perform at your best and achieve up to your potential. At many institutions, there is some flexibility to how scholarship is defined so that your tenure case does not have to look exactly like your colleague’s.
A few years ago, two of my colleagues and I were asked to speak to a group of junior faculty at our institution about our tenure cases. It was a good panel because even though we are all three at the same institution and in similar fields, our cases looked quite different from even though we were all considered to be “success stories.” We had each established ourselves in our respective research areas – a requirement for our institution – but we had struck very different balances between research, teaching, and service. Both the contrasts and similarities were helpful to see, and it became clear in our remarks that we had each been guided by our passions. Because we had focused on things we felt strongly about, we had more energy and enthusiasm for our work, and we were able to achieve more. Most institutions appreciate that they need a range of different kinds of faculty members to make the place work well and meet all of the institution’s needs.
2.2.3 DETAILED QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Have you taken time to get to know the institution you have joined? Look for information on the following topics:
• The mission and vision of the university and college
• Recent annual reports
• Faculty policies and procedures
• Tenure procedures and criteria
• Collective bargaining agreement (if faculty are unionized)
• Accreditation standards for the major and/or institution
2. What milestones have you set for yourself, and when do you plan to achieve them? What are the expectations of your department and institution? When does the first official performance evaluation occur?
3. Do you know what it takes to get tenure at your institution? What are the tenure metrics? How do you get the information you need about the requirements? Consider:
• Asking for written tenure guidelines
• Talking with your department chair, mentors, senior faculty inside and outside your department
• Talking with peers at your own and other institutions
• Taking advantage of orientations, workshops, and seminars designed for new faculty
• Attending professional conferences and meetings
• Observing the progress of others
• Observing the mistakes of others
• Reading general literature about academia and the tenure process
Remember that the rules change - what was true several years ago may no longer be the case!
4. When are the decision points for renewal of contract and/or tenure? Have you considered the tenure clock and how it fits into the rest of your life plans? In assessing the timeline, consider:
• departmental and institutional requirements/expectations.
• personal responsibilities (debt, child care, elder care responsibilities).
• possibility and desirability of stopping the tenure clock.
5. There are a number of larger factors that affect your job and how your energy is focused. Talk to people about the:
• vision of your department/college/institution.
• timeline of your faculty appointment.
• characteristics of the undergraduate and graduate student populations.
• methods used to recruit and retain students.
• facilities for teaching laboratory courses and equipment for using technology in the classroom.
• level of expectation for obtaining external funding.
• amount of secretarial and accounting support provided by the department.
• the methods of decision making used in the department.
• the characteristics of a successful faculty member in your department.
2.3 PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
2.3.1 OVERARCHING QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
• Are you becoming an active member of your professional organization(s)?
• Have you identified senior colleagues that you can connect with through professional organization(s) in your field?
2.3.2 MENTORING CONVERSATION: ON THE FINDING THE RIGHT PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION
Becoming a recognized member in your field can be done in a number of ways, but one of the best and most efficient mechanisms comes through joining a professional organization. In some fields, there is one choice – the organization that “everyone” belongs to – and in other fields, there may be multiple choices. Particularly if your interests are interdisciplinary, you may find that you need to make connections to more than one organization. There are also sometimes local or regional chapters of research and/or teaching-oriented societies that you might consider.
In my particular areas of research and teaching, there are far too many options. I could easily go to a dozen conferences a year, but I don’t have the time, money, or inclination to do so. In the first few years of my faculty position, I went to the conferences of several different societies, some of them accompanying my senior colleagues. Each society and conference was different from the next, some in subtle and others in very distinct ways. I no longer regularly attend some of these conferences. In some cases, I found that my research was not a good fit, and in other cases, I found that the personality of the society was not a good fit.
At this point in my career, I have three societies that I am active in, regularly attending the conferences, giving talks, and participating in the society organization. One of these is a teaching-oriented professional society, and the other two span the interdisciplinary areas where my research lies. I have found the long term involvement to be fulfilling: allowing me to build relationships, identify collaborators, develop my professional reputation, and contribute to the future direction of my field.
One of these societies I have been a member of since my undergraduate days. My first conference participation was with this society in a student poster session. Over the years, this has grown into a connection that is almost like a second family. Not only are the other researchers friends who I enjoy seeing regularly, the society staff members are also wonderful people I enjoy interacting with year after year. At a recent conference I attended, I had lunches and dinners with several groups of friends, heard some great talks, connected with another researcher about a technique he developed that I am try on the material I work with, presented my own work, and got an invitation to write a journal paper for a special issue. So, sometimes these meetings can be fruitful in a wide variety of ways!
2.3.3 DETAILED QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. What are the important
