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In the last posting the
Virtual Mentors introduced themselves and referred to their
institutions' Carnegie Classification. The Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching classifies accredited U.S. colleges and
universities. For example, doctoral degree granting institutions are
classified as Doctoral Research-Extensive -- those that award 50 or
more doctoral degrees annually across at least 15 disciplines and
Doctoral Research-Intensive those that award at least 10 doctoral
degrees annually across three or more disciplines or at least 20
doctoral degrees annually overall. Other classifications include
Master’s I, Master’s II, Baccalaureate Colleges-Liberal Arts,
Baccalaureate-General, Baccalaureate-Associate’s, Associate’s Colleges,
Specialized Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. Access
the Carnegie web site to learn the classification of any of 3,941 US
institutions at http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/Classification.
As
you search for academic employment as a faculty member or post-doc,
consult The Top American Research Universities report , also called the
Lombardi report. The report ranks research institutions on nine
performance measures, including research expenditures, endowment
assets, number of National Academy members among the faculty, faculty
awards, number of doctorates awarded, and undergraduate SAT scores.
The
National Research Council provides a ranking of academic programs at
research institutions . The NRC report assesses research doctoral
programs using several indices, including faculty opinion of program
quality, federal research support, faculty scholarship (research,
publications, citations, and awards) and information about program
graduates, such as time-to-degree and student support. The 2007 survey
will include information from both doctoral students and those who have
completed their degrees. (http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/index.html)Another
list to check belongs to the American Association of University
Professors (AAUP), which reports institutions that "disregard concepts
of academic freedom and tenure." As of this posting, 51 institutions
are on the AAUP censure list.
In a
subsequent posting, we'll discuss the academic job search and focus on
other factors beyond institutional ranking and classifications that
figure into decisions about academic employment.
Quick starters: New faculty who succeed
What
characterizes the differences between new faculty who are energized and
productive and those who burn out, "leaving behind a trail of effort
without success and ill feelings toward their institutions and the
professoriate?" (Boice, 1991, p.111).
Boice studied new faculty
who scored highest on observers’ rating, students’ evaluations, and
faculty self-report of teaching. Eight traits proved reliable to
distinguish these quick starters. (Five to nine percent of the new
faculty studied met the criteria for success; among experienced new
faculty hires the percent was somewhat lower.) Successful faculty
- lectured in a comfortable, relaxed pace that allowed time for student involvement
- reported "uncritical, accepting, and optimistic attitudes" about students (p. 113)
- had few complaints about their colleagues’ support and competence
- sought advice about teaching from colleagues, faculty development programs, and other sources
- within
the first year had moved quickly from a pattern of spending most of
their time on teaching preparation to spending no more than 1.5 hours
per class hour on preparation
- by
the second semester engaged in scholarly writing for at least three
hours a week and published consistent with the tenure expectations at
their institutions
- integrated
research and teaching scholarships so that they increased both their
enthusiasm for teaching and their recruitment of undergraduates as
research assistants
- had "high energy, broad interests, concern with self-presentation, and a sense of humor" (p.114).
Boice
wrote that new faculty can emulate these quick starters. In particular,
establish a time balance by keeping a daily record of work time,
decrease teaching prep time, increase networking that focuses on
teaching and scholarship, increase time for writing to three to six
hours a week, and integrate research into lectures.
Boice, R.
(1991). Quick starters: New faculty who succeed. In M. Theall & J.
Franklin (Eds.), Effective practices for improving teaching
(p.111-121), New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 48. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Other good resources for prospective and new faculty include:
Formo, D., & Red, C. 1999). Job search in academe: Strategic rhetorics for faculty job candidates. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Goldsmith, J., Komlos, J., Gold, P. (2001). The Chicago guide to your
academic career: A portable mentor for scholars from graduate school
through tenure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/14261.ctl)
Menges, R., and Associates. (1999). Faculty in new jobs: A guide to
settling in, becoming established, and building institutional support.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Thoughts on leaving graduate school ABD/T
You
may have noticed that four of our Virtual Mentors are ABD (all but
dissertation). The average time-to-degree for doctoral students is 7.4
years (U. S. Department of Education, 2002, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/digest02/tables/dt298.asp)
and most students are funded for fewer years than that. So it’s likely
that some of you will consider taking your first faculty position
before you complete your dissertation. Thus, we close this posting with
an open letter from a former doctoral student with his advice for those
who might follow in his ABD footsteps.
An open letter to graduate students
From: Mike Cornebise
Date: October 7, 2003
Dear Fellow Graduate Students:
I
am writing to warn you of the pitfalls that await one who leaves campus
before completing the thesis or dissertation. Consider my experience
and strive to complete all requirements before leaving campus. It’s not
that theses and dissertations cannot be successfully completed away
from campus; rather, I believe that students do not fully consider the
time commitments and the adjustment period that a new job demands. (I
know I did not.) Indeed, it took two years longer than I had
anticipated to complete my degree requirements. Mine is not an isolated
case. Two faculty colleagues here had similar difficulty finishing
their degrees after leaving ABD.
In
August 2000 I began a one-year appointment at Eastern Illinois
University, a mid-sized regional school focused on teacher education. I
took the position with the understanding that it would be offered as a
tenure-track job the following year, which did happen. (In an era of
growing budget cuts, however, there are no guarantees that temporary
arrangements will become permanent positions even when advertised as
such. Several colleagues here found that out the hard way when searches
were canceled and one-year positions were not renewed this past year
due to the state fiscal crisis.)
When
I left my graduate institution, my goal was to complete the
dissertation in my first year. As a graduate student, this seemed a
reasonable task. I had been fortunate enough to have experience
teaching two courses and a lab section, and I believed that I was
prepared for a full teaching load. Further, I thought I was well on my
way to completing the dissertation without much additional work. (I
have since learned otherwise!) My plan was to reserve evenings and
weekends for further research and writing. However, largely because I
had taught only one course a semester, without expectations for
departmental service, I failed to consider the many commitments of a
full-time faculty member. These include a host of activities -- student
advising (including time to learn the advising system), committee
assignments (which were quite time-consuming), departmental
representative at myriad functions (e.g., open houses, awards
ceremonies, etc.), completing student progress reports several times a
semester (a requirement here), writing letters of recommendation -- the
list goes on...
I was hired to
teach three courses in each of the fall and spring semesters: World
Regional Geography (a course I had taught several times and therefore
did not need to "prep" from scratch), Cultural Geography, an
introductory thematic course, and a junior level regional course (a
typical 3/3 load). The first two classes were large sections (110
students each) and the advanced courses had 20-30 students. (Eastern
has no graduate program in geography so I had no grading assistant as I
did at my doctoral institution -- I didn't know then what a luxury that
is!) Then, soon after I arrived, I was told that my load would be
increased to 4/4. I had to teach an additional section of Cultural
Geography in both the fall and spring semesters. The challenge of
teaching (and grading) two large sections and four courses overall
while completing three new "preps" erased most of the time I allotted
to dissertation work. It wasn't until the following summer that I was
able to make any real progress. Although my current position largely
limits my course offerings to three a semester, my extracurricular
assignments and obligations (such as research and service) have begun
to increase. I was able to finally finish my degree this past year, but
I was forced to spend many long evenings and weekends away from my
(then pregnant) wife. She, and other people and projects I neglected in
the process, can attest to the time constraints and the stress of
having essentially two full-time jobs.
Some Additional Challenges
One
of the most daunting challenges is keeping your committee "in the
loop." Time constraints I experienced and mentioned above also apply to
faculty who are reading and critiquing your work. Therefore, you must
factor in adequate lead-time in an effort to meet (very strict)
deadlines set by the graduate school. Admittedly, I am not the best
correspondent, but even those on top of things will find it more
difficult to accomplish things from a distance. From dealing with
dissertation consultants and making sure they can proof read your
document in a timely fashion, to making sure all your paperwork is
complete, it helps to be on campus where people can work with you
directly.
Finally, if I haven't
already convinced you, consider this: it can get expensive! I wish I
had back all of the money I spent in tuition and mailing costs over the
past several years. Granted, my salary is much higher here than if I
had remained in graduate school. But the lack of a terminal degree held
me back from salary adjustments that would have left me better off
financially than I am today.
In sum,
before you leave the university without degree in hand, fully consider
what is ahead. It can save you from unnecessary anguish and financial
loss.
Sincerely,
Michael Cornebise, Ph.D. (Finished as of Summer, 2003, Whew!)
Dept. of Geology/Geography
Eastern Illinois University
Charleston, IL 61920
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