Solo Success: How to Thrive in the Academy When You’re the Only ______ in Your Department

The Solo Success Workshop is specifically designed to address the unique concerns of underrepresented graduate students and postdoctoral scholars entering academia.
 
Facilitated by Dr. Anthony Ocampo, participants will learn about common issues faced by underrepresented trainees and faculty:
• Feeling overwhelmed by service requests related to diversity
• Pressure to serve as role models, advisors and mentors to all _______ students
• Struggle to respond effectively to classroom dynamics that are shaped by race, class and gender
• Lack of support network, community, mentors, and sponsors
• Mixed messages about the best use of their time on campus
 
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
• Identify the common challenges underrepresented faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars face at all stages in the academy
• Identify the three biggest mistakes underrepresented faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars make
• Specific strategies for increasing productivity, serving strategically, teaching efficiently, and building strong and healthy professional relationships
• Identify why and how to connect with communities of support and accountability

This workshop was developed by the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), which provides professional development, training, and mentoring. NCFDD resources are broadly applicable across academic disciplines and include a range of topics such as time management, overcoming academic perfectionism, developing a daily writing plan, writing grant proposals, and more. These resources offer concrete guidance that could increase your productivity and your sense of well-being.

Dr. Anthony Ocampo is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and Sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Public Policy at University of California, Riverside. His research and teaching focuses on immigration, race and ethnicity, and gender and sexuality. Dr. Ocampo has published articles in the leading journals in immigration studies and has completed two books (with Stanford University Press and NYU Press)—all while teaching an average of three classes each quarter. He is currently working on his first academic trade book about the underdogs and comeback kids within higher education based on his experience teaching at a predominantly minority institution. Dr. Ocampo’s research has been supported by the Ford Foundation, Haynes Foundation, the McNair Scholars Program, and the University of California Office of the President, and his publications have received several awards from the American Sociological Association. One of his main passions as an FSP coach has been to help new faculty—particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds—creatively incorporate their unique knowledge and perspectives into their research, teaching, and mentoring.

This workshop is co-sponsored by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) and the Vice Provost of Graduate Education (VPGE).