Blogs

For many faculty, stepping into a department chair role can feel like a detour—an administrative obligation that pulls time and energy away from research, teaching,...

Author: Fred A. Bonner II, EdD For researchers in general, and tenure-track faculty in particular, perhaps the most critical task they must engage is to...

On many campuses, mentoring is widely valued but loosely defined. It’s often left to individual departments or informal pairings, without much structure or accountability. While...

For new and experienced department chairs alike, leadership can feel isolating. You’re expected to manage conflict, mentor faculty, make strategic decisions, and balance countless priorities—often...

Author: NCFDD For many faculty, the biggest barrier to consistent writing isn’t a lack of ideas—it’s time. Or more accurately, how time feels. Unstructured. Fragmented....

Author: NCFDD Mentoring is widely recognized as essential to faculty success, but not all faculty experience it as effective or equitable. In our recent collaboration...

By Danielle Bainbridge, PhD, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University Many academics share a commitment to bring our work and expertise to a wider audience outside of...

It’s not uncommon for mid-career professors to feel conflicted about going for a promotion to full professor. Once tenure is earned, it’s easy to fall...

Author: NCFDD Uncertainty is a constant in higher education today. As we conclude the Navigating Uncertainty webinar series with the final session, Building Resilience, we reflect on how...

One of the most pervasive problems with academic writers is perfectionism. It’s ubiquitous and manifests in so many unfortunate ways. There is a unique flavor...

Author: NCFDD For a long time, academic mentorship has followed a familiar formula: a junior scholar is paired with a more senior colleague—someone with experience,...

Author: NCFDD In our recent webinar, Navigating Uncertainty in Higher Ed: Approaches for Academic Leaders, we focused on the most pressing concerns that higher education leaders...

Author: NCFDD As we continue exploring the complexities of navigating uncertainty in academia, our second webinar in the Navigating Uncertainty series focused on one of the most...

Author: NCFDD If you ask most faculty whether mentoring matters, the answer is almost always yes. But if you ask whether their mentoring experiences are...

Author: NCFDD Uncertainty is a defining feature of academia today. From shifting funding landscapes and evolving institutional priorities to broader political and social changes, faculty...