PAL Early Career
PAL for Early Career Faculty
Principled Academic Leadership (PAL) for Early Career has been piloted in person and, based on participant feedback, is being expanded in content and reach. PAL for Early Career tackles the reality that many academics fresh out of graduate school or post-doctoral fellowships find themselves in work environments replete with conflicting messaging about how to succeed. This program addresses this dilemma head-on, framing student success as a critical part of the mission of an institution. For faculty to be able to support students effectively, they need tools for their own balance; without such support they are not well-positioned to foster student success.
The program covers topics such as:
- Giving and receiving effective feedback
- Articulating your values and goals
- Setting boundaries: you as an authority figure, and your role transitions
- Special challenges of the academic environment
- Listening and personal scripts
- Negotiation for problem solving
- Setting norms and expectations for a healthy research environment
- Communication and difficult conversations
- Mentoring (both giving and receiving)
- Managing professional relationships
- Proactive practices for success and responsible conduct of research
- Interdisciplinary team research
New faculty members will meet as a cohort around once a month and work through case studies and video examples together. Our program is designed to help early career faculty foster cultures of excellence in their research groups while balancing their own career hurdles. We focus on foundational skills that discipline-focused training often leaves unexplored or underdeveloped, focusing on effective ways to work with other people in the unique academic environment in a way that is relentlessly practical and evidence-based. Our programs provide a way to learn about and practice skills to build the confidence it takes to manage difficult personalities, conversations, and situations.
We recommend this program to faculty in the first few years on the tenure track.