Future Faculty Seminar Session Descriptions

Entering Academia: Finding the Job You Want – Rick Reis

The opening session to the Future Faculty Seminar will address the basics of both the academic job search and the job itself.  Dr. Reiss will discuss topics such as: the differences between teaching and research institutions, where to find academic jobs and how to start your path to the professoriate on the right foot.

Making the Most of the Interview: Advice From New Professors – Panels

As you begin your academic job search, it helps to know what to expect in advance.  In this session, a panel of professors in fields similar to yours will address their own, recent job searches and give advice on how you can best navigate yours.

The Two Body Problem: Navigating the Academic Job Search With Your Partner – Stuart Kim/Anne Villeneuve & Alex Aiken/Jennifer Widom

If you and your partner are planning to be on the academic job market around the same time, and/or if you are concerned about how to balance the demands of academic life with those of family life, this is a session you should attend.  Two academic couples will provide insights from their own experiences and give advice on these issues and more.

Tenure and Politics: What You Should Know Beforehand – Dean Phil Pizzo
This session provides an overview of the tenure process from a university Dean’s perspective. Referencing his own career and the careers of others he’s worked with, Dean Pizzo will address the most common personal, political, and professional roadblocks to tenure along with tips for success.

University Service and Ethical Practice – Donald Kennedy

Previous university president and former editor of Science Magazine’s Donald Kennedy will address the university service role in academic jobs: its value, your options and how to bring out your best in it.

Intellectual Property and Copyright: What You Need to Know – Ron Davis

Dr. Davis of the Stanford University Genome Technical Center will provide those attending this session with a better understanding of what intellectual property is and how to secure it. 

Job Applications Overview: CVs, Cover Letters, Teaching Portfolios and Research Statements – John Boothroyd and Stephanie Eberle

Your application provides future employers and colleagues with a first impression of you.  This session will give you the basics you need to make that impression a positive one.

The Hiring Process: What is the Search Committee Really Looking For? – Panel

Members of this panel have been on both sides of the academic job search process – being hired and hiring.  They will provide details on the steps search committees take to hire the right person and on what characteristics stand out the most in candidates.

Navigating Interdisciplinary Research and Work Environments – Terry Root

Nobel Prize winning scientist, Terry Root, will discuss her own career highlights and the value of interdisciplinary research in higher education and policy.  In preparation for audience members’ own academic careers, she will also address key strategies for navigating new, sometimes unfamiliar, work environments.

How to Give a Successful Chalk Talk – Russ Fernald

Giving a successful chalk talk requires more than simply knowing your topic inside and out.  In this presentation, we will discuss how to engage audience members in differing research areas, how to prepare ahead of time, and much more.

Finding and Writing Grants – John Boothroyd

Finding and writing grants is a big part of the academic job requirement, but it is often daunting for those doing it.  Dr. Boothroyd will use this talk to helps relieve some of this stress by outlining the grant process from beginning to end and by providing helpful pointers for a successful outcome.

Finding the Mentoring You Need, Being the Mentor Your Students Need – Jodi Puglisi

An often forgotten role of academicians is the mentoring one.  In this session, Dr. Puglisi will focus on the importance of professional mentoring for both your students and yourself.  He will provide insights into how to establish and maintain strong, potentially life-long mentoring relationships.

Designing and Planning a Course – Robyn Dunbar

The workshop style of this session will be very helpful for those who have never planned a course before as well as to those hoping to hone the skills they already have.  Participants will leave knowing how to a tailor complex information into manageable material for students at various levels, they will have a better sense of how to create assignments that measure student understanding of what is being taught, and much more.

Launching a Faculty Career: Managing Your Time During the First Year – Robyn Dunbar

The first year of an academic job can be a stressful one as new professionals attempt to balance multiple priorities and work toward tenure.  Referencing the work of Robert Boice, Robyn Dunbar will outline strategies for navigating this difficult time and will address some of the common mistakes people make when they are first starting out.

From the Start: Your Guide to Setting Up and Running a Lab – Panel

From this session, audience members will learn how to negotiate lab necessities beforehand and the key strategies of lab and research team development from the perspectives of both assistant and tenured professors.  

Is This Job For You?: Negotiation Tips and Strategies – Yuree Soh

After your successful job search, an offer letter is made and you have to decide if this is the job for you.  This presentation helps participants consider which factors are most important to them in a prospective position and it provides advice on how to negotiate offers to ensure these factors are present.

Job Application Specifics: CV’s, Cover Letters, Teaching Portfolios & Research Statements – Panel

Panelists for this session will represent various levels of experience with writing and reviewing application documents in fields similar to yours.  They will be taking our Job Applications Overview talk a step further and providing field-specific advice for making positive first impressions.

Public Speaking: Advice for Talks, Lectures, and Everything in Between – Doree Allen

You are an expert in Immunology, Chemistry, etc., but the job and job search in academia require that you communicate this expertise in a way that is clear and concise to those both more and less experienced than you.  Such communication skills are not always taught in graduate programs, but they are very important.  The aim of Doree Allen’s presentation is to provide key tips on preparing for and delivering talks in a variety of contexts so that you may express your expertise properly.

Long Term Trajectories: Emeriti Reflect on What Makes a Successful Academic Career – Panel

This seminar provides a long term look at the professoriate.  Emeriti professors in fields similar to your own will give their perspectives on what made them successful and what they wish they had known beforehand about myriad topics ranging from sabbatical to taking on administrative roles.