For Faculty

From Uncertainty to Clarity: Inside the First Department Chair Success Program

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department chair success program

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 without any formal preparation. That’s exactly why we launched the Department Chair Success Program (CSP). After welcoming our inaugural cohort, one thing became clear: when chairs are supported, everything changes. … Read more

3 Ways to Reframe Your Time around Writing

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time

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. Constantly overtaken by urgent demands. It’s easy to blame teaching loads or service expectations (and yes, those are real). But underneath the surface, many faculty wrestle with deeper issues: guilt … Read more

How to Translate Research for a General Audience Through Digital Media

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translating research for general audience

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 our own classrooms. This could be through video web series, podcasts, op eds, online articles, building our own websites, and so much more.  I think one of the biggest mistakes … Read more

Mid-Career Transition: Advice on Moving from Associate to Full Professor

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mid career faculty

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 into a routine and say yes to everything you are asked to do, like engaging in too many service activities that could get in the way of the activities that … Read more

Building Resilience in Times of Uncertainty: Strategies for Faculty and Academic Leaders

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strength

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 faculty and academic leaders can embrace change and adapt to the challenges of an unpredictable academic environment. From funding instability to the personal and professional pressures faculty face, navigating uncertainty … Read more

Identifying and Overcoming Perfectionism in Academic Writers

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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 to academic perfectionism, and it is exacerbated by the culture of colleges and universities (particularly for tenure-track faculty members).  Many perfectionists are painfully aware of their problem but many of … Read more

Beyond the Guru: Rethinking what Mentorship Looks Like in Higher Ed

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rethink

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, wisdom, and insider knowledge. This “guru model” was once the gold standard, designed for a time when faculty careers were more linear, roles more narrowly defined, and success pathways more … Read more

Redefining Mentoring in Higher Education

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Mentoring White Paper

A white paper from NCFDD and COACHE What does effective mentoring actually look like, how can institutions prioritize it, and how can you obtain it? Produced in partnership with NCFDD and the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) at Harvard University, this white paper examines the persistent gap between how important mentoring is … Read more

Beyond the Grant: Practical Approaches to Research Funding in Uncertain Times

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money and leaf

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 pressing concerns for faculty: research funding. In this session, we examined how faculty can adapt to shifting funding landscapes, identify new opportunities, and leverage both institutional support and external resources … Read more

Why Faculty Mentoring Still Isn’t Working (And What We Can Do About It)

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mentoring

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 actually helping them thrive? That’s where the conversation shifts. Many faculty enter academia expecting mentorship to be a meaningful part of their growth. They’re told they’ll get guidance on research, … Read more