The Tenure Clock: Top Ten Tips

The Tenure Clock: Top Ten Tips Cary Horvath

1. Start your portfolio today (priority #1). • Work diligently on all three sections: teaching, scholarship, and service • Write down everything you do and update your vita regularly

2. Take evals seriously. • Consider student concerns • Listen to your peers, chair, and dean; talk with them about your progress • Be open-minded • Seek and demonstrate constant improvement, innovation

3. Love your students. • Think of them as friends, or your own children • Think of yourself as their caretaker

4. Love your colleagues. • Think "we" not “me” • Socialize outside the office; get to know colleagues as people • Colleagues go beyond the department

5. Find mentors. • Relationships characterized by mutual help and friendship are ideal • Seek senior, as well as peer mentors/confidants

6. Say yes. • Committees • Special projects • Leadership opportunities on campus and beyond (e.g., professional orgs.)

7. Be positive. • About your peers, dept, school, and YSU! • Avoid negative gossip, refuse to engage the rumor mill • Try to keep your private problems private

8. Be ethical. • Follow policies • Grade fairly, transparently • Engage in honest communication • The golden rule still rules

9. Network always, everywhere. • A wide, varied, and positive social web is ideal • The world is very small

10. Preserve leisure time. • Find some regularly scheduled time to relax with friends and family • Avoid the working vacation and email jail

The Tenure Clock: Top Ten Tips