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Research, Teaching, Service, and Life: How to Survive and Prosper
Christopher T. Minson, Ph.D.
University of Oregon
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Christopher Minson's research is focused on two areas of cardiovascular physiology in humans. He investigates how natural and synthetic forms of estrogen and progesterone impact cardiovascular health and blood pressure regulation in women, with funding from the National Institutes of Health. He also investigates the neural and vascular interactions and adaptations during thermoregulatory challenges. His teaching emphasis is in the areas of cardiovascular and environmental physiology.
Minson received a B.S. in Psychology (Univ. of Arizona), a Master's degree in Exercise Science (San Diego State Univ.), and a Ph.D. in Exercise Science (Pennsylvania State Univ.). He trained as a post-doc at Mayo Clinic in the Dept. of Anesthesiology. Minson joined the Dept. of Human Physiology at Univ. of Oregon in 2000. Minson is co-director of the Exercise and Environmental Physiology Labs and serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Applied Physiology and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. |
I didn’t grow up thinking I was going to be a university professor. In fact, the idea of becoming a professor didn’t even occur to me until I had almost completed my Master’s degree. Even at that point, I didn’t get a sense of the challenges of this career choice until my first appointment as an Assistant Professor. I was aware of the Three Pillars of Professorship…Research, Teaching, and Service, and I knew that each of these areas would compete for my time and energy, particularly at a research institution with a large undergraduate emphasis. How could I enjoy my job, with so many expectations placed upon me? The goal is to find enjoyment in each area and to maintain a reasonable level of balance such that you don’t get too consumed in one aspect to the detriment of others. This is not easy to accomplish, but, if you do so, you will ultimately be more successful and happier in all aspects of your life. I have a few suggestions you may find useful as you navigate the challenges of being a tenure-track professor.
1. Don’t Waste Time Worrying About Tenure
Plan for it, yes… you know what the expectations are: publish, write grants, do a good job in the classroom, mentor students, perform service. If your motivation for doing a task is to help you make tenure, then you are doing it for the wrong reason or, at least, with the wrong mindset. It is important to know the expectations for tenure at your institution, but your motivation should come from your desire to be good researcher, teacher, and colleague. Your Department Head should be guiding you and providing honest evaluations of your progress and balance in each of the areas. However, it’s ultimately your responsibility, so make it an enjoyable experience by doing what interests you.
2. Surround Yourself by People Smarter or More Talented Than You
For me, this has not been difficult! I learned early in my career that by observing and interacting with others, you can identify their skills and reap great benefits from their knowledge or abilities. You will find that collaborations can be very successful, enjoyable, and rewarding. An important aspect to this suggestion is #3.
3. Don’t Get Caught-Up in Being Competitive
Often in our training, competitiveness amongst graduate students or post-docs (and even faculty!) is encouraged and sometimes fostered. You have more to lose in being competitive with those around you than you have to gain. No one is successful in a vacuum, so by sharing ideas and working together, rather than competing, you will be more productive and ultimately more successful.
4. Treat Trainees Fairly
In fact, more than fair. Be their champion at every opportunity. Support them in every way you can, and balance this with challenging them to improve themselves in all aspects of their life. It’s been interesting for me to discover how well I have come to know those I have advised. At different times I served as their teacher, friend, advocate, disciplinarian, confidant. But at the end of the day, their successes are yours, and your successes are theirs.
5. Always Take Advantage of an Opportunity to Learn
This is one of the main reasons why I love being at a university. There are so many exciting things happening and so many opportunities to be engaged in the process of learning. Take advantage of courses, workshops, and seminars. Offer to have a beer or coffee with someone doing work you find interesting, even if it is far from your discipline. You will often find areas of potential collaboration for research or in the classroom.
6. Become a Better Instructor
This is an interesting one, because too often we feel that as long as we know the content we are presenting and have a dynamic PowerPoint presentation, we are doing a good job. I am blessed with being in a Department where quality instruction is highly valued, and I am surrounded by truly excellent, caring teachers. Although beyond the scope of this article, there are many relatively easy things you can implement to help students be more engaged in the process of learning (rather than only being focused on copying and memorizing content). The hidden secret about this suggestion is that rather than taking MORE of your time, this will SAVE you time, you will be a better instructor, and you will have more fun.
7. Support of Family and Friends
Being a professor is demanding, and you are constantly being pulled in many different directions. There are times that you will have to work long hours for days, even weeks on end. Having partners and friends who understand your challenges is not only important, it’s necessary. But you can’t expect them to understand this unless you talk with them. Without their understanding and support, the additional stress you will carry will be debilitating on all fronts. HOWEVER, you must also realize that in your life, family and friends come first. This is non-negotiable. One great aspect of being a professor is that the highly busy times are balanced by slower times. In the slower times, cut your hours back, take days off, give yourself fully to your family and friends. The pathway to success on this one is communication.
8. “Service” Means Being a Good Colleague
In other words, be involved in your Department, University, and Professional Societies (especially APS!) because you care about your colleagues and your Profession. What I mean here, other than the obvious of being supportive of others and playing nice, is that to be a good colleague you will be engaged in activities that have an impact on you and your colleague’s professional lives. You can shape decisions that have important implications on people’s careers and job satisfaction. If you take this approach to Service, you will be taking care of your obligation without it being onerous.
9. Learn to say “NO”
As you move through your professional career, you will be asked to do more, and more, and more. The challenge is finding the balance between helping others, taking advantage of opportunities, and having time to focus on what is most important. Some questions to ask yourself when posed with a request: 1) Who or what will be impacted if I decide to take this on or not? 2) What will I have to shift in my current responsibilities if I take this on? 3) Is there someone who could do this that would be better suited than me? Letting go of hubris can be difficult, but ultimately it can be self-serving for your career. That’s all I can say about saying “no”…. I struggle with this, so I am open to suggestions!
10. Exercise and Rest
These are much too easy to forget. Your health and sanity absolutely depend on them, and your career depends on your health and sanity.
I was recently asked whether I would have chosen this career path, knowing what I now know about the life of a University professor. Having just finished an exhausting school term, I really thought about the question. But I quickly came to the answer…“Absolutely!” Despite the demands and challenges, this is one of the most rewarding of careers. So what have I learned to help me meet my professional obligations, enjoy my job, and be successful at Research, Teaching, and Service? Put people first, and be mindful of balance.
Comments:
This is extremely helpful advice! In my experience so far as an Assistant Professor, I find that point #5 resonates with me. When researchers are invited to my institution for seminar presentations, I have found it particularly useful to meet with them individually when the opportunity is available. This can offer many benefits to junior faculty, including teaching you something new in an area of research that might be unfamiliar to you, networking with additional researchers in your field, and opening doors that may lead to potential collaborations.
Angela J. Grippo
Northern Illinois University
I really appreciate Dr. Minson’s acknowledgement of family and friends in #7. For me, becoming faculty and a mother in the same year was quite challenging, and I only was able to do both because of the support of family and friends. I also agree that after we work long hours right up to a grant proposal or other big event, we need to reward ourselves and our family with some time away from work. I think that letting our minds rest is important both emotionally and scientifically.
Sarah Hoffmann Lindsey
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
I received similar advice about Point #1 early in my Assistant Professor-hood, and it has been very helpful. Submitting for tenure is going to happen, so better you should put your energy into being productive than stewing about all the "what-ifs" (there are many...). I keep a plaque on my office wall to remind me: "Worry is like a rocking chair, keeps you busy, but never gets you anywhere". The other points made by Dr. Minson that I wish I had done better, earlier, are saying NO, and becoming a better teacher. My teaching has developed and my reviews are very strong, but few of my "innovations" have resulted in less time spent on teaching for me. My lab and trainees suffer because of this from time to time. Kristin Gosselink University of Texas at El Paso This is great advice, and so much of it applies to all scientists, whether in an academic career or not. What jumped off the page for me were the following words: Fun, Enjoy, Enjoyable. Finding fundamental enjoyment in your life’s work is what makes it satisfying. But, how often do we forget this? You may not enjoy every single aspect of your work, but if you enjoy most of the necessary activities, you will certainly be more successful. At the start of your career, try to be mindful about the activities you do enjoy (and these are probably those at which you are most successful). Then try to find a career path that will reward those activities. Throughout your career, when opportunities present themselves, don’t forget to ask yourself, “Will I enjoy doing that?” Certainly, there will always be cases where you will choose to do things you don’t enjoy, for a variety of good reasons. But, potential for fun should always be part of the equation in making career decisions. Isn’t that one of the privileges of being a scientist?
Sue Duckles
University of California, Irvine
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