New Faculty: A Practical Guide for Academic Beginners

Successfully launching an academic career in the challenging environment of higher education today is apt to require more explicit preparation than the informal socialization typically afforded in graduate school. As a faculty novice soon discovers, job success requires balancing multiple demands on one’s time and energy. New Faculty offers a useful compendium of “survival” advice for the faculty newcomer on a variety of subjects:practical tips on classroom teaching, student performance evaluation, detailed advice on grant-writing, student advising, professional service, and publishing. Beginning faculty members—and possibly their more experienced colleagues as well—will find this lively guidebook both informative and thought-provoking.

Christopher J. Lucas is Professor of Higher Education and Policy Studies at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He is the author of American Higher Education, Crisis in the Academy and Teacher Education in America.

John W. Murry Jr. is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Studies and Faculty Development, College of Education and Health Professions, at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.