Tenure Revisited (4/5) - The Barry B. Thompson Service Award & Texas A&M University System's Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Excellence

Readers,

This past spring, I was very blessed to receive two wonderful awards from my university! These awards were the Barry B. Thompson Service Award (LINK) and the Texas A&M University System's Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Excellence (LINK). 

            

I hope these awards will help me in the tenure process because I work very hard in the classroom (and on the weekends). A wealth of people supported me in this tenure track process and when I am finally awarded tenure (if I am awarded tenure), I will dedicate this process to my family, colleagues, current/former students, and friends from across the nation.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Tenure Revisited (3/5) - (Wandering Wednesdays) - National Clearinghouse on Academic Worklife

Readers,

Before this week, I did not know that there was a "National Clearinghouse on Academic Worklife". This website is offered by the University of Michigan Center for the Education of Women" and I look forward to actively exploring this website to read each and every article that they have to offer researchers.

Here are a few of their articles focused on tenure:

http://www.academicworklife.org/search/search.php?sType=B&keyword=tenure

This website has the following pieces of information:

- Articles

- Research and Policy Reports

- Policies

- Demographics

- Additional Websites

- Narratives on Institutional Policy Change

Some of the most interesting interactive aspects of the website is the "join our community" and the "suggest resources for the clearinghouse" links.

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Tenure Revisited (2/5) - "The Faculty Lounge & Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Paid For" by Naomi Shaefer Riley

Readers,

A few days ago, my husband and I were persisting through our normal Saturday night activities. These include cooking dinner, grabbing a laptop, preparing lesson plans for the upcoming week, reading tomorrow's Sunday School lesson, and watching TV. This night, we were focused on CSPAN. As we flipped through the channels, we heard a book author on CSPAN mention the tenure process and we immediately stopped on this program. I love the weekend programming on CSPAN and I love Book TV, but this program was slightly different.

This program focused on a recent book titled, "The Faculty Lounge & Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Paid For" by Naomi Shaefer Riley. I would  love to read and review this book because it seemed to contain a wealth of information focused on large research universities and it ignored professors who teach at smaller public and private colleges and institutions. Typically, we do not make over $50,000 and we teach more than four courses a semester. We volunteer to advise student organizations and to involve our students in extra curricular activities. For her next book, she should focus on mid-sized institutions and community colleges to give the public a holistic perspective of the faculty experience.

Enough of my commentary, here's the video:

What do you think of the video? I plan to order the book through our library's interlibrary loan program.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Tenure Revisited (1/5) - My Personal and Ongoing Journey...Persisting Through the Tenure Process

Readers,

During this month, I have been focused on the tenure process. Every year, I set goals for my teaching, research, and service requirements. This year, I am more focused on undergraduate research, large-scale university events, and cross-collaborative research efforts. I hope to start working with a few of the professors from the STEM fields on a grant (or two).

This week's post is focused on the tenure process. Tenure is such a topic of conversation in Texas (as well as the nation) and there are various positive and negative views focused on the tenure process. Despite the attacks to the tenure process, I revisit my tenure portfolio and the tenure requirements for my department to determine how I can exceed my own expectations regarding teaching, research, and service. I attempt to integrate all three of the requirements in every activity that I choose to pursue. 

Despite the individual nature of the tenure process, I try to make each of my research projects and service activities a collaborative process to help early career faculty in their tenure process. Sometimes it is hard for others to persist through this process and I try to help as many people as possible.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41