August 14, 2015
Advice to new faculty, Fall 2015
Posted by Laura Guertin
Here are some tweets I’ve been collecting that may be helpful to new faculty that are starting out in their first teaching position. One excellent website to start with would be SERC’s website for Early Career Faculty: Teaching, Research, and Managing Your Career. But here are some other points mentioned in the Twitterverse worth sharing. Good luck!
This one is a fascinating item I’ve discussed with colleagues across my own university. At my campus (Penn State Brandywine), all faculty are referred to as “Dr.” or “Professor.” At the main campus (Penn State University – University Park), some students will refer to instructors by their first name – it’s an accepted part of the culture of that campus, but not mine.
Do you use your title of Dr? @hormiga explains power & gender dynamics in #academia. http://t.co/Vtnm33E6Mr #stemwomen #science
— Dr Zuleyka Zevallos (@OtherSociology) December 29, 2014
Speaking of names, there are the student names to learn…
At Inside Higher Ed, essay calling on faculty members to learn their students’ names http://t.co/V9vywjCwlB — Women in Higher Ed (@womeninhighered) August 27, 2014
Some advice offered to new faculty can serve as a “warning message,” – more of a “proceed with caution” (I hate to tell any faculty member that they can’t “do” something – it really warrants a conversation between that new faculty member and their department chair and/or mentor).
Don’t flip your classroom if you’re pretenure. https://t.co/VM3WEuHzto
— Heather Wiatrowski (@HWiatrowski) January 27, 2015
Some faculty that have been teaching for quite some time can offer valuable reflections for new instructors to think about.
nice post from an academic 20 years into the game about things done right/wrong http://t.co/1vYoL8vCF1 — Brian Romans (@clasticdetritus) January 4, 2015
a collaborator/mentor of mine, Dick Norris, wrote his own advice after reading Wheeler’s (previous tweet) http://t.co/MpX9tfSk8e
— Brian Romans (@clasticdetritus) January 4, 2015
And some wise follow-up advice to the thoughts from these senior colleagues…
Re: advice from people w/20 yrs in academia: career success of one person is not a replicable experiment. Same actions can have diff results — Kim Hannula (@stressrelated) January 4, 2015
Here are some other items to consider.
Nature’s advice to new #faculty: stretch start-up funds to launch successful #research programmes http://t.co/7sComTw0W6 #austerity #poverty
— Voice of Researchers (@Research_Voice) August 6, 2015
Advice for new TT faculty. Essay on when a new tenure-track professor should agree to a request | InsideHigherEd http://t.co/4OoPgqOuUH — Peg Yacobucci (@mmyacob) July 22, 2015
panel’s advice for new residents: go to faculty mtgs, ask campus diversity depts how the library can help, and meet other residents #alaac15
— ariana (@aripants) June 28, 2015
Terrific advice, not only for new faculty but old ones too. Make one resolution: to start a daily writing habit. http://t.co/J3v7l0JOjd — Richard Sigurdson (@R_Sigurdson) January 14, 2015
President Haynes’ advice to new faculty: Learn the culture at CSUSM. Find a mentor. Be someone who can push the envelope. #csusm
— CHABSS (@csusm_chabss) January 15, 2015
Is there any other advice others would like to offer to instructors in their rookie season? (this is not even close to an exhaustive list!) Please comment below!
A related article, “3 early-semester tasks for those who are new on the tenure track” – https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2015/08/26/essay-what-tenure-track-professors-can-do-semester-gets-busy-advance-their-careers
Advice for all faculty – an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Career Advice From an Oldish Not-Quite Geezer” – http://chronicle.com/article/Career-Advice-From-an-Oldish/230335/