***** Vol.4 Chap.12 A bright future ahead *****
With all her youthful energy, JB worked tirelessly at the Institute on her classes and her research, greatly impressing both the department chair, Dr. Jim Thomas, and Dean Cherry with her novel approaches to teaching subsequently receiving great feedback and frequent praises from her students.
Knowing that the rest of the faculty and the administration were watching her closely, she did her best to give them a good impression, thus laying the necessary groundwork to be the one to hire for the now vacant position in the department.
Seeing that JB was excelling in filling the void left by the disappearance of Dr. Frank Abdulcizi, Dr. Thomas wasted no time in forming the search committee and advertising for the vacant position. Of course, JB was the first one to apply. From all considerations, she would be a natural choice to fill the vacancy. But JB wanted to make sure that everything in her application was in order.
Though the application was for a permanent faculty position, what she coveted the most was the Chair position. To further lay the groundwork for this, she volunteered to serve whenever there was an opening in departmental affairs, college level work, and even university level committees just so she could get her name known in the University community.
Of course, she was constantly in the Department Chair’s office making herself known in the name of ‘seeking advice.’
“Dr. Thomas?” One day, JB popped into her chair’s office.
“Hi, JB. Call me Jim please. You are a member of the faculty now.”
“Okay, Jim. How is the search going?”
“Well, we still have another month to go before we close the application window.”
“Do we have a lot of applicants?”
“Quite a few.”
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“Wow, lots of competition, then.”
“Not really. We can easily weed out most of the applications. But there were a few good ones that compete favorably with you judging from their academic resumes.”
“Hmm. I see. I need your advice.”
“Sure. I cannot show you their resumes.” A preemptive strike.
“No, I am not asking for that. I just want to know what can I do to improve my chance of getting an offer?”
“Money and publications. It all boils down to these two things. The bean counters like to see money and publications. What make your resume stand above others basically comes down to how much funding and how many publications.”
“Thank you for your advice. I will target my effort and energy in these two areas.”
“Yup. That’s the way to go, JB. I think all of us in the department are impressed at your performance so far and would very much like to see you stay on.”
“That is quite an encouragement. Thank you, Jim.”
“You bet.”
JB left her department chair’s office, happy that she stood a good chance to get the permanent position, though not contented. She wanted to excel and beat her competition thus leaving nothing to chance. As Jim had told her, more fundings and publications.
After a week, JB was in Jim’s office again.
“Jim, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, go ahead. That’s what I am here for.”
“What are the qualifications to get the Chair Professorship?”
“That is a tall order. In general, to fill a Chair Professorship, we are looking for someone who had made a significant contribution to the science in his/her area. That means the person must be well regarded not only within his/her university environment but also in the professional community.”
He continued, “This means that the person must be recognized by his/her colleagues. Typically, the measures for that kind of success are getting editorship in a professional journal, participating in committees in professional societies, getting professional awards such as the Nobel Prize, or being recognized as leaders in the society.”
“Wow!”
“It is a tall order.”
“So, more than just money and publications?”
“A lot more. We are talking about professional recognition and awards.”
“Hmmm.”
“Get active in your professional societies. Volunteer for professional committees. Get recognizable status like Fellows and Scientist of the Year awards.”
“Okay, good advice. Thank you again for your guidance.”
“I know you can do this, JB. Remember, this is not an overnight matter. But through hard work and persistence, I have no doubt you will make it. But it takes time.”
“Again, thank you Jim. Thank you for believing in me.”
When JB left her chair’s office, all that remained in her eyes was the Nobel Prize. Her sight and her vision now totally set on getting the Nobel Prize. She wanted that Nobel Prize.
To get there, she needed some original research. What she had so far will not get her very far. She needed something more, something original, something earth shaking, something to bring in attention, something eye-catching.