Overview of US Computer Science Faculty Life Cycle

Overview of US Computer Science Faculty Life Cycle Debra Richardson University of California, Irvine Valerie Taylor Texas A&M University

Life Cycle n Starting Point: Assistant Professor n n n Usually recent Ph. D graduate May come from industry Progression n n Assistant Professor Associate Professor Full Professor Distinguished Professor 2

Tenure Time Line n 7 year probationary period n n Intermediate Review: During year 3 Tenure Review: During year 6 n n Based upon work from past 5 years Effective, September year 7 3

Detailed Timeline n Year 1: Start-up n n Year 2: Focus on research n n n n Continue publishing with grad students Start giving some invited talks Take on one program committee Continue with proposal writing Year 4: Research dissemination n n Teach same courses Continue with your projects Start publishing with grad students, independent of former advisor Work on proposal writing Year 3: Independent research n n Teach new courses Get our papers from Ph. D Take on a few grad students end of first year Should have significant publications independent of former advisor Given invited talks Continue with proposal writing Year 5: Good acceleration n n Continue with publications Invite top people to your university 4

Tenure Package n n Detailed CV External letters n n n Want people to say that you are established in your field Made an impact, significant contributions Statement of research, teaching, service contributions Papers Internal letters 5

Advancement to Full Professor n n n Generally about 4 -6 years beyond the Associate Professor level Should have international recognition as an established researchers Recognized in your particular research area via: n Editorial boards, program committees, etc. 6

Distinguished Professor n n About 1% of the faculty achieve this status Based upon distinguished research contributions 7

Faculty Statistics (CRA Taulbee) n n Total faculty sizes continue to grow at a rate of 3% during 2004 -2005 85% of faculty hires for 2004 -2005 were new Ph. Ds n Only 15% came from change in academic positions or from government or industry 8

Faculty Losses n n (2004 -2005) For a total of 5, 962 faculty, had a total of 213 losses or 3. 7% Faculty Losses: n n n n Died Retired Took Academic Position Elsewhere Took Nonacademic Position Changed to Part-Time Other Unknown 8 56 61 39 16 25 8 9

Faculty Retention n Critical to the success of a department Devote significant investment in the hiring of new faculty Activities important for faculty retention n Mentoring of junior faculty Providing a top environment for research activities Promoting faculty via awards, professorships, chairs 10

Mentor Junior Faculty n n Mentor faculty through the tenure process and the promotion to full professor Mentors have the following roles: n n n Acclimate new faculty to the culture of the department and university Provide feedback on papers and proposals Help with getting involved with professional service 11

Research Environment n Having excellent students n n n Undergraduate and grad students Providing support for equipment & space needs Encourage and facilitate multidisciplinary discussions 12

Promote Faculty n n n Nominate faculty for internal and external (international) awards and recognitions Engage in development activities for endowments for professorships & chairs Value and appreciate faculty 13