The Governing Structure of a Research University

The Academic Job Talk

Gavin Jones
Professor and Department Chair, Department of English

Tadashi Fukami
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology

Discussion Questions: 

Developing Persuasive Arguments for the Resources You Need as a New Faculty Member

Sarah Heilshorn, Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Bioengineering, by courtesy

Jonathan Payne, Assistant Professor, Geological and Environmental Sciences and, by courtesy, of Biology

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Li Ka Shing (LKSC) Room 101

• How do you identify the research resources you will need if you are still uncertain about your specific research agenda?
• How do you develop the justifications you need to support your start-up requests?

• How do you distinguish between must-have items and items you would like to have but could live with out?

Establishing and Managing A Research Program – Insights For Beginners

James McClelland, Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Psychology department and Professor, by courtesy, of Linguistics

Russell D. Fernald, Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology

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• What specific things can you do while still at Stanford to help prepare you for setting up a research program after you leave? (What to observe, who to talk with, what specific skills, etc.?)
• What specific things should you ask for in a start-up package to help ensure research success in your first year as a professor?
• What are the most important things not to do, mistakes not to make, in setting up your first-year research program?

Academic Non-Tenure Opportunities After Your Postdocs

Yuree Soh, Assistant Director- Career Counselor, Career Development Center

Ed Carryer, Consulting Professor, Mechanical Engineering Design Group

• What circumstances could you imagine that would lead you to accept a non-tenure track offer over a tenure-track offer?
• Which situation (the two body problem, running out of money, sticking around, or the best option), if any, from article #2 applies to you and what does this say about the preparation you should do before completing your postdocs?
• Which, if any, of your recent postdoc colleagues have accepted non-tenure track positions and what was the reaction within your research group to such a decision?

Designing Your First New Course

Robyn Wright Dunbar, Senior Associate Director for Science and Engineering
Center for Teaching & Learning

Kristin L. Sainani, Clinical Assistant Professor for Health Research and Policy - Epidemiology

• What are 1-3 specific things you can do, or find out about, now as a postdoc to give you a leg up on designing a course as a new faculty member?
• What features of a course you have taken or TA'd in the last few years are there that you would particularly like to emulate in a future course of your own design?
• Is there anything in particular about a course that you have observed recently that you would NOT want to have in a new course of your own design?

Teaching and Learning Styles – What it Means for You as a New Professor

Kristin L. Sainani, Clinical Assistant Professor for Health Research and Policy - Epidemiology, and Ellen Woods, Associate Vice Provost, Director of IHUM in Stanford Introductory Studies

• What do you consider to be your primary learning styles?
•   What teaching style do you consider the most challenging for you to undertake?
•   What are some of the things you can do now to prepare yourself to use various teaching styles once you start as a professor?

Tips on How New Professors can Find (and Support) Top Graduate Students

Tobias Meyer, Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor in Cell Biology

• What specific things can you do now as a postdoc that will help you when you begin as a new professor?
• What things can you do between the time you accept a faculty position and the time you arrive on campus?
• What kinds of mistakes have you observed being made from your experience as a graduate student and postdoc and what are your suggestions for avoiding them going?

Hitting the Ground Running as a New Professor - What to do and NOT do

Scott Boyd, Assistant Professor, Pathology

• What steps can you take with your current advisor to identify areas of independent research for you after you leave Stanford?
• What specific comments in the article or in the reactions from letter writers in reading #2 particularly resonated with you and why?
• Based on the readings below, what 1-2 things would you NOT want to do in your first year as a professorWhat do you consider to be your primary learning styles?