1. Designing a successful program of research and scholarship Beth Cudney Missouri S&T Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Presentation to Missouri S&T Freshman Faculty Forum March 7, 2012

2. Why do research? because you like doing research, hopefully because it is part of the job description (at least for regular tenure-track faculty) arguably the most important tenure criterion Goal become an independent (!!!) researcher develop national and international reputation

3. What to research? Vision: develop long-term goals (5 years+) look for the high impact problems in your field [NSF: transformative research] manage risk (not all eggs in one basket) build on experience, do not start in a completely new area (6 years is not such a long time) Independence: build on graduate/postdoc work but go beyond it do NOT work mainly with your former advisors play your unique strengths in the field/community

4. How to do research? Publish or perish write and publish continuously publish in the best journals / with the best publishers, one highly visible publication is worth more than many papers in obscure journals Collaborate collaborate at S&T, nationwide, and internationally attend conferences and specialized workshops give seminars (start by inviting a colleague) Integrate Research and Education: work with students including undergraduates

5. Formulating a Strategy for Navigating the Tenure Process and Eliminating some Surprises Jeff Winiarz Department of Chemistry Missouri S&T Presentation to Missouri S&T Freshman Faculty Forum March 7, 2012

6. Be Well Aware of Your Timeline If I started In August of 2011, my timeline would be (yours may be different, but only slightly); You have ~1 year and 9 months to make progress towards your third year review You have ~4 years to make progress towards tenure Start Third-year review (March, 2014) Dossier submitted for external review (June, 2016) 8/128/13 8/14 8/15 8/16 Today 24 months 4 years and 3 months The good news! (April, 2017)

7. The Third Year Review Submitted 2 years and 7 months into tenure track Should be prepared as if it were a tenure dossier (in my humble opinion) Departmental and Provost’s narrative provide the first quantitative description of expectations for tenure –I was told “you are expected to - publish # of papers before the tenure process” successfully secure # of grants from federal institutions” (collaborations) graduate # of graduate students” (recruit outside your department) This served as a “checklist” in my tenure narrative (after the external reviews, perhaps the second most important section of your dossier)

8. Teaching and Service Success in these areas, though not sufficient by itself, is required for tenure With regard to teaching, maintaining good evaluations is crucial –Let the students know they are important to you Provide LEAD Open-door office hours Be prepared/early for lecture Your dossier will also contain a section entitled “Extension and Outreach” concerning your interaction with the community (local, state, national, …) outside of the university environment –I do “meet the scientist night” at Sullivan Middle School –I served as a local ACS chair, providing opportunities to organize/participate in workshops

9. Strategies that Worked for Me Recruit graduate students from outside your department (perhaps from a department not so well-funded) –Try to attract an Master’s student as they usually will graduate faster Collaborate with people with a proven record of success, especially from outside your department –Co-authorships on papers in good journals –Co-PI-ships on proposals (often with big-$$$) Make your service as departmentally oriented as possible –You know your immediate colleagues are going to play a pivotal role in the decision –Be sociable, make friends (tenure is a subjective process)

10. Miscellaneous Tips Choose a mentor based on their devotion to new faculty, not their reputation in research Carefully document everything you do, when you do it The external reviews are perhaps the most crucial part of the tenure decision –They will set the tone for all future votes on your case –Provide the external reviewers with everything that will insert into your dossier –Your list of suggested external reviewers should be a who’s who of top researchers in your field

11. Case Studies in Failure Reasons I have seen/heard/imagined for people not getting tenure; –Inconsistent record of publication –Did not graduate any graduate students –Poor teaching evaluations