Advice to My Past Self: Fourth Year on the Tenure Track

December 2019: OMSI exquisite creatures exhibit

December 2019: OMSI exquisite creatures exhibit

Way back in September 2020 I posted my goals for year four on the tenure track, along with whether or not I met them.

This month I’m following up with advice I’d give to myself if I had to do it all over again… which I hope I never, ever have to do. Really, what I’d do is give myself a massive hug, as this academic year was difficult on so many levels. If you want to check out my goals/advice for years 1 through 3, you can do that here:

Here are 6 lessons learned from my fourth year as an assistant professor…

In the grand scheme of things, none of this matters

  • Maybe this sounds harsh, but I mean this in the most respectful and gentle way possible. When I look back on the 2019-20 academic year I know that I will not wish that I had submitted one more paper, or one more grant, or put just a little bit more effort into my teaching. Instead, I’ll wish that I had more time with family, more time for grieving, more time for myself. When life starts to fall apart, your work can wait. It will always be there. And for anything that must get done (which turns out, isn’t actually a whole lot), there are plenty of people who can step in and do it for you or deadlines that can be paused.

Be honest

  • With yourself, with family, with friends, with colleagues, with students. Be honest about how you’re doing, what you need, what people can expect from you, etc. In the beginning, I tried to pretend everything was okay, especially with students. I wasn’t ready to share all that had happened with them and it became increasingly difficult to keep up appearances. When I finally shared (towards the end of spring term) all that I was grappling with it felt like a huge weight had been lifted. If I had to do it over again, I’d probably have let them know a lot earlier (without going into specifics) that I was having a really rough time.

Ask for help

  • This goes along with the last point. And I realize that asking for help is easier said than done. In the midst of everything, especially in the beginning, I didn’t know what I needed or wanted and people kept telling me to just ask for what I needed. If you find yourself not knowing what you need I think it’s completely reasonable to turn the question back on the asker and say, “I’m not sure what I need right now, is there anything you’d suggest?” or “I need something that will make work less stressful/chaotic right now, what do you suggest?” Or tell them you’ll think about it and go talk to someone you trust and ask them what things you might ask for. I decided that I didn’t need to be on most of the committees I was on, that I didn’t need to make any sort of progress on research, that I could give myself and my students a break and reduce the assignments I’d proposed, that I didn’t need to be on campus much (when that was a thing).

If the job stresses you out more than it brings you joy, maybe it’s not for you

  • Major crises have a way of highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly of your current circumstances. For me, this meant calling into question my overall desire to be in academia. There are more pieces of this job that stress me out than light me up and if I have the opportunity to find something that does the opposite (i.e., lights me up more than stresses me out), I owe it to myself to do some exploration.

Find good collaborators

  • Ideally this is something you’re working on early on in your tenure track career. Focusing not only on people with similar interests but also on their working style and personalities. I’d much rather work with someone I enjoy being around who has peripherally related interests than someone who exactly matches my interests but I can’t stand. During year four this strategy helped out a lot as I leaned on my collaborators a fair amount to keep projects rolling if needed, and they were more than happy to step in and support as needed.

Bereavement leave in the US is terrible

  • Parental leave is certainly in the spotlight a bunch in the US because it’s terrible and in many places non-existent. Bereavement leave is no better. My university’s current policy is essentially 2 weeks of leave for the death of an immediate family member. At least for faculty. Other employees get 4 days off. Which would make me laugh if it weren’t so sad. Two weeks go by in the blink of an eye. Not to mention that if you’re the one who is managing the estate settlement (which is a huge job), there’s so much paperwork that needs to be completed (and sometimes things that need to be done in person) you’re essentially taking on a part-time job. So not only are you grieving, you’re potentially handling lots of paperwork and making decisions about what to do with belongings/property. There’s no way any of this can be “wrapped up” in 2 weeks, and certainly not 4 days.  

I’ll be back at the end of year five with more insights. Thanks for reading!

Advice for your Third Year on the Tenure Track
Academic LifeJillplanning, fourth year on the tenure trackComment