Preparing Future Faculty Conference:
Getting Ready for an Academic Career
Tentative Agenda

Lunch & Welcoming Remarks (Michigan League Ballroom)

Teresa Sullivan, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and
    Professor of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Constance Cook, Executive Director, CRLT
Stiliana Milkova, Instructional Consultant, CRLT

Plenary Address: Protect Your Time, Energy, and Attention … in an “Exacting” Way

Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., Professor and Director Emerita, Excellence in Teaching Program, University of Nevada, Reno; Founder of Emphasis on Excellence, Inc.

The final year of your doctoral or post-doc program is as stress-filled as any professional year will be (that is, until you are going up for tenure, but let us not get ahead of ourselves!)  Given the competing demands for your time, energy, and attention, you need specific strategies to protect and preserve those precious resources.  In our plenary session, Dr. Meggin McIntosh, award-winning professor emerita of the University of Nevada, Reno, will offer tools to implement immediately so that you can gain control and calm as you complete your program and go on to the next phase of your academic life.

Academic Job Search Strategies for International Graduate Students

Kate Zheng, Program Coordinator, International Center
Linda Kentes, Assistant Director, International Student and Scholar Services
Beth Hoffman-Lopez, Faculty and Staff Immigration and Health System Specialist

In this workshop, International Center staff members will present information relating to legal, immigration, and cross-cultural issues in the academic job search.  Participants will hear advice on the academic job search from the perspective of a recently hired international member of the U-M faculty

Developing Your Teaching Philosophy

Chris Groscurth, Instructional Consultant, CRLT

Many academic employers are now requiring a teaching philosophy statement as part of the application process. In this interactive session we will discuss the benefits of writing a teaching philosophy, examine sample philosophies, and work through activities designed to help participants start writing their own philosophy. We will also focus on other ways that participants can represent their teaching experiences in addition to the philosophy statement. This session will be offered again at 2:30.

Getting Started with Your C.V.

Lynne Sebille-White, Senior Assistant Director, The Career Center

Your written materials are usually the first chance a search committee has to assess your candidacy. Find out how to make the most of your documents and make a strong first impression. This session will be geared to those who are beginning to craft their C.V.s, or who are turning a previous resume into a C.V.

Interviewing for the Academy

Tom Lehker, Senior Assistant Director, The Career Center

Academic interviewing is a rigorous process that requires several different types of interaction.  This session will provide an overview of that process, as well as strategies for success at each step. This session will be offered again at 2:30.

The Tenure-Track Process and Faculty Worklife

Constance Cook, Executive Director, CRLT
Vicki Baker, Assistant Professor of Economics and Management, Albion College

Are you thinking about an academic career but are unsure about what’s entailed?  Do you want to learn more about how to prepare for this process while in graduate school or in a postdoctoral program? In this panel, participants will learn about the aspects of the higher education enterprise most relevant to the lives of future faculty members: an overview of professors’ responsibilities, differences in culture and expectations among types of colleges and universities, and a description of the tenure process. Panelists will also provide tips about how to navigate this process successfully and strategically.

Developing Your Teaching Philosophy

Chris Groscurth, Instructional Consultant, CRLT

Please see Concurrent Session #1 for a description.

Dual Career Issues and Faculty Worklife Balance

Crisca Bierwert, Associate Director, CRLT
Ben Hansen, Assistant Professor of Statistics
Nina Lin, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
Lucas Wall, Dual Career Specialist, Office of the Provost

This panel is composed of faculty who have negotiated issues arising with dual career job searches, two-career families and parenting, as well as one of U-M’s dual career specialists.   Each panelist will speak briefly about the experiences of balancing the multiple aspects of their lives, and time will be provided for the audience to ask questions.

Interviewing for the Academy

Tom Lehker, Senior Assistant Director, The Career Center

Please see Concurrent #1 for a description

Starting and Running a Research Lab

Tershia Pinder-Grover, Assistant Director, CRLT
Jack Hu, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering
Sari Van Anders, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Tom Askew, Professor of Physics, Kalamazoo College

In order to "hit the ground running," new faculty in the sciences and engineering need to be savvy about initiating their research agenda. This workshop features a panel on how to effectively start, maintain and mentor a research lab, from different disciplinary and institutional perspectives.

What's It Like to Work in an Institution Where There Is a Teaching-Research Balance?

Mary Wright, Assistant Director, CRLT
Samhita Rhodes, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Grand Valley State University
John Staudenmaier, S.J., Professor of History, The University of Detroit Mercy

Enhancing Your C.V. and Writing Effective Cover Letters

Lynne Sebille-White, The Career Center

C.V.s and cover letters are important components of nearly every academic job search.  This session will be oriented to those who already have a first draft of their C.V. and are seeking to refine it further. The session also will address how to write effective cover letters.  Please bring a draft of your C.V. to the session.

Hit the Ground Running with Your Academic Career

Tershia Pinder-Grover, Assistant Director, CRLT

This workshop is based on the research of Robert Boice, who identified several effective characteristics of "faculty quick starters."  His research suggests ways that graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and new faculty can use special strategies to be productive in their research, teaching, and relationships with colleagues.  Participants will strategize about ways that they might be able to adapt quick starters' practices to their own graduate student, postdoc, and faculty careers.

Negotiating an Academic Job Offer in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math Fields

Chad Hershock, Assistant Director, CRLT
Deborah Goldberg, Chair, Professor. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Samhita Rhodes, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Grand Valley State University

You’ve been offered the job – now what?  This session will offer different institutional perspectives on strategies for arranging a work environment that is conducive to your success as a faculty member. This session will focus on negotiation issues in science, technology, engineering and math-related fields.

Negotiating an Academic Job Offer in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Deborah Meizlish, Assistant Director, CRLT
Michelle Hannoosh, Chair, Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures and Professor of French
Vicki L. Baker, Assistant Professor

You’ve been offered the job – now what?  This session will offer different institutional perspectives on strategies for arranging a work environment that is conducive to your success as a faculty member. This session will focus on negotiation issues in social science and humanities related fields.