Preparing Curriculum Vita

What is Curriculum Vita? summary of educational, professional and academic background outlines academic credentials of the applicant to the search committee to obtain the position in academia (research assistant, fellowship, post- doctoral, faculty member) vita is also often used for promotion, reappointment, tenure and grant applications

Vita Elements name and contact information research (occasionally teaching) interests education (in reverse order, degree received, institution, years) professional experience (in reverse order, position, institution, years) invited presentations/lectures awards and funding publications and other scholarly work –books/book chapters/journal papers/conference papers professional activities: reviewing, chairing a conference, serving on a conference committee teaching experience: courses taught, students graduated administrative service: departmental and university committees and duties maybe references often accompanied by research and teaching statements

Research Statement detailed narrative about past, current and future research projects, expanded description of research interests past results – describe and motivate problem, describe methodology skills and results current projects – describe state and expected results future projects – what you want to do 3-5 years out

Teaching Statement name the classes you taught, excellent place to summarize your teaching evaluation, other demonstration of teaching proficiency explain your approach to teaching, teaching philosophy and its justification state what you are competent to teach, be clear

Vita vs. Resume Resume is a professional introduction, somewhat less rigid than Vita focuses on specific skills, experience (2-years of C/C++, etc.) projects, employment history, certifications (a list of 100-some published papers is not appreciated) usually a lot shorter – 1-2 pages max (vitas run into 10-pages and more) –if getting too long, switch from chronological to topical

Building Vita Writing a vita is not a simple process. keep it up-to-date or nearly so. You may need it quickly. (I tend to write down all the significant achievements in a separate list and enter into vita once or twice a year as needed) keep it neat, clear and spell-checked ask your advisor or senior colleague to check and comment on it tailor your vita (research interests/teaching/research statement) to the particular position