Dr. Richard M. Reis

1

Preparing Now For Your Future Academic Career

• Dr. Richard M. Reis
• Reis_at_stanford.edu
• UC Davis
• October 3, 2003

2
Introduction and BriefOverview

• Why Tomorrows Professor?
• The academic enterprise
• Preparing for an academic career
• Finding, and getting, the best possible academic
  position
• Tomorrows Professor Listserve

3
Why Tomorrows Professor?

• Lack of understanding of the academic
  enterprise.
• Decisions for and against academic careers made
  for the wrong (as well as the right) reasons.
• More to preparing for an academic career than
  getting a Ph.D.
• More to succeeding in an academic career than
  teaching and research.

4
The Academic Enterprise

• Unlike any other institution
• The Carnegie classification
• A new definition of scholarship

5
The Academic Enterprise

• Unlike an other institution
• Individual autonomy
• Accountability
• Rewards and recognition
• Tenure

6
The Academic Enterprise

• The Carnegie Classification
• Baccalaureate 630
• Masters Granting 530
• Doctorate 110
• Research 125

7
Preparing for an Academic Career

• A consequential decision
• What to do about supply and demand
• The Three-Pronged preparation strategy
• Research and teaching experiences as a graduate
  student and postdoc

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The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Breadth-on-top-of depth
• Next-stage
• Multiple option

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The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Breadth-on-Top-of-Depth
• Places your developing expertise in a broad
  context,
• allows you to see connections between your work
  and that
• of others, to develop related areas of depth, and
  to make a
• more compelling case for your own contribution.

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The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Next -Stage
• Enables you to think ahead, look ahead, and act
  ahead of
• the stage you (and your future competition)
  currently
• occupy and thus not only demonstrate your
  willingness,
• but also your readiness, to assume the position
  you are
• seeking.

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The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Multiple Options
• Allows you to prepare concurrently for careers in
• academia, government, and industry.

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The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Strategy applies to
• Choosing A Graduate School or Postdoc Institution
• Choosing A Research Topic, Dissertation Advisor
  and Postdoc Supervisor
• Publishing
• Attending Conferences and Other Professional
  Meetings

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The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Presentations
• Supervising Other Researchers
• Managing Research Projects
• Teaching Experiences

14
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic
Position

• Identifying the possibilities
• Applying for positions
• What departments look for in new faculty
• Getting the results you want

15
Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic
Position

• Identifying the possibilities
• Explore Now, Search Later
• Deciding What You Want
• Researching Whats Out There
• Preparing for the Search

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Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic
Position

• Applying for positions
• Preparing Your Application Materials
• The Application Process

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Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic
Position

• What departments look for in new faculty
• Overall promise,
• General teaching ability,ability to teach courses
  in need of staffing,
• Ability to do research, scholarship in specific
  areas, a specific research orientation,
• Compatibility with department and institution,
  and
• Potential for securing external research funding.

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Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic
Position

• Getting the results you want
• Your Negotiating Approach
• Negotiating Principles
• Dual-Career Couples
• What if You Dont Get the Job You Want?

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Tomorrows Professors Listserve

• Tomorrows Professor Listserve is sent by-weekly
  to approximately 18,000
• subscribers, mostly graduate students, postdocs
  and beginning faculty at over
• 500 colleges and universities in 106 countries
  around the world.
• Academia
• New Faculty Reward Structures
• Faculty Learning and Institutional Change
• Preparing for Academic Careers
• The Academic Job Talk.
• General Principles For Responding to Academic
  Job Offers

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Tomorrows Professors Listserve

• Managing Your Academic Career
• Tenure Tips
• Twelve Suggestions for Optimizing Academic
  Career Success
• Teaching and Learning
• Improving Student Learning While Saving Faculty
  Time
• How Students Learn, How Teachers Teach, and
  What Goes Wrong
• With the Process
• Research
• Elements Found in Most Successful Proposals
• How Graduate Students and Faculty
  Miscommunicate

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Tomorrows Professors Listserve

• You can SUBSCRIBE to Tomorrows-Professor
  Listserver by sending the following e-mail
  message subscribe tomorrows-professor, to
• Majordomo_at_lists.stanford.edu