The Future ProfessoriateFE 607

Introduction

Jeff McDonnellDept. Forest Engineering, Resources and Mgmt.

Oregon State University

Acknowledgements

• Don Siegel, Syracuse University

• Guru and brightest/funniest guy I know….

• Check out his cookbook

Why this class

• Know this reality now and start on a path that will ensure success

• To demystify academia and show what motivates people in different positions in the university

• Like making sausage…..

It works like this

Everyone involved has their own evil master plan…..knowing this a priori helps

enormously

Why this class?

• The university is a highly political place– Old joke

• Why is competition so severe: because the stakes are so low!

• The brightest people often aren’t the ones who get farthest ahead

• It’s a game and there are some rules– There’s also networking, schmoozing and other sordid

details (that we’ll discuss)• This class will explore the written (and largely

unwritten) rules of the game

This course• Four meetings

– How to get an academic job– How to get tenure– How to publish– How to get grants

• Readings– Chronicle of Higher Education reprints– Books on the subject

• Discussions– Informal, Open and candid, Honest (brutally), Personal– Think of it as group therapy!

Why these topics?

• When I give talks at universities—these are always the topic of discussion over beer!

• My experiences and the experiences of my PhD students and post docs have shown these to be NB

• When I do editing work for journals—seems that same issues appear over and over

• My recent Committee of Visitor review of NSF—seems that some inside knowledge could help

• My P & T committee work has shown that there are some simple things people should know (that no one in administration will ever tell you)

How to get an academic jobOctober 16

• PhD as a launching pad– Things that can be done while still a student to separate you from

the 100 other applicants• Why Post Docs are so helpful

– A time to crank and become a idea generator– An apprenticeship in academia (without distractions)

• The letter, CV (and teaching statement)– How search committees operate

• The academic interview– A personality contest– The seminar: not an AGU talk!– What are the people who interview you looking for?

• Negotiating the job– Salary, start-up, teaching, lab space, student support, summer

salary– Who has the money and power to make decisions?

How to get tenureOctober 30

• The plight of an untenured Assistant Professor• You are now running a small business

– What your Dean and VP for Research want– What your Dept. Head wants– What’s best for YOU

• You as an hydrological Olympic athlete– How much time to spend working out, er writing grants?

• Managing the madness– How to say no gracefully– Approaches to MS vs PhD students vs Post Docs– Committees: Something that can suck the life (and time) out of

you• What extracurricular work should you do (and not do)

– Tenure is essentially about your national reputation after 6 years• The P&T dossier and making a case that is undeniable

How to publishNovember 13

• Writing a paper– The top-down approach– Story boards, idea brand identity and structural formula focused

on status quo, what’s wrong with status quo and how you go beyond it

– What journals?• Reviewing

– Why it is SO useful, how many should you review, …?– As a pathway to becoming an Associate editor

• How journals work– What motivates editors, what aggravates reviewers

• It’s a numbers game– ISI, H-Index, and all the other indices

How to win grantsNovember 20

• An inside look at NSF– Hallmarks of a winning NSF proposal (completely different

writing to a journal article)– How the review process works– The Panel– Interacting with the Program Director

• Why visiting NSF in person early on is SO important

• Other Federal agencies– USDA, NASA, USGS, DOE

• State and local agencies– The good, the bad and the ugly

• What is good money and what is bad money– For your time, your reputation, your program– Grants as stock portfolios: diversity key

• How to leverage your grant success at the university– Know how this pays bills

Short articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education (2008)

Also Read

• Kennedy, D. (1997). Academic Duty. Harvard University Press, 310p.– To teach– To mentor– To serve– To discover– To publish– To tell the truth– To reach beyond the walls– To change

• Other good books:– Moo, Jane Smiley– An untenured professor, John Kenneth Galbraith– Countless others……..

What you’ll begin to appreciate

• Time management is everything• Demonstrated enthusiasm helps

overcome other shortcomings• People skills help enormously

– Being comfortable speaking extemporaneously

• Being a professor is being:– An idea generator and writer– A small business owner and company

manager

• Success is easier if you go narrow

Introductions

• You

• Your field of study (department)

• Your career stage (new/old PhD student, post doc, Assistant Prof….)

• What you would like me to cover beyond that already discussed?