Sunday, August 5, 2007, 7 a.m. - noon
(Apologies for cross-postings)
Career Questions for Everyone:
Who Am I? What Should I Be Doing? Where Should I Be Doing It?
Just as the children of the shoemaker may go without shoes, so too can those of us who study issues such as careers, organizational behavior, and the impact of diversity in the workplace may discover that we have invested so much time and energy in studying other people's career and organizational experiences that we have failed to step back and consider our own careers in sufficient depth.
This PDW proposal for a Careers Consortium is designed to encourage participation from people at all points in their careers. Doctoral students are especially encouraged to attend because they have so many career choices facing them, but we all need to consider our careers, no matter where we are in our life course. Participants will be encouraged to submit materials that they are currently drafting and would like assistance with (e.g., course syllabi, exams, exercises, research papers, administrative reports such as MBOs or other performance evaluation forms). Having these materials in advance will allow us to provide more thoughtful comment and identify groups of individuals with complementary interests. The success of the sessions will depend on the active involvement of the participants and will benefit from the contributions of academics and practitioners at all points in their careers. Participants will learn from one another, not just from one individual or a panel of presenters. Discussion leaders will facilitate the sessions, providing practical insights and exercises to help participants with their career questions and issues.
WORKSHOP REQUIREMENTS: Participants are required to submit an electronic copy of their vita to Lstclair@bryant.edu by July 15, 2007. They are encouraged to submit statements of their teaching, research, and service interests electronically as well.
Registration is required. The deadline is July 13, 2007. To register, please visit http://apps.aomonline.org/PDWReg.
For more information, contact <st1:personname w:st="on">Lynda St. Clair</st1:personname> at Lstclair@bryant.edu
Tentative Schedule
7:00 to 7:30 Welcome breakfast & Overview of PDW Objectives
7:30 to 8:30 Who am I? Getting to know your self and your mentors
Participants will engage in a structured self-reflection exercise to help them think about their personal values, interests, and strengths and how to balance their (potentially) competing values. Then, we will match participants based on complementary skills so they can begin to build relationships that can nurture, support, and guide them throughout their careers.
8:30 to 9:15 Where Do I Want To Be? Getting to Know the Academic Job Market & Other Options
Participants will be at different places in their lives and are interested in different career paths, so this session will consider multiple career options. In addition to the basics for first time academic job hunters (what are the timelines? what are the critical components of an application packet? should you interview at the Academy?), we will talk about topics for job searchers at all levels: What kind work environment currently makes the most sense for you? How can you make the best impression on an interview? What if you don't get an interview but really want the job? What can you negotiate in a job offer?
9:15 to 10:00 Getting to know the Snares and Successes of Service
Although junior faculty are often warned away from service, many feel compelled to serve, sometimes for political reasons and sometimes for personal reasons. This session will build on the earlier work done related to personal values to help participants make thoughtful choices about how they want to contribute to their institutions and professions. Because people view service from very different perspectives, this session is likely to result in some lively debates about its importance and place in careers.
10:00 to 10:15 Break
10:15 to 11:00 Getting to know the Romanticism and Realities of Research
How do you really write a paper? What is the journal landscape – how does your research fit in? Does it really matter if a journal is not listed in Cabell's? (What is Cabell's?!) Does research really help your teaching? What about chapters, books, and presentations? What about doing research as a consultant? What if I don't want to do research?
11:00 to 11:45 Getting to know the Traps and Triumphs of Teaching
Teaching can be both draining and fulfilling at the same time. No matter how long anyone teaches, there are always new things to learn as technology changes (for better and for worse) and, more importantly, our students change. Most importantly, because teaching can expand to take every waking minute, it also is important to find shortcuts that don't short change our students.
11:45 to noon Concluding Remarks