Assistant and Associate Professors
The Office of the Provost - Faculty Affairs has created several initiatives to support faculty in advancing their career trajectories. These initiatives offer professional development and support to faculty at different career stages, during key transition points, and with varying roles and responsibilities.
A critical career stage is the transition from assistant to associate professor. Starting in fall 2023, Faculty Affairs organized the inaugural Orientation for Newly Promoted Associate Professors. The orientation focused on goal setting, safeguarding time and space, and understanding the path to full professor. Newly promoted associates can also choose to join the newly promoted associate professor cohort, where faculty have additional opportunities for targeted professional development during the year following promotion.
Orientation was held on Thursday, September 26 from 8:30am-1:00pm.
Program
- Welcome and Opening Remarks
Mangala Subramaniam, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; Fotis Sotiropolous, Provost, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs - What’s Next as an Associate Professor?
This session provides an general overview of the associate professor, mid-career stage. It will highlight potential and natural shifts in work, opportunities, common challenges and the importance of goal clarity.
Lisa Abrams, Interim Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs - Clarifying Values and Mapping Your Success
This session includes a career-mapping exercise that creatively engages attendees to reflect and examine what their career currently looks like and where they want to go.
Lisa Abrams, Interim Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs - Interactive Session & Panel: Planning Your Career Trajectory
Promotion and/or tenure to the rank of associate professor opens new opportunities for furthering your research, innovating teaching - including contributions to scholarship of teaching, and community engagement. This session will feature faculty, recently promoted to full professor, who will share their experiences and perspectives. An interactive activity will allow attendees to identify intentional efforts and activities to plan their career trajectory.
Table Top Exercise Facilitator: Lisa Abrams, Interim Assistant Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs
Panel Moderator: Tamer Nadeem, Faculty Affairs Faculty Fellow & Associate Professor, Computer Science, College of Engineering
Panelists: Laura Frankart, Interim Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Education and Assessment, School of Pharmacy; Fernando Tenjo, Associate Chair and Professor, Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences
Orientation was held on September 19, 8:45am-1:00pm.
Program
- Welcome and Opening Remarks
Mangala Subramaniam, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; Fotis Sotiropolous, Provost, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs - Next Steps as an Associate Professor
The Office of the Provost, Faculty Affairs has been diligently working to support faculty to build their career trajectory. This orientation is intended to be a space for associate professors to think ahead and plan next steps in their careers.
Mangala Subramaniam, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs - Planning Your Career Trajectory
Promotion and/or tenure to the rank of associate professor is empowering and can open new opportunities for furthering your research, innovating teaching including contributions to scholarship of teaching), and community engagement. This session will combine the sharing of experiences and perspectives of faculty recently promoted to full professorship and an interactive activity to glean intentional efforts that you can consider as you plan your career trajectory. Our intention is to demonstrate the path to promotion is rarely a straight line and provide strategies to plan for your continued advancement.
Moderated by Jill Gordon, Assistant Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs
Panelists: Charles Cartin, Director of Makerspaces and Professor, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering; Rima Franklin, Interim Vice Provost for Life Sciences and Chair, Biology; Max Mohan, Professor, Marketing
The Newly Promoted Associate Professors Cohort meets at least once per semester to renew networks and discuss career progression strategies. Topics included assessing work activity relative to effort allocation, goal mapping, and planning their career trajectory.
The cohort met on March 29, 2024 from 9:30-11:00am. The meeting topic was Career Progression Strategies for Early Associate Professors.