Practical advice for every step of an academic career, from preparing lectures and networking to tenure, promotion and post-tenure review.
The five-year plan looks impressive until you compare it with next week's calendar. It includes publications, a new course, leadership, and funding. What it doesn't say is which task you should do first or what support the plan…
Read articleThe workshop sounds interesting, the webinar is convenient, and a colleague recommends a course. You could spend a lot of time learning without addressing the task that's currently giving you trouble. The handbook recommends…
Read articleYou open the professional development section of a report and start listing sessions you attended. The dates are accurate. What the list doesn't show is what you learned or how it changed your work. The handbook describes…
Read articleThe committee finished its work, the event happened, or the new process is running. You've moved on. Months later, you're trying to explain your part, and the only thing in the folder is the original invitation. The handbook…
Read articleYou received a stipend for editorial work, or payment for a project using your professional expertise. When review time arrives, you're unsure whether to list it as service, consulting, professional practice, or something else…
Read article'It shouldn't take much time.' You want to help, and saying yes feels easier than asking questions. A month later, the small commitment has become meetings, reading, drafting, and a deadline you didn't know existed. The handbook…
Read articleYou're asked which committee you'd like to join. One feels familiar, another would expose you to work you're curious about, and a third seems to have an urgent need. Choosing isn't only a question of which title looks best. The…
Read articleYour CV says you served on the committee for two years. You remember the work clearly: reading proposals, revising a process, and following up when decisions stalled. The reader sees only the committee's name. The handbook urges…
Read articleYou start listing service and realize the activities don't fit neatly together. A department committee, a journal review, and a school partnership all belong somewhere, but they tell different stories about your contribution. The…
Read articleA committee invitation arrives just as you're trying to finish a paper. It's easy to see service as the work interrupting your real work. Then you remember that the course approval, student process, or faculty policy you rely on…
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