The faculty job search is a complex, lengthy process through which applicants often traverse with advice from faculty at their graduate institution and with context from their own academic experiences.  There is a systematic mismatch, however, between the nature of research-intensive Ph.D.-granting institutions in which future job applicants are trained and the vast majority of institutions that are hiring any given year (the teaching-intensive primarily-undergraduate institutions [PUIs]).  Many academic job applicants therefore have limited or no direct experience with the types of institutions to which they are applying, nor the associated skillsets that hiring committees value (e.g., course development, institutional service, undergraduate research mentorship).  Further, PUIs vary greatly even among themselves, with a spectrum ranging from relatively large regional public universities to small private liberal arts, religiously-affiliated, and technical colleges.

This session will bring together individuals with direct experience in making faculty hiring decisions at PUIs—department and search committee chairs—and potential applicants to share experiences and expectations, to reveal the behind-the-scenes logistics of hiring, and to better understand how applicants can demonstrate competencies in the right areas to project a sense of “fit”.  Specifically, attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions, learn about the diversity of PUIs that exist and how to recognize (and apply to) each one, and understand the intricacies, best practices, and common pitfalls of faculty applications to PUIs.  The panel discussion will be followed by breakout groups where attendees can converse with panelists in a more specific and informal setting.

Submit questions:  http://tinyurl.com/hw49t4o