New & Early Career Faculty Institute

The New & Early Career Faculty Institute aims to equip new and early career faculty with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive at Northwestern. Through monthly, discussion-based small-group workshops with various Northwestern offices, participants will get the chance to network with colleagues and learn about campus resources.

Program goals include:

Increased awareness of campus resources and offices
Increased knowledge and confidence about navigating promotion and tenure to foster overall success
Building community and interdisciplinary networking

Registration and contact: New and early career faculty will receive emails to register for each session. If you have questions, please contact Kayla Atkins, Faculty Project Coordinator, Office of the Provost, at faculty@northwestern.edu.

Oct. 3 11 a.m.-1 p.m.	Looking 101 with The Block Museum of Art Art can provide the opportunity to pause and reflect or to stimulate and surprise. There are no wrong answers in this interactive session for faculty with The Block staff. Join us for lunch, an introduction to The Block Museum as a teaching resource, and a special “close-looking” activity to improve your ability to look deeply, analyze carefully, and express ideas about works of art and the world around you.
Nov. 15 Noon-1 p.m.	Finding Synergy Between Your Teaching and Research Throughout this interactive session, participants will draw upon principles of inclusive teaching to cultivate effective research mentoring practices and create inclusive and productive research environments.
Jan. 17 Noon-1 p.m.	Navigating Tenure Join us for a faculty panel discussion on navigating tenure. Moderated by Associate Provost for Faculty, Sumit Dhar, a panel of faculty members representing a variety of disciplines and schools will discuss general tips for navigating the tenure process and learning where to obtain information and resources. Topics of discussion will likely include: General expectations, advice and tips for navigating the tenure process of a top-tier research university How to find information about general and school-specific expectations for tenure and obtain feedback How to find department, school or central resources that are available to help junior faculty members with research, teaching, service, well-being and personal challenges Advice on identifying and cultivating mentoring relationships
Feb. 14 Noon-1 p.m.	Managing Up, Down and Across New and early career faculty are continuously building new relationships — with graduate students, with postdocs, with their department chair and with their peers. Setting boundaries and balancing the needs of these stakeholders can be tricky. Let’s talk about that! Join Northwestern University Ombudsperson Sarah Klaper, an expert in conflict resolution, communication and leadership development, for an interactive discussion about setting expectations and communicating effectively with students, colleagues and others.
April 2 Noon-1 p.m.	Public Scholarship and Media Relations Navigating media as a new or early career faculty member can be a daunting task. From print to broadcast to social media, there are many channels for sharing your work, and framing complex research for different audiences and platforms is challenging. Join us for an interactive session with Northwestern’s Office of Global Marketing and Communications (OGMC) to get an overview of where to get started and how OGMC can help. Register online for the session by Wednesday, March 27.