The thrill of being hired for a tenure-track job is often quickly replaced by feeling all alone in a new town, far from your loved ones. New faculty often feel so thankful to have landed a tenure-track job that it’s hard to also talk honestly about the fact that there are real challenges to settling … Read more
Author: Barbara Risman, PhD Nearly all university administrators are really faculty in disguise. We take jobs in administration for a variety of reasons. Whether we are a Department Head, Associate Dean, Dean or Provost, most of us want to both do our jobs well and remain active in our fields as researchers and writers who publish … Read more
Author: Badia Ahad, PhD As a graduate student, I had a lot of difficulties writing the dissertation. I was told by my readers that I needed to “bolster” my language, that my analysis could be pushed “further,” and that my arguments were too diffuse. These kinds of criticisms are not uncommon for dissertation projects, but … Read more
Author: Barbara Risman, PhD In the 21st Century with higher education budgets shrinking from state legislatures, and small liberal arts colleges going bankrupt, it’s a stressful time to be a professor. The standards seem to keep rising for getting a job, getting tenured and promoted. Yet, for many of us, this is the life we want. The freedom to … Read more
Author: Barbara Risman, PhD Congratulations on your tenure! You are one of the few Americans left with any sort of job security. After more than two decades of education, and at least six years, and probably more, of precarious employment, you have arrived at your Associate Professorship. You know just how lucky you are. You’ve worked very hard, … Read more
Author: Elizabeth Ancarana, PhD. Dual-career matters have become such a significant component of faculty recruitment and retention that you can’t talk about one without the other. Since most of our faculty have working partners and spouses—some of whom are also academics, some in other professions—providing dual-career assistance can be crucial for a successful recruitment for … Read more
Author: Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Originally posted on Inside Higher Ed. In the spirit of continuing to question the tired and dysfunctional myths about mentoring that are pervasive in the academy (the meaning of mentoring, sink or swim, the limit of anecdotes, and mentoring underrepresented faculty) let me move to one that is both organizationally ineffective and individually debilitating: once professors … Read more
Author: Cristi Cooke As an academic, it’s common to face varied and constant pressures on your time, resources, and “mental space”. Working long hours where you are trying to be everything to everyone can be an effective strategy, but it’s not a sustainable one over the length of your academic career. For many of my … Read more
Author: Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD How to Make a Decision Interested in joining us for an upcoming session of our Faculty Success Program? We know that deciding whether to participate in the program is a big decision. It requires a significant amount of time, funds, and energy. And while you might have seen the qualitative and quantitative … Read more