The Essential College Professor: A Practical Guide to an Academic Career

The Essential College Professor

College professors are expected to perform a large number of tasks for which they receive little or no training. For instance, where in graduate school do you learn how to teach most effectively in a large auditorium, and what do you do differently in those classes from when you are teaching in a more intimate setting, with a few upper-level students around a seminar table or in a tutorial? How do you secure a contract for a book that you would like to publish? How do you go about applying for external funding to support your research? How do you write a particularly effective syllabus or exam? How do you create the sort of curriculum vitae that is most likely to earn you tenure, promotion, another position, or an administrative appointment? How do you chair a committee? How do you deal with a student who is disrupting one of your classes? Why should you engage in fundraising, recruiting new students, or maintaining close ties with alumni? Why should you develop a "strategic plan" for your career, improving your teaching and enhancing your research? Why is service only a small part of genuine academic citizenship?

The Essential College Professor is about the "how" and "why" of being a faculty member in higher education today. Based on the author's series of highly successful faculty development workshops, each chapter deals concisely with the most important information college professors need at their fingertips when confronted by a particular challenge or faced with an exciting opportunity. Written both as a comprehensive guide to an academic career and as a ready reference to be consulted when needed, The Essential College Professor emphasizes proven solutions over untested theories and stresses what faculty members need to know now in order to be successful in their careers.