Strategies for Success in Academia: Navigating the risks and opportunities of interdisciplinary and

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Strategies for Success in Academia Navigating
the risks and opportunities of interdisciplinary
and international appointments for tenure and
promotion

• Eleanor Krassen Covan, PhD
• UNC Wilmington
• James R. Peacock, PhD
• Appalachian State University
• Renee Oscarson, PhD
• South Dakota State University

Presented as AGHE Webinar, May 20, 2009
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PART INavigating the Risks and Opportunities of
Interdisciplinary International Appointments

• Eleanor Krassen Covan
• Professor of Gerontology
• UNC Wilmington

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Multiple Perspectives on Risks and Opportunities

• Provosts
• Deans
• Chairpersons
• Gerontology program directors
• Tenure track faculty
• Discipline-specific credentialing organizations
  vary by country

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Risks Opportunities Vary by Administrative
Structure

• Gerontology Departments housed in one School
• Stand-alone interdisciplinary Gerontology
  Programs housed in one school with course
  offerings from multiple schools
• Gerontology Program housed within a department of
  other academic discipline(s)
• Transdisciplinary Gerontology Research Centers
• International Gerontology Programs

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Gerontology Department Organization

• Housed within a college or school such as Arts
  and Sciences, Allied Health, or Nursing
• Department Chairperson controls budget
• Tenure track faculty evaluated by gerontologists
• Faculty earn tenure as gerontologists
• Department earns positions gained by endowments
  or student enrollment
• Academic programs more or less follow AGHE
  guidelines

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Gerontology Department Opportunities

• Provide an obvious link to Association for
  Gerontology in Higher Education
• No need to defend benefits of interdisciplinary
  coursework
• Visibility of gerontology for students and
  faculty
• Fosters creativity in design of gerontology
  curriculum through combining biological sciences,
  social sciences, humanities, and allied health
  perspectives

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Gerontology Department Risks

• Department chair effectiveness depends on
  negotiation skills
• Budget may depend on student enrollment
• May need to offer courses that serve other
  departments
• Gerontology enrollments tend to be small
• Chair must defend gerontology stressing need to
  know rather than student demand

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Stand-Alone Interdisciplinary Gerontology
Program Structure

• Program Director is academic program coordinator
• Director reports to one or more deans
• Faculty may or may not be housed in program
• Faculty may or may not earn tenure in gerontology
  as well as another discipline
• Effectiveness depends on negotiation skills of
  director
• Focus may be on gerontology or geriatrics

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Stand-Alone Interdisciplinary Gerontology
Program Opportunities

• Director has the ear of the dean(s) or provost
• Director may have ear of department chairpersons
• Provides administrative experience for academic
  gerontologists
• Potential for higher salaries for social
  scientists

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Stand-Alone Interdisciplinary Gerontology
Program Risks

• Faculty lines? Risk of joint appointments
• Who earns FTE for gerontology courses?
• Possibly no way to earn budget
• Budget resources may depend on good will of
  department chairpersons and faculty
• Faculty may not be supported by chairpersons
  colleagues in home departments salary
  suppression for biologists

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Gerontology Program housed within a department of
other academic discipline(s)

• Usually program begins as an academic track in
  another discipline within that department
• Gerontology faculty may or may not earn tenure in
  gerontology.
• Tenure may or may not be granted by department
  housing gerontology program
• Gerontology faculty may have two homes

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Gerontology Program housed within department of
other academic discipline Opportunities

• Gerontology not under the FTE microscope because
  FTE earned collectively
• As Gerontology develops an interdisciplinary
  minor, department gains resources from fellow
  traveler enrollments

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Gerontology Program housed within a department of
other academic discipline Risks

• Department colleagues may not value gerontology
• Conflict between basic and applied academicians
• Risk of joint appointments

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Transdisciplinary Gerontology Research Center

• Emphasis on research rather than teaching
• Research proposals designed by faculty who share
  their expertise on aging or an aged population
• Prestige dependent on funding

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Transdisciplinary Gerontology Research Center
Opportunities

• Facilitates research by increasing pool of
  scholars with knowledge of gerontology
• Greater funding opportunities
• Centers attract more attention than do academic
  programs

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Transdisciplinary Gerontology Research Center
Risks

• Muddies the water among disciplines
• Service to the center is not regarded as
  departmental service
• Risk for faculty that research wont be valued by
  discipline-specific colleagues

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International Collaboration

• European International Gerontology
• Masters Degree Program offers multi-disciplinary
  training in gerontology and geriatrics
• Good model of collaboration
• Faculty Exchanges
• Require funding (e.g. Fulbright awards)
• Require faculty reassignment or sabbaticals

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International Faculty Exchange Opportunities

• Allows exploration of social systems through lens
  of cultural relativism
• Fosters creativity through collaboration
• Rejuvenation
• Fosters faculty development

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International Faculty Exchange Risks

• Costly
• Language barriers
• May deplete presence of senior faculty
• Administrative turnover when program directors
  travel

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PART II Promotion and Tenure
Interdisciplinary positions

• James R. Peacock, PhD
• Associate Professor of Gerontology and Sociology
• Appalachian State University

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Promotion and Tenure Interdisciplinary Positions

• The question
• How does one obtain tenure and promotion when one
  owes allegiance to two departments?

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The Immediate Task

• Determine immediately which department will be
  evaluating your tenure case.
• Tenure will only be granted in one department.

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Potential Benefits of Interdisciplinary
Appointments

• Interdisciplinary research/publications
• Opportunity to develop professionally in two
  disciplines
• Wider college/university visibility
• Wider professional visibility

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Potential Barriers to Tenure/Promotion

• Miscommunication between department heads (and
  with you)
• Expectations that lead in opposite directions
• E.g., one department may expect a good amount of
  service, the other may see service as detrimental
  to professional progress
• Limited interaction and/or communication with the
  Dean
• Changes in administration

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Negotiating Progress With The Administration

• Meet with both department heads and Dean early on
  and regularly (at least once/year).
• With any change in administration (e.g. new chair
  or department head) set up a meeting to negotiate
  any new directions (departmental, university,
  etc.).
• Determine early on the department through which
  research/publications will be evaluated.
• Run service opportunities by department heads
  (What service is recognized? Awarded?
  Misdirected?).
• If you are promised something, get it in writing.
• If you are expected to complete a task as part of
  your job description, get it in writing.

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Stuff To Keep In Mind

• Develop research/publications that will count for
  both departments (e.g., sociology of aging
  research should count for both gerontology and
  sociology). Make sure this is true.
• Follow closely any recommendations from the
  tenure-granting department (but maintain a
  quality level of work for the other department).
• Form relationships with outside reviewers early
  on (professional organizations are a good source).

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To serve or not to serve

• No one gets tenure or promotion based on service
  efforts.
• Do what's expected, but little more.
• Be aware of being asked to do excessive service
  (learn to say, No, or Ill think about it.)
• If you say, Yes right away people will
  automatically start asking you to do everything.
• You want to avoid being pulled in too many
  directions. It can throw you off course!

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Developing your tenure/promotion case

• Develop a cohesive product which presents your
  career as a complete package.
• The tenure process changes and so it's always
  good to have the advice of someone who has just
  gone through it.
• Find/Develop that connection between your
  research, teaching, and service.
• Describe your future career based on the
  foundations you have laid.
• Toot your own horn (but don't be annoying).
• Make sure all that you've done is in your
  evaluation file.

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PART III Promotion and TenureChallenging
Ageism in the Academy

• Renee Oscarson, PhD
• Associate Professor, Human Development
• Gerontology Coordinator
• South Dakota State University

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Identifying Ageism

• Definition "a systematic stereotyping of and
  discrimination against people because they are
  old" (Butler, 1969 cited in Achenbaum, 1985)?
• Age discrimination in Chronicle 63 times,
  1990-2009
• Universities slower to abandon mandatory
  retirement
• It's not so easy to identify Ageism or ???
• economics (e.g., salary compression)
• social institutional renewal (Chronicle,
  10/24/08)?
• From graduate school to retirement

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• Although we all abhor age discrimination, it is
  one form of prejudice that flies low on the
  outrage radar. You might look great, run
  marathons, even use Botox, but you could still be
  the victim of discrimination. So while personal
  self-help is useful, it's even more important for
  our institutions to take special care that
  fairness and justice apply to everyone in academe
  -- especially those who have served it throughout
  a lifetime.
• Davis, Chronicle, 6/6/08

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Why should we care ?

• Non-traditional students in gerontology
• What we teach
• Age integration (Riley Riley, 1994)
• A society for all ages ?
• A university for all ages ?
• Really?

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What might we do ?

• If women want any rights more than they's got,
  why don't they just take them, and not be talking
  about it.
• Sojourner Truth

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• (How) do I benefit from age discrimination ?
• Describe a university for all ages
• students
• faculty administrators
• support staff
• Just take them (after tenure!)?
• Redefine success
• Not just a 30-40 year track record of publication
  if we want age-integrated universities.

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Webinar Summary

• Covan
• Joint appointment opportunities foster
  collaboration.
• Joint appointments foster turf battles.
• Risks and opportunities of joint appointments
  depend on administrative structure.
• Peacock
• Communication is the key to few surprises.
• Develop open communication between the department
  heads and the Dean
• Discuss professional expectations and progress
  early and often
• Oscarson
• Ageism impacts both graduate students and
  faculty some of us may benefit from age
  discrimination.
• Gerontologists have the knowledge to promote
  age-integrated universities.
• Obtaining age-integration may require risk and
  revolution.
• Don't be too revolutionary without tenure!