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 into a new location.
Cultivating a supportive community during your first tenure-track year is incredibly important for your professional success and has tremendous benefits for your health and well-being. The ideal community support network for tenure-track faculty includes:
- On- and off-campus mentors
- A local and extended network of friends
- A vibrant intellectual community
- A writing group that meets your accountability needs and celebrates your success
- An excellent therapist and/or new faculty coach to help during the initial transition
It’s also important to do regular physical activity that allows your negative emotions to get out of your body and to participate in professional development activities. Here are four ways to be proactive in your approach to cultivating a supportive network.
Level Set Your Expectations
New faculty are often so happy to get their first tenure-track job that they start to create idealized expectations about the new chapter in their life. Your expectations may be based on a campus visit where everyone was on their best behavior and the tour you received was of the best parts of your new community. Once you arrive, the fuller reality is revealed, including the good, bad, and ugly of your colleagues and new location. When this new reality is coupled with unrealistic expectations about how long it takes to acclimate to a new city, it’s perfectly normal to feel disillusionment and feel utterly and completely alone.
Think about how long it takes to feel at home in a new house, campus, and city. The truth is it generally takes at least a year to make some new friends, settle into a new space, and feel comfortable with new colleagues. It’s also good to remember that there is no perfect job, campus, or city and settling in often takes longer than expected, so give yourself some grace.
Be Proactive in Trying to Meet People
To build connections, you have to put yourself out there. Say yes when you are invited to social events. You don’t know where you’re going to meet great people, so in your first year you want to graciously accept invitations. Invite colleagues and neighbors to coffee, lunch, or dinner even if you’re not sure how it will go. This will help you get to know people on a different level.
Maximize Your Existing Opportunities
If you feel isolated, take a look at how you can maximize your existing opportunities to create a broad network and supportive community. Attend new-faculty events to connect with your peers, sign up for any mentoring program offered, and ask your mentors to introduce you to people who may become friends, mentors, or even sponsors. Try attending campus events like lectures, plays, and concerts, and interact with others while you’re there.
It’s also important to cultivate your existing network connections. Consider scheduling calls with members of your grad school cohort, arranging to read each other’s work and/or proactively nourish your existing mentor relationships. An intellectual community was built into your graduate school experience, but when you’re a new faculty member, you have to work toward building it.
Get Creative
There are plenty of other ways to make connections and get the support you need if you are open to trying new experiences, such as:
- Taking a class such as yoga or a cooking class
- Exploring your new city by visiting something new on a regular basis
- Attending – or starting – a Meetup event
- Starting a writing group on your campus
- Joining a gym
- Volunteering in your community
If you’re currently feeling isolated there are things you can do about it. While those feelings aren’t likely to change overnight, taking steps forward every week to expand your support network will shift the momentum and chip away at the isolation you are currently experiencing.