Early Career Geoscience Faculty: Teaching, Research, and Managing Your Career

College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Workshop Overview

Note: the 2003 workshop is over. Find out more about the "Early Career Geoscience Faculty" workshops (including a link to next year's), or read on for more information about the 2003 workshop.

Participants must have a faculty position at a two-year or four-year college or at a university and be in their first four years of full-time teaching. These workshops are supported by an Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement grant from the National Science Foundation (and thus are FREE except for travel to and from Williamsburg). (Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NSF.)

Some small travel stipends are available. Please contact Heather Macdonald by email to request a travel stipend.

Workshop goals for participants:

* Learn about a variety of active learning strategies, different ways to integrate research into geoscience courses, and various grading and assessment techniques.
* Share ideas and strategies for teaching entry-level courses as well as upper-level courses.
* Consider successful strategies for maintaining an active research program and advising/supervising undergraduate and graduate research students.
* Discuss life as an early-career faculty member and explore various ways to balance teaching, research, and service responsibilities.
* Leave with examples of assignments and activities for various courses, strategies for balancing competing demands, a support network of other early career faculty, and a plan for managing your early career as an academic.

EXPECTATIONS
Within one year of the workshop, each participant will write a progress report and will submit either a short (one to two page) letter of advice for other early career faculty or an assignment or activity developed after the workshop to be posted on a Resource Website.

ELIGIBILITY
Participants in this workshop must hold a teaching position at a two-year or four-year college or university and be in their first four years of full-time teaching at the time of application.

COST
The workshop itself is FREE, thanks to a grant from the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education. The grant covers the operational costs of the workshop plus room, board, and workshop materials for the participants. Participants or their home institution must provide transportation to and from the workshop. Limited funds are available to provide some support for participants whose institutions have limited resources for faculty development support. (We have a few stipends (generally up to $200 each) available for participants with limited financial resources. If you wish to apply for one of these stipends, please include a request for such support with your application and provide a budget of anticipated expenses and other support sources.)

APPLICATION AND SELECTION CRITERIA
The workshop size is limited. The final list of participants will be established with the goal of assembling a group representing a wide range of experiences and educational environments. Application materials must be received by Friday, March 17, 2003.

FACILITIES
The workshop will be held at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. Participants will be housed in dorms on campus and will eat meals on campus.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please contact Heather Macdonald rhmacd@wm.edu or 1-757-221-2443