Hey, new faculty!! Congrats on your new jobs. If you’d find it helpful, I’ve made a list of the stuff that’s made my life a lot easier in this chaos job. I can’t promise I know what I’m doing myself, but I hope these might help you as you adjust! 1/probably too many
1. Find an organization system before the semester starts. Mine? I use a combo of todoist (to do list app) and a paper planner. I duplicate most everything between the two. It’s safe to assume I’ll forget everything instantly if I don’t get it written down. 2/n
2. Set organization systems with students, too. Students have access to some shared to do lists like rec letters. 3/n
3. Spreadsheets!!! I track student grant awards, number of rec letters I write, how many students come to office hours, etc. All adds up for showing impact for tenure. Set a to do list reminder to update it regularly 4/
4. Set monthly reminder to update: your CV and website. Also, your annual evaluation- I dump new stuff in there monthly and format it before it’s due. My first year I forgot a ton of stuff I did because of the chaos. 5/
5. Do you have an online system for tenure? You can start uploading stuff in advance often! DO THIS. I did it for first time for mid tenure and my god, tracking down some of the info over three years was rough. I update mine now ~2-3 months to prep for tenure. 6/n
6. Teaching will swallow your life whole if you aren’t careful. It should take time because it’s very important but rely on others to help. Ask for help on Twitter! Other faculty! Get slides and assignments to modify!!! 7/n
7. I promise, after the first time you teach a class, it will be a lot easier- don’t beat yourself up over mistakes. You get better at adjusting and fixing on the fly. Write down everything that went great/wrong immediately after so you remember for next semester 8/n
8.5 Same with syllabus. You’ll find policies you set cause a hot mess or aren’t specific. Make notes to edit it after semester ends so you are prepared for the next one. 9/n
9. Teaching is the best part of my job. It’s also the most soul crushing sometimes. Save the kind things students write you in a folder and read it when the job sucks. (To my students-i save all of it and it means the world to me!) 10/n
10. When tenured faculty say ‘this is great for tenure’, sometimes…it isn’t. They may mean well, but they could also be adding to your work that won’t pay off. You might be asked to cover a lot of extra service- be careful before saying yes. Ask a trusted mentor first. 11/n
11. Service! Don’t say yes to everything. Please. But don’t say no, either. Sit on a request for a bit and ask ‘is this going to help me get tenure’? ‘Will it bring my soul joy’? Both are important questions to ask yourself. Make sure some of them bring you joy. 12/n.
12. Meetings, omg. So many. Stack your meetings if you can!! I stack them on teaching days bc I’m so exhausted after teaching I can only deal with menial tasks. This leaves my lighter days free for research. Obviously, this isn’t easy & changes every semester. Do your best. 13/n.
13. Make a few writing groups! I sit on zoom with trusted folks to write in silence buddy system style. It’ll help you keep writing in your schedule. 14/n.
14. I am getting better on this one, but please value your off time. Turn off e-mail notifications after work. Set boundaries. Tell students you don’t answer after X time. You need to take time off or you will burn out. 15/n.
15. Don’t say yes to too many research students at once. Mentoring is a very important and also a time consuming and tough part of the job. It takes more time than you think. Don’t jump in w/ a giant group or you’ll have a hard time finding time for everyone 16/n.
16. Automat what you can! Students need rec letter? Send them a form to fill out so you can collect what you need. Make email folders to automatically sort stuff into needed piles. Check my website (sarahlsheffield.Wordpress.com for former) 17/n.
17. for women, & all underrepresented faculty- you may find students come to you for a lot. It’s an honor and also difficult to navigate, personally. I’m often emotionally drained from being the support for so many- please take space for yourself and value off time. 18/n
18. Ask for help from senior faculty. Ask ‘what do I do for travel forms?’ ‘Where do I send students for advising’ ‘how do I access my start ups?!’ and keep it all tucked away somewhere. It is a massive learning curve. 19/n.
19. Find mentors outside of your department and university, too. Best thing I did for myself was to have folks I could go to outside of my dept to discuss tricky issues. 20/n.
20. Find what you need for your mental health and do it. Exercise? Hobbies? Therapy? Medication? Your mental health is a top priority. 21/n
That’s it, folks! If you don’t find this helpful, please ignore it. It’s what has worked for me over the past few years, but it may not work for you. Good luck! It’s a wild ride but there’s so much I love about this job. 22/22
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