Tips for Project Managers by Educational Institution

							TIPS FOR PROSPECTIVE JUNIOR
    FACULTY ENTERING THE
ACADEMY OF HIGHER EDUCATION



        Kimberly D. Kendricks, Ph. D
          Central State University
        Promotion & Tenure

 Promotion- To advance or move up in
  rank/position

 Tenure- The position of having a formal
  secure appointment until retirement,
  especially at an educational institution after
  working on a temporary or provisional basis.



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Assessment Measures

     Research
     Teaching
      Service


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   Developing a Master Plan

 Acquire the requirements for promotion and
  tenure at your university
   Work with the librarian, department chair, or chair of
    your search committee
   Find internal and external mentors (not advisors)
 Develop a master plan in alignment with the
  requirements for promotion and tenure. This
  plan must include separate agendas for research,
  teaching, and service, and each agenda must
  have time-lined objectives.
   Ask your mentors to serve as accountability partners

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                 Research Agenda
 Develop a research agenda (not a research project)
   In one sentence, you should write down your long term
    research agenda.
     Each piece of research you do builds upon prior work to get
      to this long term goal. (i.e., short-term goals lead to long
      term goal)
     Short term goals should be measurable with a detailed
      timeline (first three goals/projects should last you about five
      years)
     From your research, develop an idea or question and
      determine what you already know, what resources are
      available, and what your goals are when the project is done
   Parallel projects are good, but don’t spread yourself too
    thin!
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            Research Agenda

 Publications
   Develop an external network to whom you send
    preprints, reprints, and invite to campus
   At least 2 pubs a year in your field
   Write at least 30 minutes a day. (Don’t save your writing
    for winter or spring breaks, or even the summer!)
 Presentations
   At least 2 a year in your field
   Locally and nationally
      Use your relationship with external mentors
      Make a name for yourself outside of the university

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                Research Agenda
 Other related activities
    Invite research leaders to campus (improves local credibility,
     national visibility)
    Attend talks, workshops, conferences internally and externally
    Recruit and mentor undergraduate or graduate research
     assistants
 Grantsmanship
    Apply early, apply often
       Collaborate with your mentors
    Learn from yours and others’ submissions (whether funded or
     not)
    Attend grant writing workshops, particularly those with NIH and
     NSF that place an emphasis on supporting minorities and
     underrepresented groups
    Serve as an external reviewer for NSF or NIH

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            Teaching Agenda

 Pedagogy
   Demonstrate diversity in teaching strategies in the
    classroom (technology, interdisciplinary approaches,
    project-based approaches, collaborating with other
    faculty on campus, etc.)
   Document student improvement due to these
    strategies (grades, evaluations completed by
    students, emails from students, etc.)
 Teaching Assignments
   Teach a variety of courses (lower level and upper level)
    in your discipline (i.e., don’t get stuck teaching lower
    level courses semester after semester)
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            Teaching Agenda

 The Student
   Treat all students with respect
   Always begin your classes on time
   Always hold your office hours on time
   Be careful of what is communicated to students
    through email; it may be best to discuss matters
    such as grades in person instead of through email.
   Know your role as the instructor. For student
    needs beyond this role, please send the student to
    the appropriate offices-counseling services,
    financial aid, bursar’s office, housing office, etc.
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                         Service Agenda
 Serve on committees at various levels (internal or external to the
   university)
      Department
      College
      University/ Senate
      Local initiatives (boards, K-12, religious groups, etc.)
 Given your research and teaching agendas, choose your service on
  committees carefully so not to derail the pursuit of your master
  plan.
 Avoid serving on committees that are purely advisory (i.e.,
  committees that have no budget or will not influence campus policies
  or programmatic decisions)
 Avoid serving on a committee where you are the “technical” expert
      The only person of color on the Diversity Committee
      The only woman on the Gender Rights Committee


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           Service Agenda

 Never serve as a Department Chair or Chair of
  a committee unless you are a tenured full
  professor, otherwise, you jeopardize delaying
  your master plan.
 Never choose sides in departmental politics.
  Find a way to be absent.
 Do not hold a joint appointment. Seek tenure
  in one department, otherwise you’ll be
  working on your own to accomplish your
  master plan.
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             Academic Golden Rule:
              Put Yourself First!
 Keep a record
      Start preparing your dossier for promotion on day one
      Track and file evidence of research, teaching , and service ( evidence of
       publications, presentations, grantsmanship, pedagogy, undergraduate
       and/or graduate mentoring, emails or letters from students and peers
       internal and external to the university, etc.)
 Public Image
      “There are six degrees of separation” -Work your master plan to become
       known at the university, and work the plan even harder to become
       better known outside of the university
 Collegiality
      If you can’t say it publicly, then don’t say it!
      Always keep a positive attitude
      Treat administrative assistants, teaching assistants, research assistants,
       janitors and facilities managers with respect. Share your appreciation
       with them often because in difficult times, they can be the ones to help
       you get things done.

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        Put Yourself First!

 Outside Income
   Know the rules for receiving additional income outside
    the university
   Serve as a consultant, if time permits
     To determine your rate, for a nine month appointment,
      divide your salary by 165 days to get your daily rate.
     Check the federal rate for non-profit organizations
 Minimize Stress
 Stay healthy (mentally, physically, and
  emotionally)
 Develop a bullet proof ego
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                  References

 Former Program Director at the National Science
  Foundation
   Jerry Bramwell, Ph. D., University of Kentucky
   NSF/QEM-Program Workshop Presentation: “Practical
    Promotion and Tenure”
 Consultant to the National Science Foundation
   Karen King, Ph. D., New York University
   NSF /QEM-Program Workshop Presentation: “Developing a
    Long Term Research Agenda”
 Books
   “What They Didn’t Teach You in Graduate School, 199
    Helpful Hints for Success in Your Academic Career” by Paul
    Gray and David Drew

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