Report on Survival in the Academy: A Guide for Beginning Academics

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Report on Survival in the Academy A Guide for
Beginning Academics

• MIS 696a
• December 11, 2002

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Table of Contents

• Chapter I The Nature of the University
• Chapter II Issues Facing All Beginning Academics
• Chapter III Issues Facing Nontraditional Member
  of Academia
• Chapter IV Securing a Position
• Chapter V Starting Out
• Chapter VI Professionalism
• Chapter VII Teaching in the College and
  University
• Chapter VIII Research and Publication
• Chapter IX Criticism and the Academic Profession
• Chapter X The Future

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Chapter I

• The Nature of the University

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Pivotal Events

• Private Ministerial Schools
• Harvard, William and Mary, Yale
• Dartmouth (Native Americans)
• Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
• train the sons and daughters of the working
  class in agriculture and mechanic arts
• Beginning of state land-grant universities
• GI Bill
• University education for virtually everyone

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Higher Education is Changing

• Shift from cultural literacy to economic and
  vocational viability
• New disciplines (informatics) are supplanting old
  ones (philology)
• No longer the privilege of an economic
  aristocracy, but the right of the average citizen
• Administrators are not academicians, but
  administrators

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Issues faced by todays Universities
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Types of Institutions

• Multiversities
• Comprehensive Universities
• Public Colleges and Universities
• Graduate Studies Institutions
• Urban-Centered Universities
• Junior Colleges and University Branches
• University of Arizona?

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As aspiring academics, we must

• Understand that all institutions are not the
  same!!!!!
• Honestly evaluate our own abilities, professional
  desires, personalities
• Seek to understand exactly what potential
  employers require
• Assess how well our personal qualifications/desire
  s match the requirements/opportunities of
  prospective employers

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Chapter II

• Issues Facing All Beginning Academics

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Campus Politics

• Board of Trustees Have Most of the Political
  Power
• Then The Administrators
• With Very Little Going to Faculty
• Decision Making Process Not Very Democratic

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Department Politics

• Have a Mentor with Practical Rather than
  Altruistic Motives
• Limit Yourself to Value Added Activities as Much
  as Possible
• Good Research and Publication Record Key Source
  of Political Power
• Poor Teaching Can Hurt, but Being Mediocre Cant

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Internal vs External Politics
Ignored By Profession
Cosmopolitan Outlook / Local Position
Scorned by University Colleagues
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Personal Wealth

• Will Not Make a Fortune
• Teach Extra Classes
• Consult with Private Firms
• But Moonlighting can be Serious Distractions
• Good Research paper - 250,000

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Other Issues

• Affirmative Action
• Race, Sex Discrimination
• Environment
• Course Content
• Must Develop an Opinion About These

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Reality

• Takes a lot of Time to Prepare for 12 Lecture
  Hours
• Still Have Other Teaching Obligations
• Still Have Research and Publication Related Work
• Still Have Obligations to Profession

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Summary

• Understand the Power Structure
• Make Allies, Take Sides
• Develop Research and Publication Plan
• Cultivate Teaching Skills
• See to the Ambiance of your Own Lifestyle
• Make Moral Decisions about your relationship with
  Students and Administrators
• Be Prepared to Deal with the Moral and Political
  Issues that Confront You

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Chapter III

• Issues Facing Nontraditional Members of Academia
• Julia T. Wood

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Who are nontraditional members of academia?

• Women
• People of color
• Gays and lesbians
• Non-Euro-Americans
• Disabled people
• Members of minority religions

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Manifestations of Inequity

• Benefit Packages
• Disability/Family Leave
• Evaluating Productivity, Scholarship, Teaching,
  Service and Tenure Promotion schedules

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Summary

• These issues are not likely to disappear
  overnight or even in the reasonably near future
• What needs to be done has been identified, it
  remains for us to take the necessary steps.

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Chapter IV

• Securing a Position

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General Guideline

• Using strategies
• Set out career and personal goals
• Match your career priorities to job opening ...
• Get a job!

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Self-analysis

• Rank your career talents, desires and goals
• List all of your accomplishments
• Teaching experience, scholarship, publications
• Gather supporting materials

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Search job openings

• Control the quality of your application materials
• Resume, cover letter
• reference letters
• be selective in gathering references
• Examine the job market
• Ask your supervisor they may know the story
  behind ads

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Interview

• Practice
• Course lecture, presentation on dissertation
• Researching the department
• Catalogues, brochures
• Individual work

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Interview

• Interviewing
• Meetings with chair, dean
• Ask questions course, salary, tenure.
• Meet with graduate students without any faculty
  presence
• Stop by the benefit office
• Check carefully before you sign the contract
• Issues with women and minorities
• Ask other people about tenure for women and
  minorities

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Chapter V

• Starting Out

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What Does Tenure Mean?

• Tenure is a legally recognized system of due
  process protection for faculty.

TENURE "Iron Bowl"

• More Importantly, tenure means
• Tenured faculty feel accepted, more at ease and
  thus more able to concentrate on their career
  goals.

Academic Freedom
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Beginning Tenure The Frantic Cycle

• Dealing with new teaching duties.
• Self-exploration.
• Role ambiguity goes with being, not just acting
  like, a professor.
• Consider the newness of working as an
  identifiable entity to the administration (deans
  and provosts).
• Consider dealing with your colleagues.

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What you have to know?

• The rules for tenure
• The people who will vote on your tenure
• Exactly what to do to get tenure.

Performance
Rules
Relationship
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Know the rules for tenure

• Know ones professional strengths. Match your
  abilities and goals to the rules and procedures.
• Two types of rules
• Explicit rules teach well, pursue scholarly
  activity, perform service.
• Implicit rules (e.g. what type of publication
  record is necessary for tenure.)
• Time management!!!

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Managing Relationships

• Know the people who will vote on your tenure,
  and find out what type of influence certain
  administrators have on your tenure case.
• Make friends and allies.
• Do not make needless enemies.
• Assert yourself in an accepted channel and an
  appropriate way.

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Successful Tenure Performance

• Doing what is necessary to gain tenure.
• WHAT to do and HOW to do it.
• Start by being briefed on the rules.
• Learn from others
• Know the decision process and the expectations of
  those making the decisions.
• Etc.

Plan and Do It!
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Chapter VI

• Professionalism

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The American Academic World Continues to Change
and Evolve

• The original British and German models for
  Academic Institutions are evolving in America.
• Higher Education is becoming the bar for
  employment in America, broadening student body
  dimensions and expectations.
• Part of American Higher Education is cultural
  literacy, but the nature of cultural literacy is
  evolving as cultural sensitivity grows.
• The expanding demands on the Educational System
  are creating financial stresses which must be
  addressed
• Academic institutions are evolving, with some
  emphasizing teaching while others focus more on
  research.
• Vocational schools now grant two and four year
  degrees.
• Professional models are also evolving, with
  schools adding lecturers to supplement tenure
  track faculty.

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Professionalism Ensures Security for Academics
and Disciplines Alike

• Professionalism is part of what sets Academics
  aside, it is expected that they are part of the
  best of society, the holders of knowledge, the
  explorers of intellectual frontiers, the teachers
  of scholars, and of those who prepare our youth
  for scholarship.
• Being professional means participating in the
  roles society expects of us, means maintaining an
  awareness of how those roles are defined within
  the academic institutions within which we
  practice, and means making contributions to the
  role definitions as appropriate.

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Academic Professionalism involves Multiple
Dimensions / Expectations

• A Professional
• Is Culturally Literate
• Is Sophisticated in ones specialty
• Generates and Disseminates Knowledge
• Teaches Well
• Serves the Academic Community
• Makes Sensible Career Decisions
• Is Collegial and Respects Ones Associates
• Doesnt Profess Expertise where none exists

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Cultural Literacy Ensures Applicability of
Knowledge

• Even pure research is funded for society in the
  belief that at some point it will contribute to
  societal well being, and applied research is
  expected to advance society directly.
• The Academy does not exist in a vacuum, it exists
  in a culture, and that culture supports it with
  certain expectations about reciprocal benefit.
• Without an understanding of society and cultural,
  there is no framework within which research and
  knowledge can be contributed and disseminated.
• Lacking such a framework, it is difficult to
  ensure the research choices being made bear any
  relevance to society.

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To be a Sophisticate Entails Deep Current
Knowledge

• The span of knowledge far exceeds any individual.
• Just reaching the frontier of knowledge is a long
  and difficult journey
• A Sophisticate has reached the frontier of
  knowledge at some point, is expanding the
  frontier in that region, and knows enough about
  the current and ongoing status of the frontiers
  exploration in that locale that he or she can
  guide others who are struggling with the journey
  and who wish to contribute to the cause.

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Knowledge Should be Contributed Must be Shared

• There is little point in contributing knowledge
  if it is never shared, evaluated, and added to
  the sum of societal knowledge. Without
  dissemination, there is no contribution.
• If one does research and fails to disseminate it,
  another will simply redo the work, disseminate
  the knowledge, and render the original efforts
  moot.
• Dissemination is also the measurable component of
  research contributions. No other component of
  research has as tangible a measure of societal
  value as the review of peers and sponsored
  publication.

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Teaching is Critical, for Without Teaching, there
is no Academia

• Teaching is the engine that drives the
  contribution of academia to society. Whether its
  the cultural literacy and applied knowledge of
  undergraduates or the sophisticated knowledge of
  the PhD, the pool of knowledge that resides in
  academia flows into society through the teachings
  of academics.

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The Academic Community needs Service to Sustain
Itself

• Service supports and underpins the Academy.
  Without it, the Academy cant survive in its
  present form. Every professional has a duty to
  service, although service alone is not enough.

The Academy
Publication
Teaching
Research
Service
Knowledge
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Appropriate Career Roles Maximize Ones
Contribution Self-Fulfillment

• Every Individual has different strengths and
  interests, which match up against school
  requirements ways. Finding a balance which meets
  individual and institutional needs is of
  paramount importance.

Service
Research
Publishing
Teaching
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One Should Respect Interact With Fellow
Academics

• Part of Professionalism is recognizing, and
  respecting, the contributions of others.
• As we all contribute to the sum of knowledge, we
  build on the overall knowledge pool.
• To effectively contribute knowledge, we need to
  start from existing knowledge, and work within
  the overall tapestry of ongoing research. To
  disrespect the others weaving this tapestry with
  us is to demean the tapestry itself.

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Academic Should not Abuse the Position and
Stature Granted to Then

• As Academics, we are held in esteem by many and
  our expertise is often assumed without proof.
• This creates a situation whereby individuals in
  Academia frequently have the opportunity to
  advise others, often in fields outside their
  direct expertise.
• It is Important the Academics, as part of
  societys community of respected professionals,
  do not abuse this privilege.
• Medical Doctors should only treat in their
  specialty.
• Professional Engineers shouldnt certify the
  safety of designs in fields outside their
  practice.
• Academics should confine their expert opinion to
  where it truly is expert.

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Conclusion

• Professionalism is participating in the
• Academic world as an individual who
• respects the obligations of the opportunity,
• and who strives to live up to them,
• all of them.

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Chapter VII

• Teaching in the College and University

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Teaching .

• is an art

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What is Teaching?

• the guidance of learning activity
• the uncomplicated presentation of information
• provocation of ideas and creative expression
• setting a worthy model to imitate

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What should be taught?

• Teachers responsibility.
• mandated by policy
• essential to understand the subject matter
• useful to the students in the present/future
• Teacher must slant teaching toward the middle

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Teaching method

• Lecturing
• illustration/application
• add redundancy
• coordinate between lectures and readings
• Discussion
• small group
• good phrasing the discussion questions

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Teaching method

• Other teaching method
• practical assignment
• new technology supplement computer/visual aids
• Testing
• remain within the constraints of requirements
• multiple choice easy to grade, hard to construct
• essay test hard to set the criteria

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Some tips

• Balance the time for teaching and research
• Balance the time between student needs and wants
• Confine office hour to academic business
• Put attention to students fairly

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Conclusion
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Conclusion
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• How will you begin your first class?

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Chapter VIII

• Research and Publication

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The Wrong Equation

• Research Publication

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Considerations in Doing Research

• Motivations
• Attitudes
• Resources
• Qualifications
• Focus
• Execution

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Motive-Research Relationship

• Ideally, quality of research should be
  independent of the researchers motive
• Practically, motives affect the
  ways in which one views the
  task and, therefore, how one
  goes about performing it.

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Motive-Research Relationship

• Avoidance related motives
• Feeling of being forced ? reluctance/ resistance
• Fear of failure (rejection or castigation)
• Conscious or unconscious masking of fear
• Little or no output
• Rewards related motives
• Success in terms of number of related
  publications
• Success in terms of recognition
• Shortcuts in inquiry and indifference
• Intrinsic value of research is lost
• Need for discovery sense of intellectual
  curiosity

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Attitude-Research Relationship

• Motives often determine attitudes
• Favorable disposition (personal)
• Enjoy doing research Love for inquiry - Passion
• Find reward in the act of research itself
• Little encouragement or prodding
• Sustain interest and effort
• Negative disposition (personal)
• Easily discouraged
• Use obstacles to rationalize poor performance
• Diminished performance/withdrawal from research

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Attitude-Research Relationship

• Positive (broader) disposition,
  but negative (personal) disposition
• If its good enough for,
  
• then its good enough for me attitude
• Foster contempt for active researchers
• Research it at the base of what we are
  able to teach
• Teaching and research are organically related
• functions - Ben-David (1983)
• To teach well is to exemplify research - Winks
  (1983)

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Resources-Research Relationship

• Availability of resources a major factor
• Ability and willingness to support research
  varies from institution to institution
• Increasing dependence on grants
• External support not keeping pace with the growth
  in activity
• Every resource has a price tag materials,
  facilities, personnel time
• Travel costs

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Resources-Research Relationship

• General Response of New Researchers
• Defensive
• Demanding
• Both
• Constructive Response
• Make appropriate adjustments in ones research
  agenda
• Explore avenues of external support university
  pressure for funded projects too !!
• Collaborative Research
• Wise use of his/her resources most importantly
  researchers intellectual capabilities !!

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Qualifications-Research Relation

• Necessary for any scholar to be in command of the
  issues methodologies appropriate to his/her own
  research area
• Important for an aspiring researcher to either
  work within his or her present limitations or
  expand his or her knowledge to the base-level
  requisite for undertaking sorts of projects he or
  she wishes to pursue

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Qualifications-Research Relation

• Honest and potentially disturbing
  self-examination
• Helps recognize the type of research problems
  he/she is most suitably equipped to undertake
• Think in terms of preparation rather than
  execution
• Helps proper matching of qualifications to
  ambitions
• Helps serve the intended function of research
  advancement of knowledge in meaningful ways
• Knowledge of accepted norms of inquiry,
  analytical skill, ability to interpret relevant
  data

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Focus-Research Relationship

• Generalist perspective of research
• Most often no coherence
• Expected synergy associated is more apparent
  than real
• A Dabbler in the research arts instead of a
• developing scholar
• Reduced prospects of making significant advances
  
• in any given area, if no apparent unifying
  links
• Institutions expect focused programs of research

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Focus-Research Relationship

• Identifying ones research interest with a
  prominent scholar
• Thin line between advancing work initiated by
  another person and discipleship
• To further lines of work with genuine interest
• Produce research of high quality and impact
• To worship a hero or heroine
• Lack originality of thought
• Fade away quickly

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Execution-Research Relationship

• Careful research planning - YES
• Minimize unwanted intrusions
• Excessive attention to planning - NO
• Too cautious to take the next step !!
• Murphys Law
• If anything just cannot go wrong, it will
  anyway
• Be prepared to make the necessary choices

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Considerations Involved in Publication

• Deciding to publish
• Sources of publication
• Readying the manuscript
• Working through the process

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Deciding to Publish

• Possible culmination of a work in a manuscript
  keep in mind at the beginning of any project,
  conference paper, etc.
• Pay no heed to gossips on relevance
• Develop the habit of writing for publication
• Does the work represent enough potential
  contribution to warrant attention of others?
• Strict self-assessment
• Seek others opinions be prepared for criticism

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Sources of Publication

• Judge on length, scope, and nature of the work
• Books, journals (which grade A, B, C ?) ?
• Quality work paramount importance
• Resistance importance with increased importance
  to the amount of publications in hiring, tenure,
  promotions
• Source selection criteria
• works quality - commensurate with the level of
  aspiration
• best outlet for the work ? sharing of knowledge
• best journal in the field ? strategy for
  professional survival (within reason, reputation
  is a legitimate concern)
• Remember - submitting to 2 journals UNETHICAL

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Readying the Manuscript

• Meet publishers requirements seriously
• Persistence drive vital elements
• Good writing is rewriting
• If you have ideas information worth sharing
  with the audience, then it is worth the effort to
  pay adequate attention to the manuscript

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Working Through the Process

• Reviewers are not equally conscientious or
  competent in acting on their agreements.
• can lead to inordinate delays in receiving
  feedback
• - have patience
• Maintain good interpersonal relations
• If not accepted, analyze feedback to decide
  whether to resubmit with revisions or withdraw
• Incorporate clarifications, arguments with
  reviewers in a legitimate manner, etc.
• Best approach to delays
• proceed on other projects

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Chapter IX

• Criticism and the Academic Profession

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Criticism and Academics

• Criticism is integral to professional career
• Be willing to criticize and be criticized
• Criticism is not always negative

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What is criticism?

• Criticism it the act of passing judgment as to
  the merits of anything
• Criticism is the act of passing severe judgment,
  censure, or fault finding
• Criticism is the act of analyzing or evaluating
  artistic, musical works and so on

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Why Criticism?

• Compliance to standards
• Asses the quality of objects, works
• Exercise critical judgment

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How Criticize

• Have standards before criticize
• No criticism without remedy
• Be aware of resistance to criticism
• It is pointless to debate criticism

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When Criticize

• When criticized, ask does this help me?
• Gratuitous criticism is not appreciated
• Self criticism is beneficial
• Peer criticism, criticism from superiors

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Conclusion

• Criticism is integral to the academic process
• No criticism without remedy
• Be aware of resistance to criticism

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Chapter X

• The Future

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Emerging Trends

• Corporatization
• Are we a School, or a Business?
• Professionalism
• Are we to be run by Academics, or by Management
  Professionals?
• Politicalization
• What is the Purpose of the Academy, Anyway?

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Questions for Dr. Nunamaker

• Do you think that an academic institution is
  better run by academicians or business managers?
• To what extent should a beginning academic avoid
  or participate in internal politics?