Past "What's It Like..." Sessions

• What's It Like to Work at a Community College?
• What's It Like to Work Where There's a Teaching-Research Balance?
• What’s It Like to Work at a Liberal Arts College?
• What's It Like To Work at a Postsecondary Minority Institution?
• What's It Like to Be a Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Member?
• What's It Like to Be a Postdoctoral Researcher?
• What's It Like To Have a STEM Career in Different Types of Universities?
• What's It Like to Be an Academic Administrator?
• What's It Like To Be a Postdoctoral Scholar?

Sponsored by CRLT and Rackham, this new series spotlights faculty worklife at different kinds of colleges and universities to help you explore career possibilities.

What's It Like to Work at a Community College?

Friday, September 25, 2009, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons

About a third of full-time and two-thirds of part-time faculty teach at community colleges. What’s it like to teach at a two-year institution? This panel features full-time faculty and administrators who work or have worked at three community colleges. Panelists will discuss typical salaries, work portfolios and job search strategies.

Panelists:

Geri Jacobs – Link to a recording of this talk (12.4 MB). [1]
Professor, Department of Language, Literature and the Arts, Jackson Community College [2]

Roger Palay - Link to a recording of this talk (18.3 MB). [3]
Vice President for Instruction, Washtenaw Community College [4]

Andre Cavalcante - Link to a recording of this talk (19.2 MB). [5]
Ph.D. Candidate, Communication Studies, (Previously, a full-time instructor at Suffolk County Community College [6] and adjunct at Nassau Community College [7], New York

Navigate to resources on community colleges and job searches. [8]

What's It Like to Work Where There's a Teaching-Research Balance?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 2:30-3:40 p.m.
Michigan Room, Michigan League

This panel spotlights faculty worklife at master's institutions, where work expectations include a relatively even mix of teaching and research. Faculty will discuss faculty worklife at their institutions, strategies for getting hired at a master's institution, and tenure expectations.  

Panelists:

Samhita Rhodes - Link to a recording of this talk (12.4 MB). [9]
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Grand Valley State University [10]

John Staudenmaier, s.j. - Link to a recording of this talk (24.5 MB). [11]
Professor of History, The University of Detroit Mercy [12]

Navigate to resources on master’s institutions and job searches [13]

What's It Like To Work at a Liberal Arts College?

January 2010-2012

Interested in teaching at a liberal arts college? A faculty panel from liberal arts colleges will discuss job search strategies and faculty worklife. In addition, participants will learn about the (Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships at Oberlin and Kalamazoo Colleges for University of Michigan Ph.D.s [14]/)
http://www.rackham.umich.edu/postdoctoral/opportunities/exchange_program/ [14].

Past panelists have included:

Dr. Grace An - Link to a recording of this talk (19.2 MB) [15]
Assistant Professor of French/Cinema Studies, Oberlin College

Dr. Clayton Koppes - Link to a recording of this talk (14.5 MB) [16]
Professor, Department of History, Oberlin College

Dr. Manish Mehta, Link to a recording of his talk on October 6, 2010 (60 MB) [17]
Department of Chemistry, Oberlin College, panelist, 2011

Dr. Andrew Mozina - Link to a recording of this talk (14.8 MB) [18]
Associate Professor, Department of English, Kalamazoo College

Dr. Amy Rodgers - Link to a recording of this talk (17.5 MB) [19]
Mellon postdoctoral fellow

Dr. Afia Ofori-Mensa
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Comparative American Studies and African American Studies, Oberlin College

Dr. Yona Stamatis
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Department of Music, Kalamazoo College

Navigate to resources on liberal arts colleges and job searches [20]

What's It Like To Work at a Postsecondary Minority Institution?

February 12, 2010, 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Assembly Hall, Rackham

What’s it like to work at a college or university with a high proportion of underrepresented students?  Panelists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other diverse contexts will discuss their worklife and hiring advice, from different disciplinary and institutional perspectives. 

Panelists:

Dr. Bryant Marks - Link to a recording of this talk (40.38 MB) [21]
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Morehouse College

Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins - Link to a recording of this talk (61.21 MB) [22]
Associate Provost Academic Affairs, Associate Vice President for Academic Committee, and Director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Academic Technology, Dillard University, President, HBCU Faculty Development Network, President-Elect-Elect, Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network

Dr. Jim Silliman, Ph.D. - Link to a recording of this talk (81.39 MB) [23]
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Moderated by: Dr. Robert Sellers, Professor of Psychology, Associate Chair, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

Navigate to resources on postsecondary minority institutions and job searches [24]

What's It Like to Be a Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Member?

Thursday, September 16, 2010, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons

A majority of postsecondary instructors are part-time (Wilson, 2010), and about a quarter of tenured or tenure-track faculty transitioned to their current positions from a part-time position (Schuster, 2006). This session will focus on the diversity of non-tenure track instructional careers at different institutional contexts, such as full-time lecturer and online instructor positions. Panelists represent a mix of those who hire lecturers, as well as U-M PhDs who had or currently hold such positions.

Panelists:

Catherine Misener
Formerly Social Science Chair, Kaplan University [25]

Dr. Lori Kumler– Link to a recording of this talk (11 MB). [26]
Part time faculty, Geography Department and Geological and Environmental Sciences Department, Youngstown State University [27]

Dr. Linda Wiechowski– Link to a recording of this talk (305 MB). [28]
Chair, Finance and Economics, Walsh College [29]

Dr. Victor Okafor– Link to a recording of this talk (26 MB). [30]
Department Head, Department of African American Studies, Eastern Michigan University [31]

Moderated by Dr. Mary Wright, Assistant Research Scientist, CRLT, University of Michigan

Navigate to more resources on non-tenure-track faculty positions. [32]

What's It Like to Be a Postdoctoral Researcher?

Wednesday, October 6 2010, 1:10 - 2:20 p.m.
Michigan League, 2nd Floor

Thinking about a postdoc after graduation? This panel will offer strategies for getting a postdoctoral position, as well as for working productively at one.

Panelists:

Dr. Shanna Daly– Link to a recording of this talk (15 MB). [33]
Research Fellow, Design Science Program [34], Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
Research Fellow, College of Engineering [35], University of Michigan
Instructional Consultant, CRLT in Engineering [36], University of Michigan

Dr. Ferman Chavez– Link to a recording of this talk (10 MB). [37]
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Oakland University [38]
Formerly a postdoc at the University of Minnesota [39]

Dr. Peter Hitchcock– Link to a recording of this talk (6 MB). [40]
Director, Office of Postdoctoral Studies [41], University of Michigan Medical School
Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences [42] and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology [43], Medical School
Formerly a postdoc at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, University of Michigan

 Navigate to additional resources on postdoctoral positions [44].

What’s It Like To Have a STEM Career in Different Types of Universities?

Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 1:10 - 2:20 p.m.
Michigan League

Thinking about a faculty career after graduation? This panel focuses on the range of faculty careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. Panelists will offer strategies for getting a faculty position, as well as for working productively at one, from different institutional perspectives.

Mary Wright
Assistant Director for Evaluation & Associate Research Scientist, CRLT

Chiron Graves - Link to a recording of this talk [45]
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Eastern Michigan University

Cyndee Gruden - Link to a recording of this talk [46]
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toledo

Bob Megginson - Link to a recording of this talk [47]
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan

Navigate to resources on STEM careers [48]

What’s It Like To Be an Academic Administrator?

October 5, 2011, 2:30 - 3:40 p.m.
Michigan League

Thinking about a faculty career after graduation? This panel session focuses on a variety of positions in academic administration at different institutional types, especially positions with faculty appointments. Panelists will speak about balancing a faculty and administrative career, pros and cons of being in administration, and career steps for those who seek such a position.

Mary Wright
Assistant Director, CRLT

Steven Volk – Link to a recording of this talk [49]
Professor of History and Director of the Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence, Oberlin College

Jann Joseph – Link to a recording of this talk [50]
Dean of the College of Education, Eastern Michigan University

Henry Dyson - Link to a recording of this talk [51]
LSA Academic Advisor, LSA Individual Concentration Program

Navigate to resources on careers in academic administration [52]

What's It Like To Be a Postdoctoral Scholar?

October 10, 2012, 1:10 - 2:20pm
Michigan League

Thinking about a postdoc after graduation? This interdisciplinary panel will offer strategies for getting a postdoctoral position, as well as working productively at one.

Mary Wright
Director of Assessment and Associate Research Scientist, CRLT (Moderator)

Kris Gorman
Postdoctoral Research Associate, CRLT (Co-Moderator)

Jennifer Emery-Peck - Link to a recording of this talk [53]
Visiting Professor/Postdoctoral Fellow in English, Oberlin College - View Presentation 

Donald Lopez - Link to a recording of this talk  [54]
Chair of the Michigan Society of Fellows; Department Chair and A.E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist Studies, Asian Languages and Cultures

Luanna Prevost - Link to a recording of this talk [55]
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for Engineering Education Research (CEER), Michigan State University

Michele Swanson - Link to a recording of this talk [56]
Director, Office of Postdoctoral Studies, Medical School, U-M; Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, U-M Medical School