Part of being a place where faculty and academic staff feel they can create fulfilling and successful careers means being able to engage in activities and opportunities that increase a sense of belonging and potential. It also means providing the kind of support and understanding of the ways in which one is evaluated and how to advance in the bureaucratic systems that all large universities have in place. In both areas, OFASD strives to be a source of opportunities such as the various Fellows programs and Learning Communities as well as a means of making sense of university expectations for annual evaluations, promotion in rank, and ways of creating interesting and fulfilling careers here.
The “Thrive Series”, offered on Wednesday mornings throughout the month of February, is an example of time to come together to learn more about what It means to move forward as an educator at MSU. Each session is tailored to the type of educator e.g., academic specialist, fixed-term faculty, pre-tenure track, and associate rank tenure track faculty. University expectations and materials are provided, and importantly, there are voices of experience from those who have navigated the process successfully and charted different paths as well as those involved in reviewing candidate materials to hear how different disciplines across diverse colleges make sense of the important work of their colleagues.
In a university with multiple missions and myriad strengths, it is sometimes hard to think about effectively communicating one’s contributions, one’s aspirations and future directions, and how we incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, outreach, research, mentoring, advising, and effective teaching into a page limited reflective essay, standard form, or abbreviated annual review. But these are the topics we explore through campus colleagues in the Thrive sessions. Tips, materials, strategies, and a network of colleagues are here to help in your journey as a faculty and academic staff member.
Select your Thriving Session
- February 1: Thriving in the Tenure System I: Articulating Your Scholarly Identity Through a Strong Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure Packet
- February 8: Thriving as an Academic Specialist at MSU
- February 15: Thriving as a Fixed-Term Faculty Member at MSU
- February 22: Thriving in the Tenure System II: Transitioning From Associate to Full Professor