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Junior Faculty and Doctoral Student Professional Development Seminar Faculty: Dr. Ronald Rochon, Dr. Tanika Green, Dr. Kathy Borman, Dr. Deirdre Cobb-Roberts

Speaker: Dr. Ronald Rochon

Dr. Rochon addressed the issue of what can help graduate students successfully get through the doctoral process:

• Self-sufficiency, i.e., the ability to motivate yourself, to seek help from those who have answers and access to resources, and to create relationships that are sustainable. You need to advocate for your own learning through being very clear about what you want to do.

• Library skills. This involves not only understanding how to use the library, but also developing a relationship with the librarian so that when he or she comes across material relevant to your work the librarian will know to pass it on to you.

• Maintaining a good relationship with your advisor. Helping your advisor will also help you.

• Connecting with a group of individuals within your area of expertise. Get to know their research interests, who they are working with, where they want to go with their professional careers, and how they got their funding in the first few years of their careers. Begin to establish relationships with people who you can advocate for and who will advocate for you.

• Being informed very early in your doctoral process about the kinds of employment opportunities available, including those outside of higher education, and the process of applying for professional jobs.

• Budget skills. This is important for carrying out your research as a student as well as later when you are out in the work force managing research budgets.

• Learning how to write grant proposals. You may even be able to get some funding for your doctoral work.

• Choosing study partners. Be careful in selecting the people with whom you share the most intimate details of your work because some people steal others’ work and call it their own.

• Getting used to working alone because in doing research you have to spend a lot of time alone. But also value and appreciate the time alone you have to do research during the doctoral process because when you become a professor you will not have as much of it.

• Redefining your social life so that you have a balance between getting your work done and having a social life.

• Learning how to get through the difficult times, including by reminding yourself of why you are seeking the degree.

• Understanding how you can give back to the community and how your work fits in, both within your academic community and in the larger world of people who will benefit from your research, including the children you are studying.

Dr. Rochon answered a question from the audience about how to negotiate conflicts and deal with power issues. He discussed how one needs to be sincere and consistent and maintain a level of professionalism, integrity, and ethics.

Question and Answer Round Table Discussion
Presenter/Facilitators: Dr. Deirdre Cobb-Roberts and Dr. Tanika Green

Dr. Green and Dr. Cobb-Roberts talked about some dos and don’ts in the profession, the tenure promotion process, and how to survive in the profession.

Dr. Green made the following points:

• Be sure to negotiate in interviews, including for your time in research vs. teaching and for your salary, office, and assistants. Find out salary ranges and start at the higher end.

• Think before you speak because people will listen very critically. As a result, what you say can have consequences.

• Build a paper trail. Keep all your e-mails and document what happens in your classes and career.

• Be cordial to everyone you meet because you never know who that person may be.

• Learn your voice as a writer and share your writing with others you trust. Their feedback will help your writing improve.

Dr. Cobb-Roberts made the following points about preparing for and going through the tenure promotion process:

• Be organized and specific in keeping track of what you do from the beginning of your career in a university. In applying for tenure, you will need to talk about what you have done, including things beyond your publications.

• Let people know who you are. You cannot afford to be isolated. However, be careful that the people with whom you choose to share information and work are on the same page as you. You need to establish relationships with other people so that in addition to advocating for yourself, you will have others who can advocate for you.

• Look for support within the university, including outside your department. Show that you can collaborate.

• Be actively involved in the university. Make yourself visible. Participate on committees. However, be careful in setting boundaries so that you do not spend so much time on service and committee work that you lose sight of what you have really come to the university to do.

• Since student evaluations of your teaching are very important, you need to find a balance between helping students and getting your research done.

• In putting together your tenure promotion packet, get ideas from others on how they did theirs. Through the packet, and especially your narrative statement, let people know who you are and what you have done. In the narrative statement you have to write about your philosophy and accomplishments in the three areas of research, teaching, and service.

The following are some additional points made in the question and answer time:
• In response to the question of whether there is an ideal number of publications to have before graduating in order to be able to negotiate salary, Dr. Cobb-Roberts said there is no ideal number but be sure to have at least the very minimum of one or two.

• In response to a question about how to manage and balance having a family with being a professor, Dr. Cobb-Roberts said that she did not have a very clear-cut answer but it is very helpful to have a supportive mate and important to be very honest with yourself about your priorities. Also, since institutions vary regarding this issue, choose where you want to go based on the fit between the institution and your priorities.

Speaker: Dr. Kathy Borman
Dr. Borman talked about building and maintaining a research career, especially strategies for having your research supported by external funding. There are three very important dimensions to this process:

• Getting published. Understanding the publications process is very important because publication and research are really intertwined and support each other. Journal and book publication are slightly different, but they both involve soliciting feedback from colleagues, i.e., people who share your same disciplinary interests. So, building relationships with colleagues is very important. Dr. Borman then described the different processes for journal article and book publication.

• Defining your interests and being able to skillfully answer the question, “Why am I doing this?” Since funding agencies have very specific agendas, match your particular goals, objectives, and interests with what the funding agency is about. Learn about the funding agencies and cultivate relationships with program officers in the ones that are a good match for you. Also, get assistance from your colleagues in applying for funding.

• Finding one or more mentors, i.e., individuals who can look at your ideas objectively and help you grow them, and whose values and agendas are similar to yours.