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Returning to the Faculty. Bruce Stiftel Department of Urban and Regional Planning Florida State University ACSP Administrators Conference March 07. What they say…. As a former chair, you will: Experience loneliness as few beat a path to your door;
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Returning to the Faculty Bruce Stiftel Department of Urban and Regional Planning Florida State University ACSP Administrators Conference March 07
What they say… • As a former chair, you will: • Experience loneliness as few beat a path to your door; • Have difficulty re-engaging a productive research program; • Grieve as your hard fought accomplishments are dismantled; • Be the object of retribution as colleagues you previously pressed for change now review your performance.
Loneliness • Attitude: • Why did I choose faculty work? • Did the parade to my door improve my productivity?; My daily work world? • Experience: • New work brings new contacts. • Conclusions: • If you engage a new agenda, your level of interaction will still exceed the level desirable for high productivity. • One genuinely engaged student or co-researcher is more rewarding than a long queue of petitioners.
Re-engaging Research • Attitude: • My leading dissatisfaction about being a chair was that I didn’t have the time I would have liked for research. • Experience: • The questions I now see as important are different than the questions I left years ago. • Conclusions: • You still have the tools for learning and critical analysis that you always had. • Applying them still requires honest effort.
Dismantling • Attitude: • Change only lasts if it affects the hearts and minds of the people. • Experience: • New leaders will have new pressures, but will still see the view from the bridge. • Conclusions: • You have a role to play reporting institutional memory, but reaching out from the grave is seldom a rewarding pass time.
Retribution • Attitude: • I want to look back on my work and feel proud. • Experience: • For every one who criticizes a hard decision, there are three that thank you for it. • Today’s issues quickly replace yesterdays. • Conclusions: • Deal straight and there will be a welcome home for you later. • If not, move on.
What advice would I give? • Stay engaged with the intellectual life of our profession, so you have new challenges to move on to. • New research will require the vigor and concentration it always did, but you have better perspective and can take risks. • Deal straight; don’t second guess later implications, but don’t turn off to governance either (they need your memory and perspective).