- --

IntroductionWhile seeking a site for my second year as aPew Teacher-Scholar Postdoctoral Fellow, Ihad the rare opportunity to visit and inter-view at eight colleges in the Midwest. Thisexperience gave me a feel for the interviewprocess and insights into the special quali-ties in prospective faculty members soughtby undergraduate institutions. I would liketo share what I learned during my time onthese campuses, as well as what I havelearned as a tenure track faculty member ata small college. There are both similaritiesat . 'iflerences to the experiences of candi-Q~ interviewing for faculty positions atresearch universities.': 2. 3 Unfortunately,most PhD candidates and postdocs arechastised for any interest they have inteaching (sometimes referred to as the "T-word") and get little support from researchmentors for such a career choice. There hasbeen increasing awareness, however, thatnot everyone who gets a PhD wants to es-tablish a research lab at a large university. Inan attempt to assist those seeking "teaching"careers, I offer the following suggestionsthat may be helpful for those wishing to geta job at a primarily undergraduate institu-tion.

Career TracksIf you know that teaching undergraduatestudents is why you are getting a PhD in thefirst place, then you want to think about theimplications of choosing a particular lab foryour thesis work. If you choose a lab thatdoes only one technique and your projectrequires you to work with live Ebola virus,then you are not setting yourself up for ateaching job. Most primarily undergraduateinstitutions want a person who is versatilea1 . .n conduct research that has plenty ofO~(tunity for student participation. Profi-

22 IJWIS ~,IARC H / APR 1L 1 9 9 7

ThChSciorthemel.u-gereXIcarn01

By A. Malcolm Campbell, PhD, Davidson College, NC

ciency with a single technique is too limiteda technical repertoire and Ebola virus is toodangerous and expensive to manage at aprimarily undergraduate institution. Inex-pensive and short-term research projects arebest suited to an undergraduate college. Ifyou are still keen to choose the Ebola virusproject, then recognize that a postdoctoralfellowship will be necessary to add breadthto your training.

Do you have to do a postdoc in order toteach? The answer is yes and no. In today'stight job market (about 100 applicants foreach advertised job), those without post-doctoral experience are the exception. Post-doctoral training will be beneficial for sev-eral reasons: 1) you may learn moretechniques and a different system, whichshould provide sufficient experience toteach at least one more course; 2) youshould gain more experience with writinggrants and increase your publication record;and 3) you will develop a degree of matu-rity that comes from having to adapt to anew area of research.

How do you select your postdoctoral ex-perience? With a few Nobel Prize winningexceptions, the name of your postdoctoralmentor will not be easily recognized; mostfaculty members only recognize the nameswithin their field. However, you might findthat the name of the institution where youpostdoc has a greater impact. This does notmean that the quality of your training willbe better at a name-brand institution, butsome people will find this attractive whichmay, in some small way, help you get an in-terview. You should determine before youbegin your postdoc whether or not theprincipal investigator will allow you to takeyour research with you. The ideal projectfor a primarily undergraduate institution isone that is cheap, easy to learn, and not

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subject to intense competition. If you wantto teach molecular biology and use this inyour research, it is understood that this isan expensive discipline but you might wantto work with an inexpensive system such asChlamydomonas or Drosophila instead ofmore expensive ones like mammals or tis-sue culture.

Should you tell a mentor that teaching ~~your long-term interest? It is a good idea ~J

be honest up front because you will want aletter of recommendation from the principalinvestigator, so he or she will find out even-tually. If you are considering a lab where thePI is hostile to teaching as a successful ca-reer for PhDs, it is better to find this out be-fore you commit yourself to this lab. Do notsubject yourself to a lab where the PI re-sents his or her "wasting time" on someonewho will "just wind up teaching anywayThere are plenty of PIs who view teachingas an acceptable career.

One aspect that is often overlooked dur-ing doctoral training is teaching experience.Most PhD candidates have to teach for atleast two semesters. Often, the courses arehuge and allow little room for personalinput and control of the course. If youknow that teaching at a primarily under-graduate institution is your objective, try ,Jteach more than the bare minimum. Offerto guest lecture for your mentor (very fewmentors object to this). You might be ableto teach a course for someone on sabbaticalat a local college (either a 2-year or 4-yearinstitution). As you gain more teaching ex-perience, ask yourself again if you enjoyedthe process. Is this what you want to do forthe next 30 years?

Finally, where are teaching jobs advcr-tised? This is the easiest part of the entireprocess; all jobs are listed either in Scienceor in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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general questions The fact that you calledwill probably be recorded in your file. Youcan try to get a better understanding of theJob: which courses you would teach; howmany contact hours you would be expectedto maintain; whether there is a research labavailable or in the planning stage; whetherthere is any set-up money; how many ma-jors the department has, etc.

Most academic libraries have a micro-fiche collection of catalogs from everyschool in the country Catalogs allow you tofind out who teaches which courses, whatcourses are offered, and how often. You canalso get a feeling for the history of the col-lege, any areas of special pride, and read theschool's mission statement. Most under-graduate institutions present informationon World Wide Web (vVWYV) home pages.All of this information comes in handywhen you are writing your cover letter.

The ApplicationYou will need to submit four documents forany teaching position where there is also aninterest in research: 1) a cover letter; 2)your CV; 3) a statement of your teachingphilosophy; and 4) a description of yourresearch interests. Even if the ad does notask for them all, you should send them. Ifthey really don't want one of the docu-ments you send, they will not read it. How-ever, some institutions will not list all fourrequired documents to save space ormoney or as a quick way to eliminate those"who don't know better". Some primarilyundergraduate institutions ask for tran-scripts that you might want to have in yourfiles so you can send them copies directly, ifthis is acceptable. Of the four standard doc-uments, I would rank the four documentsin the following order of importance: 1)cover letter, 2) cover letter, 3) cover letter

There will be some overlap between theChronicle's listing and those found inScience, but the Chronicle's listing is a weekor two ahead of Science, which can makethe deadlines more user-friendly In SCience,most job advertisements appear betweenh' August and early January, but somegems can be found at other times due to un-expected changes in faculty The Internetcan also facilitate the job search (see foot-note).

'\I

Before applyingThere are a number of things any candidateshould do before applying for a teachingposition. Contact local colleges or youral ia mater and offer to present a seminar ofyour work-then make the time to do it.There is never a good time in your scheduleto do this, but the practice is invaluable,and most colleges are happy to have a freeseminar speaker. While there, solicit com-ments on your curriculum vitae (CV), andstatements of teaching philosophy, and re-search interests (see below) and ask for con-structive criticism and suggestions for youry.') search. Once you have seen an ad that isi.mpung, do a little homework and soulsearching. Ask yourself how far you reallywant to stretch yourself. For example, if thead is for a geneticist and you are a bio-chemist who happens to use Drosophilatissue-could you really teach genetics?

Consult in the geographical listing, Sci-ence Citation Index's year end report," whichhas a state-by-state listing of that year's pub-] .ations from each department of every in-s.. tution in the country Compare the schoolin question to others with which you are fa-miliar. This will give you an idea of thequantity of research expected at the schoolin question.

Use the Council on Undergraduate Re-search's Directory of Biology Departments.'It lists most of the top primarily undergrad-uate institutions in the country and gives a;;reat deal of information about the avail-aole equipment and research interests ofthe faculty

Use Peterson's Guide to Four Year Colleges6to learn about the students in their geo-graphic and ethnic diversity, average SATscores, etc. The information on the school'sendowment will give you a feeling for howdeep the school's pockets may be when itcome time for negotiations of salary and set-up money

Call the chair of the department, or thechair of the search committee, to ask some

•

\1

23AWI 5 LvI A GA Z I N E, VOL U \1 E 26. N U Nt BER 2MARCH/APRIL 1997

4) cover letter. Although your Cv, teaching+aternent, and research interests are veryportant documents for a job that expectsoth teaching and research, the first roundof cuts will be heavily influenced by yourcover letter. The coyer letter is incrediblyimportant for the following reasons. Thereis no one in the department who does whatyou do (if they did, they wouldn't want tohire another one), so no one will under-stand fully your research or appreciate whohas written your letters of recommenda-tion. At some institutions, some facultymay not conduct research at all, and willnot be familiar with the latest techniques.You are writing to an audience of adminis-trators and a collection of biologists fromevery subdiscipline, so your cover lettershould be general in nature in order to ap-peal to everyone but also sufficiently dis-tinct and not generic. There may be asmany as 150 applications, so everyone islooking for those applications that can beeasily eliminated. With this in mind, thefirst document most faculty read is thecover letter, so your cover letter should notcontain any reasons to justify putting it inthe stack of excluded applications.Now that you know the cover lettereds to be perfect, what should it look_,e' It should be about 1.5 pages long, ex-plain why you are interested in teaching as aprimary focus, indicate clearly that you arefamiliar with this particular school, andmake it clear that you want to work withtheir undergraduates. (Make sure you usethe word undergraduate; some applicantssend the same cover letter to research uni-versities and primarily undergraduate insti-tutions-a guaranteed way to be excludedfrom the search.) If you determined fromyour phone call that there is an interest inhiring a faculty member with an active re-search program, you want to describe yourintention to involve undergraduate studentsin your research. The cover letter should bewell written, easy to read, and maybe revealenough of your personality that your appli-cation stands out from the others. Have sev-eral colleagues critically read and commenton your cover letter.Your CV should be written as if you were

trolling for fish-put out as many hooks aspossible to snag as many fish along the wayas possible. Sure, you need all the basicfacts, but they should be presented in thebest possible light. For example, let's sayir PhD thesis is on a molecule in thet ear of the tsetse fly, and you got your

24 /JWIS MARCH/APRIL 1997

degree with Dr. X at University Y. You couldlist yourself as:• PhD, 1995, University Y.

Or you could say:• PhD, 1995, UniversityY.• Thesis title: "Abig and novel molecule inthe right ear of the tsetse fly"

• Thesis advisor: Dr. X.• Comprehensive exams in Entomologyand NeurobiologyBy listing all this information, you have

put out four hooks instead of one. Younever know who is interested in some ob-scure aspect of your research. By providingthe thesis title, you have allowed one moreperson to get hooked. Or maybe there issomeone who actually knows your formerthesis advisor, likes insects, or likes the ideaof hiring an insect neurobiologist. The datemay indicate your "scientific age" and thename of the university may also carry someimplications. At the top of your CV, youmayor may not want to put some biograph-ical information. Your name will probablyindicate your gender, so that is not an issue.But do you want to give your birth date,place of origin, or marital status' These areissues that should not be factored into a hir-ing decision but frequently are (at least sub-consciously) by some faculty. So if youthink it might help, add it; but when indoubt, leave it out. If you decide to includepersonal information, do not give names orages of family members. You might want toinclude some of the following sections inyour CV

EducationDegrees: (with as many hooks as possible)beginning with the most recent. Some peo-ple like to include postdoctoral trainingunder education. Also, non-degree experi-ences could be added here (e.g. Cold SpringHarbor courses).Academic Appointments: Temporary

teaching positions, such as postdocs or re-search associates.

Honors: Undergraduate scholarships,cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, fellowships,awards (especially "TAof the year" or otherteaching awards).

Teaching Experience: Beginning with themost recent, list all teaching experiencesyou've had, even if it was volunteer teachingfor public school kids, a Single guest lecturefor undergrads or grad students, as well asall TA positions. You might want to de-em-phasize research assistantships that relieved

you of teaching duties. The point here is toindicate your long term interest in teaching.You do not want to give the impression thatyou have reluctantly decided to settle for ateaching position. Likewise, you do notwant to appear to be running from the de-mands of research in search of an "easy"teaching job.Professional Activities: Memberships in

professional societies (give dates of mem-bership), editorial consulting for journals orfunding agencies (you reviewed a paper orgrant proposal for them, including thoseyour mentor farmed out to you), committeememberships at the university or profes-sional society level, any invited talks (e.g.your alma mater practice talk), and fundedgrants.Publications: If you have any undergrad-

uates as coauthors, set another hook bydrawing attention to this fact. For example,"denotes undergraduates as co-authors.Articles: Begin with the most recent, in-

cluding those in press. If you have both re-search and review papers, you might wantto list them under separate headings to en-hance your professional appearance. If youneed to, you can add manuscripts inprogress but this should probably be done ifyou have only two or fewer publications. Ittends to draw attention to a weak publica-tion record.Abstracts: Begin with the most recent,

and give where the abstract was publishedor where you presented the work. You maywant to distinguish between oral and posterpresentations, if you are keen to do so. Pre-sentations at "in-house" formats should notbe included in this list.

ReferencesThese are the people who will write yourletters of recommendation. You shouldhave their title, name, full address, andphone number; a fax number and an emailaddress might not be a bad idea. Choosepeople who each have different perspec-tives of you, especially if they can commenton your teaching ability and your desire toteach. One of your undergraduate teachersmight be appropriate if you were close tothis person and have maintained contact.To facilitate the process for your references,notify them well in advance and mail thema list of addresses and brief descriptions ofthe positions.Writing a teaching philosophy is like try-

ing to photograph a dense fog, but at leastyou have to write only a maximum of 1.5

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pages. (With 150 applications to read, noone wants to read epic statements.) Youmight explain more about the basis for yourdesire to teach; what courses you couldteach in addition to the ones advertised(based on what you learned from readingih. catalog, although this could be a touchysubject if someone on the search committeefeels threatened, so use the phone call tohelp figure this one out); what teachinggoals you might have; any basic beliefsabout what constitutes good teaching; whatyou might do in the lab sections that de-serves special mention. A good definition ofa teaching philosophy is up for grabs, so askfaculty at nearby colleges to critique yourSL zrnent in exchange for a free seminar. Ifound that even faculty I had never metwere willing to help out a budding youngteacher.

The research statement should also beabout 1.5 pages and should be in balancewith your teaching philosophy; do not pre-sent a lopsided picture of yourself. Youshould not go into too much detail. Makesure to cover three areas of particular im-p, "rance: the nature of your research, un-dergraduate student involvement, and thepotential for funding your research. If youwant to brag a bit, you can add appendicesunder the appropriate area. Appendices setmore hooks but the material is optionalreading. The 1.5 pages of your researchstatement should stand alone, but an ap-pendix may help an interested committeemake a more informed decision. If you'.\ it to show off your publications, you cansqueeze a few reprints into an appendixunder the section describing your project.Similarly, a submitted or funded grant canbe displayed in an appendix to the fund-ability section.

The Phone CallIf you get a call from a school requesting aninterview, ask about the seminar audience,length of the talk, the presentation format(2x2 slides, etc.),and whether a completedstory (your thesis) or ongoing and futurework is preferred. Ask to meet with stu-dents without any faculty present, perhapsover a meal. Some schools do not automati-cally schedule this, which might imply whatthey think about their students. Meeting bi-ology majors is very important since theywill be your source of research colleaguesar 1 the people with whom you will workth; most. Many primarily undergraduate in-stitutions will ask you to present a lecture to

MARCH/APRIL 1997

a class in addition to your research seminar.If this is not required, you may want to vol-unteer to gh'e a lecture. This may give youbetter insight into the caliber of studentsand enable the faculty to evaluate you morecompletely.

Preparation for the InterviewFrom this point on, think of yourself not somuch as competing against two or threeother candidates but as a prospective em-ployee looking for the best fit. You want tofind your niche in the broad spectrum ofapproaches to answering the question,"How do we teach biology?" Some schoolshave created "research colleges" wheremost of the faculty receive extramuralfunding and have large research labs but donot stress curriculum innovations. Otherssend their students away for summer re-search experiences and put most of theirresources into the curriculum and intensivestudent contact. These dichotomous mod-els, and all those in between, can be sue-

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cessful only with the right combination offaculty members.

Now it is time to get more serious aboutyour homework. Familiarize yourself withthe department members and the coursesoffered. In the most recent March issue ofthe journal Academe, you will find a listingof the average salaries for assistant, associ-ate, and full professor for almost everyschool in the country. The salary listed foran assistant professor includes those withsix years of teaching experience; science fac-ulty often get higher salaries. This informa-tion will tell you what to expect as a reason-able salary offer. Read all the paperspublished by department members duringthe last five years as listed in Science CitationIndex. Prepare a five year research plan withan explanation of how it involves students.Also compile a list of equipment (withprices) that you will need to teach and con-duct research.

The InterviewThe average interview has the followingbasic format. You'll meet students, faculty,the dean (and maybe the president), give aseminar, go out to eat (and drink, but watchyourself), and generally be kept very, verybusy. This process can be exhausting. Mindwhat you say to everyone from the time youarrive until after you have left, includingthose delegated to transport you to andfrom the airport. The interview providesyour best chance to get answers to all yourquestions, so make the most of your visit.Bring a small notebook and take notes dur-ing your meetings with everyone - facultyand administration - because by the end, itwill be hard to remember all the details.During your time on campus, there are afew things you should try to do. Go to thedepartment and the library after hours tosee who and how many are working. Whilein the library, look for the journals you willneed. Ask to look at some housing, and geta feel for the quality and cost of living in thearea. Make sure you get a good tour of allthe facilities and equipment in the depart-ment, as well as the rest of the campus.Note any differences between responses oftenured and non-tenured faculty. Try to de-tect if this is an embattled department (e.g.animal vs. plant, molecular/cell vs. organis-mal/field, research active vs. non-active).Make sure that you meet everyone in thedepartment and there are no hidden skele-tons. If the occasion presents itself, casuallymention the other schools considering you,because this makes you appear more attrac-tive. If no one in the department conductsresearch, beware of the potential for unreal-istic expectations of your research fromboth the department and the administra-tion. Ask about the possibility of a reducedteaching load in exchange for student in-volvernent in research or extramurallyfunded grants. Find out how reappoint-ments and tenure decisions are made, whois involved in these decisions, and whatpercentage of faculty are denied tenure.

Be prepared to be asked illegal questionsconcerning age, sexual preference, maritalstatus, and children. (Questions concerningreligion are legal at church-related schoolsthat advertised as such.) You have threeoptions in response to illegal questions:1) refuse to answer, 2) note the impropriety(either overtly or subtly) of the questionsbut answer them anyway, 3) anticipate the

•

continued 011 next page

AWI SMA G A Z I N E, VOL U \1 E 26, N U M BE R 2 2S

How to Get a TeachingJob(continued from previous page)

questions by inquiring about schools, bene-fits plans, or job opportunities for signifi-cant others.

The DeanSome questions are best asked of the dean.Ask him or her: the salary range offered forthis position (this may not be their finaloffer, but negotiations should wait untilafter you have been offered the job); set-upfunds; and the benefits package includingannuity, health insurance, moving expenses,occasional free classes for family members,tuition remission for your children. Some-times you will be asked open-ended ques-tions concerning set-up money. Dean: "Howmuch were you thinking?"Candidate: "Thatdepends on the institution's commitment toresearch."This is where your ability to bar-gain will be useful. Remind the dean thatIX funding gets IX results and lOX fundinggets lOX results. However, this kind ofhardball bargaining may put high expecta-tions on your own research performance.Ask the dean to define "scholarlyactivity" inregards to tenure. It is a good idea to pre--ent the dean with a list of equipment.hich should be prioritized as equipment~eeded versus wanted, with potential fund-ing sources for the latter. This list should beoptimistic but not outrageous, and leaveyou some room to compromise during thenegotiations. It might be worth remindingthe dean that time spent on applications forfunds to purchase essential equipment istime not spent on teaching or research. Thefinal negotiations will come later, after thejob offer is made.

The ChairThe department chair will have control overcertain aspects of your position. Ask thechair how long he or she has held this posi-tion and whether this is a rotating positionor an open-ended one. Have "scholarly ac-tivity" defined in the chair'sown words andcompare this with the dean'sresponse. Doesthe definition include: attending nationalmeetings (with or without posters and/orstudents), publications (is there any weightgiven to one article in a prestigious journalvs. three in obscure journals), publicationof text books and lab manuals, nationalsociety committee participation, grants ap-'lied for versus funded, research with stu-ents (with or without resulting publica-

26 /JWIS MARCH/APRIL 1997

tions)? Find out who in the department hasgotten grants lately and from which agen-cies. Ask to see your potential office and re-search space in addition to the teachinglabs. Beware of vague responses andpromises of a newly renovated lab spacethat seem too good to be true. If they dodiscuss a space that is not currently avail-able, ask about the budget for renovationsand to see the blueprints.

Questions for Every Faculty MemberIt might prove informative to ask thesequestions of each member in the depart-ment. You might uncover some factionswithin the department that you might notnotice otherwise. What percentage of theirtime does he or she spend on teaching, re-search, and service? Compare their re-sponses to what you know about their pub-lications and when they were hired, as

One cautionary note, most primarily ,~undergraduate institutions are not . -accustomed to hardball tactics. Be .(¥ .'

firm but not pushy as you will need':' .to negotiate a variety of otherissues through the coming years.

expectations at most schools have changedin recent years. What is the average size ofclasses and labs, and what is the overallwork load? How does each member see thenew position? The new physiologist posi-tion, for example, is it for a plant physiolo-gist, human physiologist/anatomist, orsomeone who does patch-clamping? Iseveryone in agreement, or are there oppos-ing ideas being presented?

Questions for Any Faculty MemberHere are some general questions you canask any department member. Would youhave access to email in your office?Does thedepartment use IBMor Mac? Is there a pol-icy concerning sabbaticals for both tenuredand non-tenured faculty? Does the depart-ment use teaching assistants and work-study students? If so, how are they fundedand how are they assigned? Who is respon-sible for setting up equipment and washingglassware used for teaching labs? Does thecollege have a license to work with radioac-tive isotopes? Are science majors requiredto do research? Do they have to submit a

thesis? Are there any curriculum changes inthe works? Are there any collaborations cur-rently underway within the department,with other departments, or other schools?Are the sciences coordinated and unified, orsplit and possibly hostile? Who pays forphotocopying, phone calls, interlibraryloans, faxes? Does the administration sup-port travel to scientific meetings? Is there fi-nancial support for research expenses orsabbaticals? How can subscriptions to vitaljournals be requested? Is there access toMEDline or other online source for journalarticles? Do you have access to the nearestlarge university research library? Is there aformal speakers series, and who is responsi-ble for inviting the speakers?

-Questions for StudentsOften, students will tell you the way theysee their school and department without"politically-correct" filters. Ask them: whatcourses they like and hate, do they readjournal articles, what are the strengths andweaknesses of the department and school,do all the faculty get along, with hindsightwould they choose the same school again,do they control any aspect of the depart-ment (speakers, clubs), do they have anyfuture plans, have any alumni returned totalk with them about life after graduation?

The Job OfferIf you have asked all these questions andthe college still wants to hire you, don'tjump at the offer right away. Request a fewdays to consider the offer and ask to comevisit again in order to let your significantother see the area and finalize details. Youmay have to pay for this trip yourself. Youmight want to call other places you are con-sidering to apprise them of the offer and seeif they can match it. Once you have Signedthe contract, it will become much more dif-ficult for you to directly affect your salary,asyour annual wage increases will be percentages of your starting salary. It is worth re-minding yourself that you have been se-lected with much pain and expense andthat the first offer may not be as high asthey are willing to go. It's like buying a car:some places offer fixed prices whereas oth-ers like to haggle. You will have to deducethis distinction on a case-by-case basis. Onecautionary note, most primarily undergrad-uate institutions are not accustomed I

hardball tactics. Be firm but not pushy asyou will need to negotiate a variety of otherissues through the coming years.

After you have the final offer, write downwhat you understand to be the completepackage (e g. teaching load, set-up money,lab space, salary, and benefits) and send twocopies to the dean with one to be signedand returned to you. Explain to the dean[!-,1tthis unwieldy procedure is designed soti':.lt neither you nor the college will be sur-prised later and no one will feel misled.

References1. Edwin S. Gould. 1990. "Competing for an

Academic Position in Chemistry". journal ojChemical Education 67: (2) 123-126.

2. Susan Goldhor, Mary Clutter, and VirginiaWalbot. "How to Get a 'research'Job in the1990's". 1989. Published by the SteeringCommittee of the Women in Cell Biology,American Society for Cell Biology

3. Ian Phillips. 1988. "Interviewing for an Aca-demic Post" The Scientist.April 4, pg. 20.

4 Science Citation Index (Geographical listings) ispublished annually b)' the Institute forScientific Information of Philadelphia, PA.

5. The CUR listing was published (not anannual publication) by the Council onUndergraduate Research of Asheville,NC.

6. Peterson's Guide to Four- Year Colleges is pub-lished annually by Peterson's Guides, ofPrinceton, Nj.

Footnote:Academic positions advertised in Scienceand in The Chronicle of Higher Education canbe searched via Internet. See your localcomputer guru to find out how to accessthe World Wide Web (WWW). To accessThe Chronicle's job listing by WWW, go tohttp://chronicle.merit.edul.ads/.links.html.There you will be able to search by geo-graphical location or academic discipline.Science On-Line, the W'vVW home page forScience, can be found at http://www.sci-encemag.orgl. Once you have gotten to thishome page, you will have several options.Click on the arrowhead next to "ScienceProfessional Network"; you can eitherchoose to browse all of the advertisementsas you would for the paper version, or youcan conduct a keyword search. Try wordslike "cell", "undergraduate", "teaching", or"college". You could search for a particularstate, or the word "tenure-track". Unfortu-

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Acknowledgments: I would like to thankThe Council on Undergraduate Research forallowing me to use portions of my Newslet-ter article, The Pew Charitable Trusts andthe Pew Midstates Mathematics and ScienceConsortium for their support, Drs. DavidKirk, Mary Lee Ledbetter, and Chris Wattersfor their helpful comments, and the biologydepartments of the consortium membercolleges which kindly hosted my visits.

-Reprinted (with some modijications) with per-mission from the American Society for Cell Biol-ogy from "How to Get a TeachingJob at a Pri-marily Undergraduate Institution," by A.Malcolm Campbell, which can be found on theWorld Wide Web at: www.faseb.orglascblteach.html]

PROTEIN BIOCHEMIST. The Departmentof Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecu-lar Biology at the University of Maine seeksa biochemist with research interests in pro-tein-protein or protein-nucleic acid interac-tions to fill a tenure track position at eitherthe Assistant or Associate Professor level,available September 1, 1997. Additional re-search experience in the molecular geneticsor developmental biology of aquatic organ-isms is desirable. A Ph.D. and postdoctoralexperience are required. The successful can-didate will be expected to maintain a vigor-ous, extramurally funded research programand contribute to teaching of the under-graduate and graduate curricula in Bio-chemistry. Minimum salary is $40,000 peracademic year. Send a cover letter, descrip-tion of research interests, curriculum vitaeand three letters of recommendation to: Dr.Michael E. Vayda, Chair, BiochemistrySearch Committee, 5735 Hitchner-BMMB,University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5735. Review of applications will com-mence June 1, 1997 and applications willbe considered until a suitable candidate islocated. Women and minorities are encour-aged to apply. The University of Maine is anAffirmative Action! Equal Employment Op-portunity Employer.

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