What They Didn't Teach You in Graduate School: 199 Helpful Hints for Success in Your Academic Career

* 199 tips for getting your PhD and surviving and thriving in your first years of teaching
* Irreverent, but serious, guide to what higher education institutions are REALLY like
* Illustrated with original cartoons to bring the hints to life

Just landed your first faculty position? Close to getting your Ph.D., and planning a career in academe? Already in your first job? This insightful guide will help you achieve success.

What will academic life be like? How do you discover its tacit rules? Develop the habits and networks needed for success? What issues will you encounter if you’re a person of color, or a woman? How is higher education changing?

In 199 succinct, and often humorous but seriously practical hints, Paul Gray and David E. Drew share their combined experience of many years as faculty and (recovering) administrators to offer insider advice—the kind that’s rarely taught or even talked about in graduate school.

For instance, Gray and Drew advise you on what you can do to become known in your field and also to be humble about your Ph.D. They also warn you of the danger points along the Ph.D. path, and the possible stumbling blocks with litigious students. Their hints can cover topics as lofty as quantitative and qualitative methods and as mundane—but still as important—as negotiating campus parking.

For easy reference as you climb the academic ladder, the hints are divided into 15 short chapters and 4 appendices covering the stages and responsibilities of faculty life.

As the authors state, “It is a good life and it is a lifestyle for which you even get paid”. These hints will help you both make a valuable contribution to, and get the most from, academe.

And if you are really penurious, persuade a family member or friend to buy this book for you.

Laurie Richlin is Director of Faculty Development, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, as well as Director of the regional Lilly Conferences on College and University Teaching, Executive Editor of the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, and President of the International Alliance of Teacher Scholars

Paul Gray is Professor Emeritus and Founding Chair of Information Science at Claremont Graduate University. He specializes in information systems, particularly decision support systems, knowledge management, data warehousing and electronic commerce.

David E. Drew holds the Joseph B. Platt Chair and previously served as dean of the CGU School of Educational Studies. He is a sociologist who applies quantitative and qualitative techniques, especially multivariate models, in studying the effectiveness of organizations.

Steadman Upham is president of The University of Tulsa. Among former positions, he was vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school, as well as professor of anthropology, at the University of Oregon; and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools.

Matthew Henry Hall is a cartoonist whose work appears in Readers Digest, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Adjunct Advocate, and many other publications, including the the "Teachable Moments" column of Inside Higher Ed.