"A meek endeavor to the triumph" by Sampath Jayarathna

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Transitioning To The Summer (Monday Motivator for Faculty for the Future, April 27 2015)

This is an excerpt from the Monday Motivator Program of Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. Please find the original document here. The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community of over 71,000 graduate students, post-docs, and faculty members.

I don't know about you but I love the last few weeks of the semester! I love imagining all the possibilities of the summer and celebrating all of the achievements of the academic year! I’ve been to thirteen campuses this semester and I'm spending my last week of the term giving a workshop at the University of California, Riverside. It’s been a whirlwind of a semester, but I've greatly enjoyed connecting face-to-face with so many of you and celebrating all of your success!

I also encourage you to take a deep breath as we head towards the end the academic year (even if you're on the quarter system and the summer is a little further away). As we transition into the summer term, it's a great time to reflect on your support systems. Your NCFDD Membership offers lots of great resources that you may not have been able to take advantage of during the academic year. This summer you may want to explore and experiment with some of our resources. This is a great week to ask yourself:
Do I know how my NCFDD membership works?
Am I maximizing my membership?
Am I getting what I need or do I need to go deeper into the available resources?


Our annual membership is designed to operate as a year-long virtual mentorship program. That means we have set up the resources to move you through a 12-month process intended to increase your writing productivity and work-life balance. Each of the following resources are available to you, at your convenience:

MONTHLY WEBINARS: Every month we offer a core curriculum webinar AND guest expert webinar. To attend the webinars live, just register online and we will send you the link, a call-in number and PIN. If you want to experience the webinars on your own schedule, they are available online to view at your convenience. You can access the audio and video files, slides and transcripts from one central location: click here.

THE BUDDY SYSTEM: During each of our monthly training calls, we match up accountability buddies. This is designed to support your implementation of whatever strategy we have just taught in the webinar, provide you with a peer-mentor, and to expand your network. If you want a buddy at any time, all you need to do is email Buddies@FacultyDiversity.org and put "I want a buddy" in the subject line. We match people as the requests roll in...

DISCUSSION FORUM: The NCFDD discussion forums are a private place where our members connect, share information, peer-mentor, problem-solve, and celebrate each others successes. In other words, it's the "safe space" for our online community engagement that is available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

RESOURCES AND REFERRALS: Summer is a great time to do some reading to enhance your professional development and/or try out a new support resource (professional editor, developmental editor, writing retreats, dissertation coaches, etc...). Our resources and referrals page contains all our favorite books, articles, and preferred vendors listed in one convenient place for you.

The Weekly Challenge
This week, I challenge you to:
Write at least 30 minutes each day.
Take a moment to ask yourself: how does my NCFDD membership work? Am I maximizing my investment? Should I try experimenting with a resource I haven't tried before?
If you've missed any of our webinars and they sound interesting to you, head over to our webinar page to download whatever topic will enhance your productivity!
If you want a buddy for the month of May, email Buddies@FacultyDiversity.org
If you want to work with me to draft your Summer Plan, register for our May core curriculum webinar: Every Summer Needs A Plan.
If you want this to be your most productive summer ever, consider joining us for our Faculty Success Program Summer Bootcamp (the early bird deadline ends May 1st).

If you're already maximizing the NCFDD membership resources and benefiting from them, why not forward this message to a friend and encourage them to become an Individual Member this summer or to the appropriate administrator at your university to establish an Institutional Membership. We love your referrals!

I hope this week brings each of you an opportunity to take a deep breath as we transition into the summer to make sure you have all the support and resources you need.

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