In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:
This might be an odd question but I’m relatively new to a smallish department. I want to have collegial relationships with my colleagues in the philosophy department and would love to have support building my teaching skills. I can’t get a handle on the culture, though, and it seems the current department members operate largely independently. What kinds of support can I directly ask for that would be socially appropriate even if they all seem quite busy?
I would love to sit in on their classes for observations and have them sit in on mine, I would also love direct feedback on my syllabi, rubrics, and assignments, but they seem so busy and I don’t want to make waves. In the long term I’d love to organize philosophy specific talks to the wider college, book circles, events etc. But so far I’m just getting a general sense of…. I don’t know. Maybe it’s that they were understaffed before my hire so they are all tired.
Is there a low stakes way to reach out and make it clear I’m interested in collaboration without putting pressure or making it come off as criticism? Or should I seek support elsewhere in case my hunch is right that they prefer to work independently? This might be an odd question since it’s about social norms, I’m not sure if this is unique to our discipline or if any small department would have this sense of uncertainty.
These are great questions. As a member of a relatively small department myself, my sense is that it may be good to begin by simply having an honest conversation like this with other faculty the OP senses they have a good and supportive rapport with (hopefully there are some!). It could well turn out that the "culture of working independently" really just is something like people having too much on their plate, perhaps both at work and at home. For example, in my own case, my spouse and I welcomed our first child into the world 14 months ago. Since then, my life priorities have been basically (A) meeting my professional obligations (viz. teaching, service, research) while (B) devoting every other spare minute to child care and being a good father and spouse. Similarly, I know other senior colleagues who have teenagers, etc., and I can only imagine how much of priority their children are to them.
Anyway, I suspect that in a lot of cases, faculty in small departments would love to do things like organize talks, book circles, etc., but may simply not have the bandwidth to do these things. So, I suspect they would have no problem at all with a junior faculty taking the initiative on these kinds of things, while being honest about what they (the colleague of the junior person) can do. Which brings my back to my initial suggestion to the OP: just try to approach faculty you are comfortable with and have an honest discussion about what you're hoping for, while recognizing that others in the department may for whatever reasons have limits on the kinds of things that they can do. At least in a healthy department, I am pretty sure that faculty would take no offense to discussing the kinds of things the OP mentions, and probably love a junior colleague with so much passion and initiative for taking part in and supporting a collegial life in the department!
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours?
With regards to getting help with teaching: Most universities and colleges have some sort of program that fosters teaching excellence. They often offer workshops, trainings, and even one-on-one mentoring for faculty. If the colleagues in your department are overworked, I'd look to these resources to help build your teaching skills.
Posted by: Teaching in a Small Department | 10/21/2024 at 10:10 AM
I agree with Marcus that you should approach your colleagues and talk to them about it, but I'd do one of two things: either 1) stick to asks that don't put additional things on their plate (i.e. can you come watch their classes - and then maybe they will offer to come watch yours and get a coffee to talk about it!), or 2) in the very same conversation where you ask them to take something on, make it very very clear that they can decline if they have too much on their plates. Even if you know you won't hold it against them if they say no, they won't know that unless you explicitly tell them.
Posted by: Rosa | 10/21/2024 at 11:34 AM
The department chair has special responsibilities to nurture junior faculty, so start your inquiries there. Instead of asking, "Will you observe my teaching," start with, "What are some ways I can improve my teaching?" and "Who in the department would most likely be willing to do a class observation for me?"
Posted by: Bill V. | 10/21/2024 at 01:08 PM
1) congrats on the kid Marcus!
2) I’ve been in the reverse of this situation before: I had new colleagues and wanted to help out however would be … helpful … but didn’t know what that would be and was worried that offering help would come across as criticism. Consider that your colleagues may be in this boat!
Posted by: Also awkwardly wanting to talk | 10/21/2024 at 10:26 PM
I think the OP raises important questions and shows sensitivities to the potential issues at play. I will say that from my perspective (as a mid-career person who has chaired a small department for several years), some of the OPs desires strike me as a bit unrealistic, and I do think there are risks of coming across as needy, should the OP articulate them explicitly.
To be clear, I certainly think that chairs and other faculty members have the responsibility to mentor their new colleagues, but to me, some of the OP's desires go beyond what I think is owed as a mentor, in the type of environment the OP describes. I understand that the OP is describing what they would like, rather than what they think they are owed, but, as the OP seems to recognize, in the context of a mentor-mentee relationship, being explicit abut what one would like as a mentee can come across as criticism, both of the chair and of the department. In some small departments, this could be seen as a sign that there is a problem of "fit," and in some places, this can make reappointment challenging. Given all that, I think it is prudent to proceed with some caution.
I don't know if this is the OP's first job, but in my experience, sometimes people fresh out of grad school expect the grad school experience to continue indefinitely. But many small departments cannot sustain things like a colloquia series, and busy chairs may not have time to provide feedback on syllabi, assignments and rubrics, and may resent the request to visit their class.
My advice would be to take some more time to observe how things are done in your department and try to understand the reasons behind the norms. In the meantime, try to find support from your friends from graduate school or other centers on campus, like the teaching center. There are also many teaching resources that can be found online.
Posted by: The Real SLAC Prof | 10/22/2024 at 04:02 PM
I don't comment often, but wanted to chime in to second @TheRealSLACProf's very, very good advice. I'm in my third TT job and have found each department (and college) to have its own norms and vibe, in all sorts of large and tiny ways. Each college is like a new country you're entering, whose customs and languages you are not yet fluent in navigating.
One of the best things I did at my first job was exactly what @TheRealSLACProf advises: I observed. And I did that for the first two years. I didn't do this from a place of wisdom. It was just my natural instinct. But when I look back now I see how important and valuable it was to start that way. And when I talk with colleagues who are just entering the profession, I often suggest that they take some time to get to know the culture of the institution and their department, before getting too enmeshed in activities, committees, and so forth. This approach can prevent all sorts of potential problems for an early career prof, and slowly provide clarity about what might come across as engagement vs. criticism, for example. This is important for a new person just beginning the long discourse with colleagues that will unfold over the course of a career.
If OP is seeking teaching-related support, which you'd ideally want to be able to access right now, @TeachinginASmallDepartment is spot on: make use of the institution's teaching resources while getting the lay of the land. And you may even be able to find teaching mentorship from colleagues doing service work in those areas, whose workload has been adjusted to make time for helping other faculty grow as teachers.
Posted by: AJC | 10/22/2024 at 07:56 PM
Edit: "whose workload *may* have been adjusted to make time for helping other faculty grow as teachers."
I'm thinking here of people who have accepted leadership positions related to teaching and get release time as a result. But, as a person who has committed time to running workshops and a community of practice around teaching and never had release time for any of that work, I realize workloads may not have been adjusted!
The point I was attempting to make is that there are likely people already doing service work on campus that could be of value for OP.
Posted by: AJC | 10/22/2024 at 08:08 PM
Just a general point about social/collegial relations as one transitions from grad school to a faculty position: when I first started a faculty position, it seemed like people were indeed pretty independent/separate. But now my sense is that the relationships are more "there" than I thought they were at first. The relationships just sometimes take place over longer timespans and with fewer day-to-day interactions.
This depends on the department of course, some may have communities that feel more like grad school community.
Posted by: anon | 10/23/2024 at 09:35 AM
This is a helpful conversation to follow along. The note by @TheRealSLACProf about there being concerns about "fit" and about how one could come across as "needy" in expressing these desires is particularly helpful, and one of the benefits of an anonymous forum such as this. These don't seem the type of things that anyone tells you explicitly, but that doesn't make them any less true and I appreciate the candor. I agree that the best course of action for OP (and those of us in similar situations) seems to be to hang back and "observe" while getting used to the departmental culture and norms.
Posted by: anon2 | 10/23/2024 at 01:11 PM
There's something disconcerting about this conversation. The OP wants to be better at their job and understand the norms at their workplace. Some of the advice here suggests that the OP may come across poorly if they articulate their desires.
I agree there are better and worse ways to articulate one's requests. I agree that getting to know the institution's official policies and pedagogical support is a good idea. And I agree that observing the local culture is wise.
At the same time, it strikes me that it is a dysfunctional workplace where an employee cannot go to the person to whom they report in some way (here, the department chair) and have a frank conversation about what kinds of support are available for them to be good at their job. One shouldn't have to tiptoe around fragile egos, avoiding the possibility of appearing to criticize, if one simply says, "I'd like to improve my teaching. What are the resources here? I enjoy engaging philosophically with colleagues. What opportunities are there for that?" Even giving concrete ideas and asking what is possible seems entirely reasonable!
New employees shouldn't have to suss out unspoken rules and norms, finding out they exist by accidentally breaking them. A chair ought to do what is known as "onboarding" in other workplaces, which is to help the new hire understand their context, their expectations, etc.
And yes, I'm using the language of employment here, because these are jobs at the end of the day, not family units or social clubs. And, too, if someone is tenure-track, they have a certain period of time to achieve tenure. Losing two years to observation in order to put together what the unspoken rules are is not a good idea.
It is practically speaking, a good idea to observe, learn the culture, not step on toes by appearing to demand a lot from one's colleagues. But let's also be real about what many of our departments are lacking, which is the kind of management and support that faculty need to do their job. Those of us in mid- to senior-level positions should keep this in mind as we're able to change norms ourselves.
Posted by: Another real SLAC prof | 10/24/2024 at 01:50 PM
Since no one else has touched on this explicitly, I’ll do so.
Let’s suppose that unbeknownst to the OP, the department is unhealthy. (A new appointment might not get to know that for some years into the job.) In an unhealthy department, the OP should proceed with even greater caution than has been recommended here, because in such circumstances even something as simple as proposing new talks, book circles, wider college philosophy events might turn people against you. There are departments where people are comfortably ‘hiding’, enjoying the perks of a senior academic career without carrying the usual responsibilities. Or there might be hidden tensions between colleagues, eg deep personal or professional jealousies, affairs, abuse. In such situations colleagues can react with hostility to the suggestion of any kinds of normal collegial contact which might ‘expose’ them as not at the top of their game — not as good as Alice, not as good as Bob — or as not willing even to sit at the same table with Alice or Bob. If such defensive colleagues are in positions of power, then OP could quite innocently turn them against OP in ways which could badly affect day-to-day life, tenure, etc.
What to do in such a case? Don’t ask your immediate colleagues. Go around them. Maybe start a junior faculty seminar series, working with other young appointments in other departments. Maybe approach a dean of research or the marketing office about sponsoring college-wide philosophy-specific talks to the wider college or the public. Maybe talk with HR about it as a way in which you could be helping future hires, eg a seminar series for new staff to meet the wider college. A sponsor makes a junior person safer. If others say you’re difficult to work with, the sponsor can speak up about how you’re a ‘do-er’ a ‘fix-it’ sort and good at it.
Some aspects of OP’s comments could suggest an unhealthy dept. Unhealthy departments can be survived and can be the basis of a wonderful career. But if OP’s ‘department members operate largely independently’, it might be that they do that because they don’t like each other, are hiding, or some such.
Insofar as OP’s questions involve teaching, then OP might ask the students for feedback. Ask them if there are things your colleagues do better that they wish you’d do too? Tell the students you’re new and ‘impressionable’ and that you might still be there teaching their kids in 25years. What do they need you to know to be the best you can be at the job?
Posted by: S | 10/31/2024 at 02:06 AM
S
If you work at a typical state college, DO NOT talk with HR about your problems (at least not at first). Ultimately, the HR office is accountable to the university administration and they will do what they have to. A better choice is to get involved in the union ... and then talk with them about the problems.
Posted by: P | 10/31/2024 at 08:48 AM
I'd just like to echo @Another real SLAC prof. When I left academia and got a real supervisor -- a competent, available, engaged supervisor -- who actually onboarded me, it was night and day. This is a way that academic philosophy (academia in general, probably) is sclerotic.
Regarding @S's remarks: do you really want to work in such a department? I say better to find out early that you're in a cesspit so you can get out ASAP.
Posted by: sahpa | 10/31/2024 at 09:54 AM