #5
Work until your TIME IS UP
as well as until your TASK IS DONE
Approach every task with the goal of making progress during a specific amount of time, then move on to the
next task to maintain forward momentum.
Work-Life Balance
Key #6
Bring some of your HOME TO WORK
well as some of yourWORK TO HOME
You live in both worlds; look for ways to bring them together
Work-Life Balance
Key #7
Seek to INTEGRATE YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND
PERSONAL ACTIVITIES as well as to
SEPARATE WORK AND PLAYDoing so can maximize your effectiveness
and satisfaction in both spheres.
Work-Life Balance
Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List
Tomorrow’s Professor Mailing List is sent bi- weekly to over 25,000 subscribers, mostly graduate students, postdocs and beginning faculty at over 650 colleges and universities in over 100 countries around the world.
Academia* New Faculty Reward Structures* Faculty Learning and Institutional Change
Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List
Preparing for Academic Careers* The Academic Job Talk.* General Principles For Responding to Academic Job Offers
Managing Your Academic Career* Tenure Tips* Twelve Suggestions for Optimizing Academic
Career Success
Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List
Teaching and Learning* Improving Student Learning While Saving Faculty Time
* How Students Learn, How Teachers Teach, and What Goes Wrong With the Process
Research* Elements Found in Most Successful Proposals
* How Graduate Students and Faculty Miss Communicate
Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List
NOTE: Anyone can SUBSCRIBE to the Tomorrows-Professor Mailing List by going to:
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/tomorrows-professor
Or send e-mail to:[email protected]