Transitioning from Grad Student to Assistant Prof The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life!

1
Transitioning from Grad Student to Assistant
ProfThe Biggest Career Jump of Your Life!

• Jessica L. Tracy
• University of British Columbia

2
So, you got the job. Congrats!

• Now what?

3
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep
• Once you arrive
• Setting up your office lab
• What to do about Grad Students?
• Becoming an Assistant Professor
• Your colleagues
• Independence
• Other things that change (or should)

4
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering

5
Information Gathering

• The job
• When does it start (and when do you need to get
  there)?
• Teaching grad or undergrad or both?
• Reduced load? If so, which term (be strategic
  will return to this later)
• Start up funds- how much?
• Are you expected to take grad students right
  away? (find out what other new faculty do)
• Lab space- how much? where? Does it come with
  equipment or furniture?

6
Information Gathering

• Nitty Gritty Logistics
• How do you get building keys?
• How do you get an email account?
• Where do you park your car?
• Do you drive or take public transportation (or
  bike/swim/run)?
• Etc. etc.
• Who to ask?
• Friendly junior faculty (someone you bonded with
  in the interview)
• Dept. Staff! Dept. manager, IT person, other
  admin folks

7
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning

8
Rough Planning

• Think about your goals for the first year
• Set up your office
• Set up your lab space
• Finish up ongoing projects/ write up dissertation
  for publication
• Hire a lab manager?
• Recruit a grad student?
• Begin a particular project?
• Write a grant?
• Remember that you dont have to do everything
  Year 1!
• Everyone knows this is a big time of transition

9
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep

10
Teaching Prep Undergrad courses

• Organize your course load efficiently
• If you have a reduced load, strategize about when
  to take the reduction
• First term reduction
• More time for lab set up and getting settled
• Second term reduction
• More time for research once your lab is set up
• Teaching helps you get in professorial mental
  space, good to do right away
• Meet undergrads (to recruit to your lab) right
  away

11
Teaching Prep Grad courses

• Think about whether and when to teach a grad
  course
• Pros cons of teaching a grad course your first
  year (or term)
• Get to know grads right away, start
  collaborations
• Grads know how the dept. works, can be a great
  source of information
• But, teaching a grad course is very different
  from taking a grad course- beware!

12
Teaching Prep

• PREP YOUR COURSES!
• Can you teach a course while you are still a grad
  student or post-doc?
• Course prep is the single most time-sucking thing
  new asst. profs do. If you can get some of it out
  of the way before you start your job, your life
  will be abundantly easier!

13
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep
• Once you arrive
• Setting up your office lab

14
Setting up Your Office and Lab

• Plan out lab space
• Buy furniture
• Decide whether to go with the university store,
  or take a cheaper route (Ikea/Staples/etc.)
• Can you hire some of this out (to a lab manager
  or RA?)
• Think about timing (and your colleagues
  perceptions)
• Office should be set up to at least being
  work-able by the time the term starts
• Lab will take longer, but ideally operational (at
  least bare min.) within a month or two

15
Setting up your Office and Lab

• Hiring a Lab Manager
• If you can afford it, even part time (e.g., 5-10
  hrs/week), its worth it!
• They can set up your lab, buy equipment, help you
  set up a website, and run studies before you get
  grad students
• Recruit from student and recent student pool, and
  ask your colleagues
• Look for good grades, strong interview
• Make sure they seem excited about the job,
  socially competent, and conscientious

16
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep
• Once you arrive
• Setting up your office lab
• What to do about Grad Students?

17
What to do about Grad Students?

• Should you take a student your first year?
• Pros
• You have a (junior) teammate right away
• Helpful in getting research going, lab set up,
  etc. (especially if you cant afford a lab
  manager)
• Cons
• Do you feel ready to be a mentor?
• There will be someone who NEEDS you and is
  depending on you
• You must worry not only about your own
  accomplishments/ productivity, but also someone
  elses (which also reflect directly on you)

18
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep
• Once you arrive
• Setting up your office lab
• What to do about Grad Students?
• Becoming an Assistant Professor
• Your colleagues

19
Your Colleagues

• What to ask for
• Read papers/grants (selectively)
• Chat about research over coffee
• Issues with grad students
• Advice about professional issues
• Advice about teaching
• Direct mentorship
• In some dept.s, you will be assigned a senior
  colleague mentor
• If youre not, you can still find an informal
  mentor or 2 pick the person who asks you to
  coffee/lunch, who really wanted you during the
  interview, or who is just really nice/friendly

20
Your Colleagues

• The colleague-colleague social relationship
• Remember that you are no longer a student you
  dont have to constantly impress the profs
• And, yet, you will often be in social situations
  that feel purely social, yet you find yourself
  still wanting to impress your senior colleagues
• Early on, you may find yourself being the one who
  asks more of the relationship, but eventually
  this will change

21
Your Colleagues

• Starting collaborations
• Approach colleagues with an idea, based on
  something of theirs youve read
• Student project, or shared student project
• Offer to do more, take on more
• Dont stress about it!
• If it happens, great and eventually, it will
• But no need to force it. Better to chat about
  shared research interests casually and be someone
  whos fun to talk to than to have a specific goal
  in mind

22
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep
• Once you arrive
• Setting up your office lab
• What to do about Grad Students?
• Becoming an Assistant Professor
• Your colleagues
• Independence
• Other things that change (or should)

23
Independence

• How much to continue working with your
  grad/post-doc adviser(s)?
• Opinions differ, but most accurate for YOU will
  be from senior colleagues at your new institute
• Remember, though, you can still use your former
  advisor as a source of advice!
• Authorship decisions
• When co-authoring with students vs. colleagues
  vs. former mentors

24
The Biggest Career Jump of Your Life

• Before you get to the new university
• Information gathering
• Rough planning
• Teaching Prep
• Once you arrive
• Setting up your office lab
• What to do about Grad Students?
• Becoming an Assistant Professor
• Your colleagues
• Independence
• Other things that change (or should)

25
Other things that change (or should)

• Your role in colloquia/ brownbags
• Being a good departmental citizen
• Committee membership try to join committees
  that genuinely interest you
• Saying yes vs. no to the Dept. chair
• Showing you care about the dept.
• Your relationships with grad students

26
What else? Q A

• Should you stop starting new projects in grad
  school after you take the job?
• How to protect your time for writing/research?