 |
 |
|
|
Organizing for Survival: by Refugio I. Rochín Occasional Paper No. 27 August 1997
Webster's defines survival as the act of enduring adverse or unusual circumstances; especially those conditions derived from ancient custom, observance, belief, or the like. In short, survival means sustaining a person's existence in traditional settings like ours. My presentation, "organizing for survival in academe" is about ways to endure adverse circumstances facing junior professors, especially those who are pre-tenure. It is about academic survival for those of us who hope to have years and years being a professor in higher education. I realize that tenure, per se, is not our ultimate end. For most scholars, more important pursuits include learning, experimenting, sharing, teaching, publishing, developing communities and mentoring students. Moreover, I believe we all ultimately like to be known as creative scholars, i.e., persons who can teach something new to students, and can add value to science and society. Nonetheless my concern is pure and simple: i.e. assuring academic survival in an environment that is full of challenges, opportunities, and, to a degree, adversity. What if we can't find time for what we want to achieve? What if we seem to be stressed, rushed, absent minded, unproductive, and sometimes pressured by others? What if we can't get our lectures, articles, speeches and committee activities straightened out and ready for action? What if our research gets bogged down and unpublished? Would we be able to survive academe? Would we get tenure? Would we have a fulfilling life as a professor? I doubt it. And if we don't fulfill our life long ambition of becoming creative scholars, who will care and who will we blame? These are difficult questions and everyone here, I am sure, can offer advice, suggestions, and counsel on all of these questions. For my part, I can assure you that there is no comprehensive formula for academic survival, productivity, or "tenure." Academic survival differs for each and every professor in higher education. Some become tenured by highly effective teaching and good rapport in their departments. Some become tenured by playing effective political roles and building influential networks in their field. Some become tenured by the sheer volume of peer reviewed articles. All in all, I believe that most become tenured by doing a combination of the above. Although there is no precise formula for enhanced teaching, publication, and tenure, there are some basic things to be done. There are ways to get organized. There are methods and techniques for doing more. There are "how to" books and guidelines for promotion and tenure. Hardcopy Price: $0.00
Please Note: To download and view the publications in PDF format, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your machine. You can download the software for free by clicking on the appropriate system you have: Windows or Mac OS. All JSRI Publications are also available in hard copies, at the prices specified. For any orders or further information please send an email to: info@jsri.msu.edu.
JSRI Home | JSRI Research & Publications | Occasional Paper Series |
|
|
|
For more information, contact: |
