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Your department or college may be able to pay for your participation in ANY Professor Is In work, including our formal programs, as well as editing of your professionalization/job search/tenure documents. What follows is context and scripts for asking your department to fund your participation in Unstuck: The Art of Productivity and The Art of the Academic Article, and/or The Professor Is In Pre-Tenure Coaching Group, but you can use it to ask for any kind of professional development or program improvement support. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected] for more help!
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Your department might pay for your enrollment in this course, and the only you will find out is to ask. Don’t be afraid. Department heads get requests for funding all of the time. There is nothing shameful about it. In fact, learning how to ask is great practice for the rest of your career.
The best way to loosen the departmental purse strings is to show the money is going to solve a problem the department head considers worth solving.
So what problem does the course solve?
You also have to show the stakes of not solving the problem.
Stating the problem and stakes is not enough. You also have to show why this particular thing you are asking to be funded will solve the problem.
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Here is an example email that you can use to approach your dean, department head or PI to make the request that the course be funded. NOTE: IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DO NOT USE THESE EXAMPLES VERBATIM, AS WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF READERS AND CLIENTS, MANY IN THE SAME DEPARTMENTS. WE SUGGEST YOU SLIGHTLY REPHRASE THE MODELS BELOW IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
>Dear <administrator>
I have an opportunity to enroll in a coaching program designed for academics to
//produce a full draft of journal article in 10 weeks
//support my success on the tenure track
//help me complete my research and writing for tenure
>and I am requesting departmental support to cover the costs. The course is being offered by The Professor is In, a career services organizations with well-documented and unparalleled success since 2011 in assisting academics in all phases of their careers.
>The benefit of
// The Art of the Academic Article, over other programs, is not only the extensive experience of the two coaches offering guidance but also the ongoing access to the online material. I will be able to use the course material for not just this article, but all future ones as well.
//The Professor Is In Pre-Tenure Coaching Group is that it provides individualized, confidential small group coaching as I confront the challenges of mapping out a publication trajectory, establishing an effective writing schedule, managing a sustainable balance of research, teaching, and service, managing the demands of conferencing and networking, and grasping the elements of a successful tenure case (including the role of external reviewers) to support my success in that arduous process.
>As we have discussed,
//I have XX articles in progress that are necessary/would improve my third year review/tenure review/post doc production/chances of success on the job market. This course would assure that I produce xx articles in the next year. It also increases my chances of publication in the mostly highly ranked journals because it includes instruction on positioning both in terms of discipline and journal rank.
//I have an active research program underway, while also being dedicated to effective teaching and productive service to the department. This coaching program will give me the support of Dr. Karen Kelsky- who has not only been a dedicated academic development coach since 2011, but is also a former R1 department head who in that role mentored 5 junior faculty to tenure – and a small group of peers who can together serve as a sounding board for decisions I need to make about publishing strategies, writing timelines, teaching dilemmas, and work-life balance – to name just a few topics the group covers. The program will assure that I avoid common pitfalls and focus my time and effort most effectively toward eventual tenure success in a way that is *individualized* for our specific field, department and campus expectations.
>The next session of the course starts on XXXX. Please let me know if you are willing to support this effort and I will purchase and submit the receipt for reimbursement/contact accounting to arrange payment.
OR [another style of approach- adapt as you see fit!]
As we have discussed, one of the critical components of raising the profile of our department is to increase faculty publications and the quality of those publications. This course would assure that I produce xx articles in the next year. It also increases my chances of publication in the mostly highly ranked journals because it includes instruction on positioning both in terms of discipline and journal rank.
It is no secret that balancing research, service and teaching is a challenge for all junior faculty here at xx. With this course, I will have the resources to achieve the balance required for success. With your support, I will be able to avoid common problems like false starts, writer’s block, and perfectionism, while assuring I choose the best journals to target, and submit a draft to a strong journal in an efficient time frame.
The next session of the course starts on XXXX. Please let me know if you are willing to support this effort and I will purchase and submit the receipt for reimbursement/contact accounting to complete the registration/ xxx
The post How to Ask Your Department To Pay for Professor Is In Help appeared first on The Professor Is In.
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The writer has asked to remain anonymous.
History repeats itself with the governor’s attack on Florida’s higher ed
In 1956 a Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, known as the John’s Committee, was created as a reaction to Brown v. Board of Education and modeled on the efforts of Joseph McCarthy to root out Communists. The John’s Committee looked for evidence to connect civil rights groups, like the NAACP, to communism. When these efforts failed, the committee shifted their focus to target and remove homosexuals and the “extent of [their] infiltration into agencies supported by state funds.” Suspected homosexuals, both faculty and students, were interrogated, outed, and fired at a time when sodomy was illegal in the state. The campaign ruined the careers and destroyed the lives of many ensnared in it, both falsely accused straight and homosexual. The John’s committee also attacked academic freedom by singling out faculty for such “offenses” as the perceived discrimination against male students, teaching evolution, and assigning books they deemed “obscene.” If you’ve been following along with what Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican legislature are doing in Florida, this should all sound eerily familiar.
It is no secret that Governor Ron DeSantis has declared war on education in Florida through authoritarian tactics targeting curriculum from pre-K to higher education. From book bans to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, he has k-12 teachers removing and covering up books to avoid felony charges and hiding pictures of their spouses to avoid termination. He forced university instructors to return to the classroom during the Delta variant surge, and students were asked to report non-compliance (virtual teaching) through a “course concern” button added to a phone app that was designed to report tips to the police, make emergency calls, and other functions that “improve their personal safety and security.” The Stop W.O.K.E. Act prohibits teaching any topic that might make students feel guilty based on race, color, national origin, or sex. He has declared war on Critical Race Theory (a concept he cannot even define) and asked over 2 million state college/university faculty, staff, and students to complete a survey that all experts agree would not clear the Institution Review Board’s process that ensures the protection of participants in a research study, to suss out our political leanings. There are many more truly fascist overreaches and mandates coming out of Tallahassee, too many to list. I invite you to listen to the Banished podcast “The Sunshine State Descends into Darkness (Again)” which covers Florida’s all-out assault on academia.
I am a queer contingent faculty member, and the chair of my department’s DEI committee at a very large public university in the state of Florida. I’ve watched as my personal liberties and those of my colleagues have been whittled away. The latest involves reporting of spending and resources used for campus activities that relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion and critical race theory initiatives, and collecting information about the faculty, staff, and students serving on DEI committees. In a separate action, DeSantis has requested information on individuals who have or are receiving gender-affirming treatment at Florida universities. These moves come on the heels of legislation passed to remove our promotion and tenure process from the departments and peer evaluation committees, and allow the university president or board chairman to fire individuals, without due process, clearing the way to fire anyone whose gender, orientation, or political views offend the political party in power.
Great. So now we are putting people on lists, and history has not been kind to people put on lists by authoritarian leaders.
We knew it was coming, but this week department chairs received the request to provide the names, email addresses, and “notes” on all members of departmental diversity and inclusion committees. This opens up the possibility of names (and notes) being submitted without our knowledge. Most of the people who serve on these committees are marginalized in some way and don’t have the protections tenure provides; committee service is always disproportionately assigned to junior faculty, and diversity work is nearly always assigned to the “diversity” members of the unit. We are afraid. What if that guidance on how to draft job announcements to broaden our search pools, or that statement my department chair asked me to write acknowledging the murder of George Floyd, offends the wrong person? Will I lose my job, or something more sinister? What is DeSantis going to do with this information? We do not trust him.
So, what can we do about it? Several groups of faculty are taking action by providing guidance in how to respond to surveys and other data gathering activities by the state, organizing responses to public comment periods, and building an understanding of academic freedom issues and how they impact ALL departments and programs. But these efforts won’t stop the governor and legislature from demanding lists and firings, nor the university administrators from complying. For those outside Florida’s education system who are concerned, please consider donating to Equality Florida or the Florida ACLU. Please also consider joining the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and please VOTE (and get all of your friends to vote).
DeSantis’s actions and this thinking are a disease, and it is spreading. Other states are watching what is happening and emulating Florida’s efforts to crack down on open discourse and inclusivity in universities. Education in the US is already faltering in international rankings. We need to figure out how to protect our faculty and students, and our academic institutions, before it’s too late.
The post History Repeats Itself: A Guest Post About The Crisis in Florida appeared first on The Professor Is In.
We owe each other more.”
And what is this, but yet another call for “special” academics — the young, women, and people of color — to work for free? To sacrifice themselves, without compensation, in the service of some higher moral imperative of academia? More exploitation in the service of the myth.
Will this never change? Has this myth not done enough damage? Do people never learn? Learn that academia will never love you back? That individual effort CANNOT alter structural failure?
The post It Takes Money to be Moral: Thoughts on Academic Ghosting appeared first on The Professor Is In.
Transitioning into the academic job market was sobering. My tenures as an undergraduate and graduate student were much shorter than those of others. However, they still left me semi-poor and rejected from several “perfect” positions. The home in which I was raised, 20+ years as an age group, college, and post-collegiate athlete, and early grant and publishing successes had conferred determination, resilience, and disinterest in others’ opinions. Nevertheless, I uncharacteristically sought counsel from my then-girlfriend (now wife), my advisor, and several others.
The “quit lit” is replete with encouragement for academics considering resignation. However, few authors disclose the strategies that they used to exit academia. Here, I share some of the useful advice and wisdom that I gained as I was entering academia, and how I applied it when I decided to leave two decades later.
Put Yourself Out There
What “They” Said: Both when I was entering academia and when I was ready to exit, my wife’s mantra was: “You don’t know where your ‘dream job’ may come from; put yourself out there.”
What I Did: When seeking academic positions, I would scour The Chronicle of Higher Education, review job boards, and contact colleagues. However, putting myself “out there” for non-academic positions necessitated different strategies.
For starters, I learned that industry employers frequently identify candidates on LinkedIn (in fact, all of my opportunities outside of academia have resulted from relationships made through LinkedIn). Accordingly, I created a LinkedIn profile that curated the training and experiences that were most relevant to my aspirational positions. I also identified mentors on LinkedIn who held similar positions to the ones in which I was interested, and met virtually with several of them. Finally, I posted (or re-posted) anecdotes, accomplishments, or news items related to my aspirational position to my LinkedIn profile. This can increase your profile’s “hits” and followers, and demonstrates investment in your targeted area.
Unlike positions in the professoriate, companies in the private sector frequently employ recruiting firms to identify and provide preliminary reviews of candidates. Recruiters are frequently your best advocate; they offer suggestions for refining your resume, insights on the “match” between your skills and particular positions or position types, and often negotiate your salary in the latter stages of the interview process. As such, I keep recruiters on my virtual Rolodex. In fact, I reached out to recruiters with whom I had worked – and that are used by my aspirational companies – even when an appropriate position wasn’t listed.
You Can Grow Out of a Career
There’s nothing wrong with remaining in one position and/or field for an entire career. But let’s also recognize that priorities often evolve as new life seasons emerge.
Periodically assess the alignment between the activities required for your current position, your values, and your interests. Make a table (as I did) detailing the time commitments, tasks, products (a publication? A syllabus?), meetings, service requirements, and even travel requirements associated with your current position. When you examine the list, does it make your stomach turn? Or are there numerous “exciting” items on the list? Most importantly, are there other positions that incorporate the activities that you value most?
My list identified the tasks that I enjoyed and those that I disliked. However, it also illustrated the time that I’d been investing in them, and how time spent on these responsibilities surpassed the importance that I now placed on most of them. When I finally resigned my academic position, a colleague remarked that my resignation was “just a mid-life crisis.” In reality, my priorities, my interest (read: tolerance) in certain activities – and the amount of time that I was willing to invest in them – had changed from when I embarked on my career in my twenties. The real mid-life crisis would have been to remain in a career that was unremarkable, occasionally-undignified, and poorly-aligned with who I had become.
As I percolated about the mismatch between my “grown up” priorities and my current position, I began reconsidering my career trajectory, and to…
…Consider Accumulating Transferable Skills
What “They” Said: I was fortunate; my surgeon-stepfather was immensely supportive of my liberal arts bachelor’s degree. However, he also emphasized the importance of “transferable skills.” He’d gently remind me, “Now, study something you like; but also get skills that are transferable to the real world.”
What I Did: My inclination to run far, far away from my academic position had emerged at least six years before my actual resignation. Likewise, my actual “exit strategy” from academia leaned on a progressive acquisition of transferable skills that would make me marketable outside of academia. For instance, some positions that I’d investigated required basic competencies in website development. Therefore, I took coursework in website development, basic coding, and basic graphic design. In addition to some of these courses being free, knowledge gained from them was applicable to my university position (eg, by building a website for my research laboratory). More importantly, I added these skills to my resume and highlighted them when I applied for outside positions. I also envisioned that a personal website could act as a de facto “online portfolio” when I applied for outside positions.
Separately, my stepfather had emphasized the importance of “learning a trade.” This is because skilled trades (eg, plumbing; website development; nursing) confer specific competencies that increase likelihood of employment security, and/or can provide an additional income source. In my case, I enrolled in a weekend-based graduate program to become a licensed occupational therapist. This choice was a natural extension of my research, which focused on restoration of arm movement in stroke survivors. However, even if stroke rehabilitation was not my area of research interest, healthcare workers are always needed.
I should also note that it doesn’t matter when you embark on your new journey. Despite not knowing the specific healthcare field that I would enter, I began taking prerequisite courses for a healthcare career at community colleges when I was a new Assistant Professor. And nowadays, one can often enroll in virtual prerequisites – and even substantial portions of “trade programs” – without matriculation to a campus.
What courses, certifications, or trade programs could you explore that would be complementary to your current profession, while also fulfilling your career interests? Concurrently, which steps will place you on a path towards that new vocation, even if you aren’t entirely certain what that profession will be?
One Person’s Treasure is Another’s Trash
By 2017, I had attained a full Professor position at a R1, and my team was the most productive and awarded in the field. Moreover, the approaches that my team had developed were being used internationally. Yet, I was working 70+ hours per week, causing me to increasingly miss important family events. And let’s not forget the travel, the constant grant writing (I had supported my salary through grants for my entire career, and my contract stipulated that I continue to do so), and the constant demands of teaching and mentoring.
When I understandably resigned from these circumstances, our research director called my resignation a “waste,” citing my successes, and insisting that my tenured position was a “treasure.” Another colleague stated that she “couldn’t believe” that I had left this “cherished opportunity.” Upon hearing these comments, my wife rolled her eyes, stating, “one person’s treasure is another’s trash.”
My academic position was not trash. That said, standing next to posters with hands clasped, and designations that no one outside of my small field even recognized are now firmly in the rearview mirror. I recall – but cannot relate to – the value that I placed on these once-treasured activities and honors.
Be assured that you’ll be astonished how quickly your former career?—?and the acerbic words of others?—?fade into the ether. Have enough perspective to realize that your colleagues who are still “in the trenches” simply hold different interests and values at this time. Be the bigger person while also recognizing that you neither have to explain nor defend your choices. When you or others doubt your transition choice, reflect on the decision points and relative advantages that informed your move.
Fear Is An Obstacle to Change
With COVID’s emergence, my crazy workload eased and became virtual. Student meetings and data collection stalled. Yet, the specter of eventually returning to in-person frustrations and long hours loomed. Recalling the multitudes of wise words from my wife, I resigned in early 2020.
I now realize that I wouldn’t have had the gumption to resign had COVID not occurred. “F.O.M.O.” (Fear of Missing Out) delayed my resignation. “What about that conference that I attended (and chaired) annually?” “The textbook that I’d agreed to write?” “Who’s going to carry forward that class that I’d developed and nurtured?”
It’s natural to experience fear – and even loss – for activities in which you’ve invested so much. I offset these feelings by contemplating the exciting tasks in which I would be engaging in my new position and in my new life. Once in a while I also reminded myself of those activities in my academic life that I was glad to discard, and all that I’d gained by leaving those “important” tasks behind. With my eyes and heart planted firmly on the future, “important” tasks from my past evaporated, and my F.O.M.O. vanished.
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While I’d resigned from positions in the past, my exit from academia constituted my “great resignation” and, moreso, my “great renewal.” I’ve embraced a new career in medical communications, and I treat patients using that occupational therapy degree for which I worked so hard. Meanwhile, my personal life is decorated by family, writing, and rediscovered hobbies, including semi-professional musical performance.
Embarking on a new or altered career path requires time to optimize your resume and socials, and to assure that your skills align with your aspirational position. But, most of all, such a transition requires incredible gumption. Therefore, in addition to strategies that I’ve suggested, consider establishing a support system (in person or virtual) and a mentor(s). Both will provide objective feedback and keep you on your path. I am grateful for the support and experiences provided by colleagues, and, more recently, by sites like The Professor Is Out. These resources kept me future-focused and reaffirmed my transition out of academia.
The post Trash, Treasures, and Growth: How I Attained My Great Renewal – #TPIO Guest Post appeared first on The Professor Is In.
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