Top Tips for Getting Tenured
Asking For and Seeking Out What You Need as an Assistant Professor
Sep 19, 2008
Getting a new position as an assistant professor at a university is a proud accomplishment. It feels great to get into a new department, meet new colleagues, and get started on your road toward tenure. In addition to teaching, publishing, and doing service to your new institution, there are a number of things that should be at the top of your list as a junior faculty member. These gems of advice (Powerful Mind Coaching, LLC) fall into the “inside scoop” category for succeeding as a faculty member, and are the foundation for skills that will serve you through your whole career:
Meet and Greet the Right People
Make yourself known to senior faculty in your department and others who share your research/scholarship interests, the Dean and his/her staff, and the office of Grants and Contracts. Look for and take advantage of opportunities to meet these people and make a positive impression. For example, if the Dean or a senior faculty member is milling around at a reception or other gathering, make sure to introduce yourself.
Make No Enemies
Do everything you can to avoid making enemies of your colleagues and university administrators. If there is something major you are concerned or upset about, see if you can get your senior mentor or department chair to run interference for you. Part of their job is to support junior faculty and protect you from political flak. Having said that, do not fail to speak up when you do need something, but ask for some help in doing it gingerly and constructively.
Advocate for Yourself
Hopefully, you negotiated an adequate start-up package for yourself, but even if you did, undoubtedly there will be new needs that arise once you get on the ground at the your new job. Do not hesitate to ask for what you need, but do it constructively. Develop a budget request that includes what you are asking for, why you need it and are not able to accomplish what you need with what is already in place, how much it will cost and for how long, and what you will be able to do with it, and what you will be prevented from doing without it. Be respectful in making your request, and do not demand anything. Being demanding or arrogant will not help your case.
Know When to Look for a New Job
If your university requires substantial research productivity and you find that you cannot get your research going well in the first year, start looking for another job. Know that when you come up for tenure, reviewers will not be compelled by tales of woe explaining why you could not get the papers out or the grants funded. If the writing is on the wall, do not put yourself through a bad review. If you find yourself in this position, work with your senior mentor to strategize and get your CV ready to go on the market, whether this means getting papers written or revised and/or getting grants out.
The overarching theme in these points is to take charge of your own career. As a faculty member, you must be active and savvy, ask for what you need, and yet, not be a complainer or whiner. Take care of yourself and build relationships, but remember, it's your career, and its okay to move on if you need to.
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