Michael Gunderson, Ph.D.An untenured assistant professor

Agricultural Finance and Agribusiness Management70% teaching, 30% research

Being a Grown-Up is Tough

Your Appointment is Most Important Land Grant Mission: Teaching, Research,

Outreach If you have a teaching/research appointment then

extension and other service is only periphery

You cannot ‘make-up’ a lack of excellence in your appointment area(s) with a flourish of activity in other areas

As you consider jobs the appointment is probably just as important as other factors

A note about grantsmanship

Negotiating an Appointment Most advertised appointments have some

flexibility Avoid three-way splits initially

Negotiate a fit that will set you up for success

Consider having a dominate area Provides additional focus

Gives tenure committees something on which to focus

Focusing on the Appointment Inquire about the expectations for appointment

types How many classes on 50% teaching appointment

How big? Undergraduate or graduate?

How many articles on a 50% research appointment Where should they be published? How is quality measured?

How many presentations on a 50% extension appointment How many extension publications? What is the target audience?

Develop a 4 Year Plan Four years to build track record

Publication pipeline is long

Improvement in teaching takes time

Developing relevant extension programs takes time

Identify mentors that can help you Experience counts

Inquire about mentoring during interview

Time Eroders Email

Committees

Advising/student questions/recommendations

Course development

Course grading

Email Create separate accounts – personal and work

Process emails in batches (three or four times per day)

Read it then answer it Keep it short and sweet Reread it once Use signatures

Use a bridging email – “I will get back to you”

Committees Double-edged sword

No committee activity/too much committee activity both look suspicious

Committees can be rewarding/committees can be time vacuums

What’s the right balance? Discuss this with your department chair Always honor requests from the dean(s) Pick committees that are genuinely interesting

and related to your topic area and appointment focus

Interacting with Students Can be very rewarding

Students are fun, full of energy, and full of new ideas Watching students develop professionally is enjoyable

Time vacuum Randy and John Always have a set excuse to leave your office

Stick to office hours when possible Leverage E-learning email programs Inquire if there is flexibility to work from home

Course Development Request that you teach the same courses until

tenure The second edition of a course is better for all involved Less preparation time, but be careful about winging it

Start with previous course resources But you must make the course your own Teach topics that interest you while still covering the

basics

Leverage your teaching resource center Creating a syllabus Managing university procedures

Course Grading Create assignments and exams with grading in

mind Does not have to be all multiple choice ‘Random sampling’

Leverage teaching assistants Give them complete ownership of the assignments Be a backstop only in extreme cases

Use teams for big projects Cut the number of assignments by half, third, or

even a fourth Use milestone assignments that are ungraded (but

checked for completion)

Research Schedule blocks of time for research

Work from a quiet space Home Library carrel Off-campus, wireless location

Complete reviews of other articles in blocks