Transcript How to Get Promoted - CRA-W

Preparing for Promotion
Mary Fernández
Assistant VP
AT&T Labs Research
My Background
• Computing professional since age 20
• Ph.D. in Computer Science at age 31
– AT&T “lifer” : Fellowship, Intern, Member of
Technical Staff (13 yrs), Executive Director (4
yrs), AVP (<1 yr)
• Home-work (im)balance
– Part-time for 2 - 1-year stints, flex-time for
years
– Live 1.5 miles from my office
• Maintain close ties to academia
– More than 20 Ph.D.-student interns, Academic
collaborations, NSF panels, Tenure letters, CRA
board, etc
Prerequisites
The Scientist’s Six “I’s”
With thanks to Laura Haas, IBM Research, for 5 I’s
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Identity
• Identify and demonstrate expertise and depth in 1+
technical or scientific subjects
• Conduct research with independence and vigor
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Innovate
• Solve problems in new ways
• Invent new algorithms, system constructs, etc.
• Patent work
• Initiate
• Pursue collaborations with those who have
complementary knowledge and skills
• See new opportunities and pursue them
• Anticipate issues and head them off
• Think broadly about how to be more effective
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Prerequisites
The Scientist’s Six “I’s”
With thanks to Laura Haas, IBM Research, for 5 I’s
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Implement
• Make sure that task gets accomplished – well (on-time, inbudget)
• Take responsibility for all aspects of task
• Influence (Relationships)
• Communicate effectively & appropriately, in writing & orally, to
experts and non-experts
• Work within and across teams
• Shape how key players think about task (technical, strategic,
operational, etc.)
• Impact (Results)
• Quantifiable improvements in quality, function, performance,
process
• Enable increased customer satisfaction and/or revenue
• Identify and pursue opportunities inside and outside of
company
With increasing effects as level increases
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RECIPROCAL Relationships
Helps you articulate goals,
develop a roadmap &
keep you on track
towards achieving your goals
Mentors
Have characteristics &
demonstrate behaviors
that are admirable, effective
Role Models
Understand you &
your goals,
Champions
advocate actively
on your behalf
YOU are responsible for engaging your own & serving others as
role models, mentors, champions
in and out of your management chain
Preparing for Promotion
(the tenure process)
Nancy M. Amato, Texas A&M University
Borrowed heavily from past CRA-W Career Mentoring Workshop slides
Nancy Amato
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BS Stanford 1986, MS Berkeley 1988
PhD UIUC 1995
6 months of 2 Postdocs (too brief)
Texas A&M
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Assistant Professor, 1995-2000
Associate Professor, 2000-2004
Professor, 2004-present
Nancy with some students (current and former),
Sabbatical, Sept 2003-Dec 2004
their kids and students (Nancy’s grand students!)
Graduate Advisor, Jan 2005-May 2006
Chair, Alliance for Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Systems
Biology, Sept 2007- present
Chair, Council of Principal Investigators, Aug 2009-Aug 2010
Deputy Director, Institute for Applied Math & Computational Science,
2010Unocal Professor, Sept 2011-present
Ombudsman for College of Engineering, Sept 2012-present
Research
– Motion Planning, computational biology, robotics, computational
geometry, animation, CAD
– Parallel & distriibuted computing, parallel algorithms, perfomance
modeling & prediction
The Academic “Ladder”
tenure
Postdoc
Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Professor
Chaired Professor
Department Head
Associate Dean
Dean
...
Tenure Process
Usually a six year “clock”
• Find out the evaluation process -- common
example…
– Yearly written evaluations by Dept. Head (and
perhaps P&T Committee)
– Mid-tenure review by Dept. P&T Committee,
Dept. Head, Dean and College P&T Committee
• Some depts get external letters (3-6)
– Sixth year promotion and tenure review
• external letters (typically 8-15)
Understand your Institution &
Find Mentors
• Expectations vary by institution – know
yours!
– Ask department chair/head, mentor,
colleagues
– Look at CVs of successful, recently tenured
faculty
• Find mentors
– you may or may not have a formal mentor
– different mentors for different activities
(teaching, research, dept politics, etc)
• ask for advice, feedback, examples, etc
Teaching
• Understand Expectations of your Institution
• General tips
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Want to do a good job while minimizing effort
Have an overall teaching plan/goals and update annually
Try to limit the number of new courses you teach/prepare
Shoot for a mix of ugrad (honors!) & grad (core, seminar)
courses
• Negotiate for release from teaching
– As part of start-up package, for developing new courses
and labs, pre-tenure mini-sabbaticals
• Shoot for good perceptions – positive evaluations
– Be available, but be careful of your time
• be on time and don’t end early
• give extra lectures when it helps
• keep regular office hours
– Don’t be too hard or too easy
• good learning is not hard teaching
– Don’t do evaluations right after an exam
Research Advising
– Recruit good students
• Review applicants and make offers to top ones ( TA from
dept, RA, share with dept)
• Offer grad level reading courses (as overload if necessary)
• undergrad (summer) research programs
– Learn when and how to say “no”
• A bad student is worse than no students
• See them “in action” first (in class, trial project)
– Balance PhD and MS students
• Try to graduate at least one PhD by year six
• Don’t take on too many MS students
– Getting them to produce
• Build a mentoring hierarchy
Publications
• Quality before quantity in publications
• Journal publications
– Understand the importance of publishing in referred
journals
– Understand journal rankings in your field and related fields
that you publish in
– Track special issues for faster turnaround
• Conferences and workshops
– Be visible and well-respected
– Understand conference/workshop rankings
– Keep track of acceptance rates
• Read reviews, revise and resubmit rejected papers
worth salvaging
Funding
• Target funding opportunities
– Visit funding agency sites regularly
• Volunteer to serve on review panels
– For types of proposals you will submit – not the panels that are desperate for panelists…
• Get on a funding opportunities mail list
– Apply for junior faculty awards
• NSF/ONR/ARL CAREER competitions
• Other career development awards (industry, university)
• Seek advice/examples from colleagues
– Ask successful colleagues to review your proposal and
to their feedback
– borrow sample proposals from successful colleagues
• If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again
Collaboration
• Successful Collaboration is a multiplier
– Enables you to achieve more than you can on your own, is fun and
brings you new friends and colleagues
• Unsuccessful Collaboration can be a negative multiplier
– Wastes times, stressful, creates hard feelings – best to nip in the
bud!
• Advice
– Choose your collaborators wisely - do your research before saying
``yes’’ & learn when and how to say “no”
• Collaborate with Successful People – look at their CV, papers, etc
• Some people may be looking for a free ride
– Be sure you are a good collaborator
• Pull your weight, be on time with deliverables, etc.
• Don’t take on too much – easy to happen at the beginning
• Caveats/Caution
– For your tenure evaluation, people will try to assess *your*
contribution. Increasingly, collaboration is explicitly valued. Still,
some people/institutions look for explicit evidence of individual
contribution. So, if possible, do not do all work (papers or grants)
with same team.
External Evaluators
• External letter writers
– Some selected by you
– Some selected by your department
– Can usually black list one or two people--but do so carefully
– Can informally suggest names
– Some departments exclude/include:
• Thesis advisor
• Co-authors and collaborators
– OK (good) to ask someone if you can recommend
them as a letter writer
• Provide them an easy way out -few people say “no” outright
Getting Known
• Network at Conferences
– Go without a paper, introduce yourself
• Talk tours
– Self invitation (I’ll be in area ….)
• Proposal Review Panels, Journal refereeing,
Conference PCs
– Volunteer yourself
• Host Distinguished Lectures, invite others
to visit and give talks
Service
• Find out what/how much service really
counts
– to the department, to the school/college, to the
University, to the profession, to you
• Learn when/how/why to say no
• Quality and reliability are more important
than quantity
• Do what’s visible and will bring respect
– from your research community
– from your campus and department “elders”
Starting Out
• Find mentors
– you may or may not have a formal mentor
– different mentors for different activities (teaching,
research, dept politics, etc)
• ask for advice, feedback, examples, etc
• Don’t do too much, too early
– Take time to learn about your environment
– Don’t take every student who walks in the door, join
every grant proposal you are asked to join, etc
• Practice as a grad student
– Mentor ugrad & junior grad students in research
– Help write a grant proposal
Overall Advice
• The most important thing is to enjoy the
work you do
– Keeping in mind the milestones you need to
reach to be successful at what you do
• Strike a balance between your family and
social life and your career
Dos and Don’ts
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Do become someone other
faculty want as a colleague
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Do make a good first
impression
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Do be a team player
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Do get to know leaders in
your field
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Do take
criticism/feedback/complaint
s seriously
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Do find mentors
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Do get along well with staff
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Do keep records
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Do choose your battles wisely
Don’t let your research get
off to a slow start
Don’t be labeled as a bad
teacher
Don’t do too much, too early
– don’t take every grad
student who walks in your
door or join all collaborations
Don’t be viewed as
unsupportive of department
goals
Don’t do anything that is
unethical or makes you
uncomfortable
Don’t brown-nose or be
insincere
Don’t make enemies, but
speak up
CRA-W Programs
Undergrads: Undergraduate Research Experiences
Undergrads: Distinguished lecture role models
Grad Cohort: group mentoring of grad students
Grad Students: Discipline Specific Research
workshops
PhD Researchers: group mentoring of early & mid
career @ CMW, CAPP, Hopper & Tapia
Academic careers
Undergraduates
Graduate Students
Industry/government
www.cra-w.org
What should you do next?
Complete the evaluation survey
Apply your new knowledge
Share your new knowledge at your institution
Follow up with someone you met here
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Visit our web pages
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