How to get tenure October 30, 2008

How to get tenure

October 30, 2008

Jeff McDonnellDept. of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management

Outline• Research

– Grants– Publishing

• Teaching– Classroom– Graduate students

• Service– University service though committees– Service to journals and professional

organizations• The P&T dossier

– How to start compiling upon arrival

The plight of an untenured Assistant Professor

• Teaching, research and service– You’ll be dealt a %

allocation

• The end game – Example P&T guidelines– What your referees asked?

• The good news– This is doable—and can be

rather stress-free—if you know the rules early on

– Example success stories

P&T SynopsisPromotion to Associate Professor• “In general, candidates for the rank of

Associate Professor should be able to show that their work is known to national leaders in their field. This can be demonstrated in multiple ways including, but not limited to, scholarly publications involving research, instruction or outreach, serving as a reviewer or editorial board member for highly regarded journals, being principal investigator on grants, serving on regional or national instructional review committees, presenting research/teaching/outreach results at scientific and professional meetings, presenting invited lectures at meetings or universities, or by committee work for agencies, professional societies, or non-governmental organizations.”

A 50% Teaching appt.• Satisfactory

Performance • On average, teach at

least 6 semester hours of undergrad. or graduate courses each year.

• Over the evaluation period advise undergraduate or graduate students.

• Perform satisfactorily in teaching activities, as judged by the XXXX School Student Assessment of Instruction Questionnaire.

• Excellent Performance• On average, teach at least 9 semester

hours undergraduate or graduate courses each year.

• Over the evaluation period advise undergraduate and graduate students.

• Demonstrate excellent performance in teaching activities, as judged by the XXX School Student Assessment of Instruction Questionnaire and have evidence of teaching honors, awards, fellowships or grants, new course development, innovative teaching approaches, peer evaluations, student evaluations, or other measures of effectiveness as described in the University of XXX Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion and Tenure, Spring 2006 revision.

• Develop a graduate program and successfully complete at least 1 graduate student (MFR, MS, or PhD).

A 50% research appt.• Satisfactory Performance• As senior or co-author, publish an

average of 2 scholarly articles per year, the majority of which must appear in national or international refereed journals.

• Present papers at regional, national, or international professional meetings (typically at least one per year).

• Obtain external funding for at least one graduate student or post-doctoral student and their associated costs during the evaluation period.

• Serve as a member on graduate committees (typically at least 2 during the evaluation period).

• Develop a graduate program and successfully complete at least 1 graduate student (MS or PhD) during the evaluation period.

• Involvement in some professional and research service activities during the evaluation period such as participation in professional organizations, editorial responsibilities, grant proposal or manuscript evaluation.

• Excellent Performance• As senior or co-author, publish an average of 3

scholarly articles per year, the majority of which must appear in national or international peer-refereed journals.

• Present papers at regional, national, or international professional meetings (typically averaging at least two per year).

• Obtain external funding for an average of at least 3 graduate students or post-doctoral students and their associated costs during the evaluation period.

• Advise graduate students (typically at least 3 per year).

• Serve as member on graduate committees (typically at least 4 per year).

• Develop a graduate program and successfully complete at least 2 graduate students (MS or PhD).

• Involvement in a multiple research and professional service activities that may include membership in professional societies, regular participation in professional organization activities, service on committees of professional societies, organization of seminars, conferences or workshops, invited seminars and presentations, international development, editorial responsibilities, serving as a referee for grant proposals and manuscripts.

What no one will verbalize or acknowledge

the ultimate balancing act

• At your university, money talks– Bring in a ton of research dough and this

will trump all– Many examples I have seen where

extremely marginal P&T dossiers succeed when $$ big

• External to your university, money speaks nothing– It’s all about your research paper

impact on the field and activity as a leader in your discipline

People above you at the university

• Your Dean and VP for Research – What they want from you in years 1-6.– Thresholds for attention

• Your Dept. Head or Chair– What he/she wants in years 1-6

• Your P&T committee– What they should advise– What’s best for YOU

• Thinking globally, acting locally– Don’t be seduced by locally low

expectations times can change—abruptly! » See WSU, Duke, ESF….

Traps

• To pursue funding, you move too far away from your core competency

• You take on students to do things slightly too far removed from your core competency

• They leave without submitting the paper—you don’t have time/ability to get it out

• You lose ground in establishing a research brand identify (your projects are spread intellectually thinly)

• A negative feedback loop……

But it doesn’t have to be that way

• Like your PhD thesis, have an umbrella• Articulate a few key research questions

to which everything you do can map• Enhance your research brand identity

by organizing sessions, workshops, conferences, special issues on your chosen theme(s)– Team up with key people to achieve

this– NSF will sponsor with very high

success rates

Success story IBrian McGlynn, MSU

Why/How?

• Straight from PhD to Assistant Professor• In last year of his PhD

– Took an active interest in how the academic game played (learned from my mistakes!)

– Morphed into an idea generator and colleague• Hit the ground running at MSU by:

– Collaborating on proposals with network of colleagues formed at PhD level

• Focused on student success and mentoring• Papers kept pace with proposals• Clear focus, mission and identity

Success story IIThorsten Wagener, PSU

Why/How?

• Extremely productive post doc following (also productive) PhD

• Quickly defined himself as a leader through– International initiatives– Session and workshop organization

• Papers kept pace with proposals• Clear focus, mission and identity

Funding ideas

• The 3 months of summer salary– Pay yourself first!– 1 mo of summer as a pre-requisite for

participation• Even some committee work can provide this….

– Build a slush treasure chest

• Balancing your portfolio– Take the easy money and spin off

interesting nuggets– Contract work often requires less time

Teaching

• Like research, (classroom) teaching can consume all available time

• You must be organized….or at least give the appearance of organization

• Experience (my Utah State examples)– New courses outside your research area– Handling difficult students– Last minute lectures for colleagues– etc

OSU Student Evaluation Form

Again, know the game and play it to win• The course as a whole was…• The instructor’s contribution to the course

was…• Clarity of the course objectives or outcomes

was…• Clarity of student responsibilities was…• Course organization was…• Availability of extra help when needed was…• Instructor’s use of various instructional

techniques was…• Instructor’s interest in my learning was…• + 4 others on the form

Only two scores go to your P &T file!

Therefore, THEY are the ones to focus on—use all the others as useful feedback

for next year’s version

TeachingApproaches to MS vs PhD students vs

Post Docs

• You will likely start with an MS student due to funding constraints– How much does a student or post doc cost?

• A PhD student or post doc to start?• What it is to be an advisor?• Why are students so critical?• Evolving into a balance

– PhDs mentoring MS• How to attract the best

students?

How to interact with your students

From www.dilbert.com

Consider something like this!

How you handle students

• Treat each graduate student as if everything they say or do reflects fully on you– Thesis proposal– Thesis committee meetings– Chapters– Conference posters/presentations

• Why this is important for P&T

A tightly coupled “success” loop

SuccessfulPapers

Successful Proposals

Successful Grad student

workP&T Slam

Dunk

A final thought on your grad students

• How do you acquire an MS or PhD student?– Applicants to the new department– Recruiting promising undergrads– Your own advertising

• Supporting them– Using any local grants vs external support– TAs, scholarships

• What should they work on?– Knowing what to do with a grad student before you get to

your first job (continuing your PhD work or new stuff locally?)

– Realistic expectations• My experiences at USU as an Assistant Professor

– Kumar, V. 1993. Development of GIS-based water quality model using AgNPS. M.S. Thesis, Civil and Environmental Engineering. Utah State University, 56pp.

– Sauter, K. 1991. The use of bulk aerodynamic formulae for determining latent and sensible heat flux over melting snow: A field‑based approach. M.S. Watershed Science, Utah State University, 110, pp.

– Taratoot, M. 1993. Moisture and energy conditions in a sloping laboratory soil mass. M.S. Watershed Science, Utah State University, 75pp.

– Goff, B.G. 1991. Hydrologic and erosion response of a disturbed sagebrush hillslope. Ph.D. Watershed Science, Utah State University, 138pp.

– Harris, D. 1995. A watershed simulation model with vegetation. Ph.D. Watershed Science, Utah State University, 285pp.

– Sun, C. 1995. Integration of special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I) and in situ data for snow studies from space. Ph.D. Watershed Science, Utah State University, 140pp.

– Unnikrishna, P.V. 1995. Stable isotope tracer study of flow generation mechanisms in a small, semi-aridmountain watershed. Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering. Utah State University, 230pp.

Committees

• A necessary evil of your Assistant Professor years• A major time sink (Don Siegel)

– “Of course I’ll serve on that committee”, “My door is always open”, I’m as close as your telephone/e-mail as long as you need me”

• Translation: “I’d love to waste my time, when do we start”.

• Chairing a committee– A Committee is a group which succeeds in

getting something done only when it consists of 3 members, one of whom happens to be sick and the other one absent.

Hendrick van Loon (US historian)

Other serviceWhat should you do and how often?

• Grad committees of others’ students• Reviewing papers for journals• Reviewing proposals• Organizing sessions, workshops or

conferences• Editing conference proceedings• Reviewing Dossiers, PhD theses

from other universities, etc

The P&T dossier

• Making a case that is undeniable– Save everything– Document everything– Start accumulating upon arrival

• E-mails, letters, faxes, requests….

• Your CV as an evolving document• Let’s examine mine…..

Wrap up

• Research– Know the success feedback

loop

• Teaching– Know the metrics for the

classroom– Mentor your grads

• Service– Learn how to say no– Learn when to say yes

• The P&T dossier– Start compiling upon arrival– Know how to craft a slam

dunk case (see the two success stories as a template)