Wednesday, February 21, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Computer Science departments have experienced significant course enrollment increases and today many departments graduate the largest number of CS majors in their history. With fewer than a third of the new PhDs in CS seeking academic positions, the field faces a serious faculty shortage. Many Ph.D. granting departments have introduced or increased the number of academic teaching faculty positions that have academic rank and typically no tenure.

The one-day workshop will focus on the professional development of teaching track faculty (professor of practice, instructor, clinical faculty, lecturer, etc.) in Ph.D. granting departments. The workshop fills a crucial need as many departments have limited experience on how to mentor, evaluate, and promote this new type of faculty. The sessions will focus on how teaching faculty can strategize their involvement in departmental as well as research activities, different forms of scholarship and leadership activities to pursue, and best practices for success, promotion, and advancement. Academic leaders involved in supervising and evaluating teaching track faculty will provide their perspective and insights.

Workshop Agenda

• 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: Breakfast
• 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM: Welcome and Introductions
• 8:45 AM – 9:45 AM: SESSION 1 – The Importance and Role of Teaching Track Faculty in PhD Granting Institutions (Panel Discussion w/ Q&A)
  [slides]
  Chair: Susanne Hambrusch
  Panelists: Tom Cortina (CMU), Dilma Da Silva (TAMU), Thu Nguyen (Rutgers)
  Provide an overview about the current needs, roles, and different models of teaching track faculty across PhD granting CS departments. Highlight common positions departments have, responsibilities and expectations, and strategic views from department level planning.
• 9:45 AM – 10:00 AM: Break
• 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM: SESSION 2 – Building a Successful Teaching Track Faculty Career (Panel Discussion w/ Q&A)
  [slides]
  Chair: Mark Sherriff
  Panelists: Ruth Anderson (U of Washington), Terry Harvey (U of Delaware), David Malan (Harvard), Mia Minnes (UC San Diego)
  Discuss successes in teaching faculty careers, highlight different opportunities for engagement in the department and how to best capitalize on arising opportunities. Also address common challenges to overcome.
• 11:15 AM – 11:30 PM: Wrap up morning; start collecting topics for final breakout session
• 11:30 AM – 11:45 PM: Google Welcome by Chris Stephenson
• 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM: Lunch (provided at the event)
• 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM: SESSION 3 – Performance Evaluation, Promotion, and Advancement (Panel Discussion followed by Leader-led Table Discussion)
  [slides]
  Chair: Lori Pollock
  Panelists: Christine Alvarado (UC San Diego), Sarah Heckman (NC State), Tom Horton (U of Virginia)
  Discuss and contrast common evaluation and promotion policies and practices and how to best prepare for a successful promotion. Panel discussion followed by small table feedback on individual achievements and advice.
• 2:00 PM – 2:15 PM: Break
• 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM: SESSION 4 – Sharing Best Practices (Lightning Talks)
  [download materials]
  Co-Chairs: Jeff Forbes and Penny Rheingans
  Participants give tips on best practices and resources. Lightning talk-style presentations (without slides); preliminary topics will be collected during the Wrap-up morning session.
• 3:15 PM – 3:45 PM: Breakout Sessions
• 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM: Wrap-up and next steps

Sponsors

Funding for travel grants for this event generously provided by Google.

Organizers

• Susanne Hambrusch – Purdue University – seh@cs.purdue.edu
• Lori Pollock – University of Delaware – pollock@udel.edu
• Penny Rheingans – University of Maryland, Baltimore County – rheingan@cs.umbc.edu
• Mark Sherriff – University of Virginia – sherriff@virginia.edu

FAQ

• Q: How is this event different that other similar SIGCSE events?
  A: The proposed event complements existing SIGCSE events targeted at teaching faculty and instructors. More specifically,
  • The New Educators Workshop (offered at SIGCSE 18) focuses on academic-oriented graduate students, postdocs, and pre-tenure faculty in exploring questions about teaching and teaching careers.
  • The Managing the Early Academic Career for Women Graduate Students Pursuing Faculty Positions in Undergraduate Computing Programs workshop (offered in 2019) focuses mentoring information and advice for women graduate students (in their final year) who are interested in an academic career in an education track.
  • The Professional Development for Teaching Faculty Workshop (this event) is targeted at teaching-track faculty on Ph.D. granting departments. The focus is on faculty teaching large enrollment undergraduate courses and who are relatively new to the teaching profession. It is not intended for graduate students, post-docs, individuals seeking a teaching position or individuals wanting to learn teaching practices and challenges.
• Q: Is there a limit on the number of workshop participants? 
  A: Yes. The maximum number of participants is about 45. Should the number of applications exceed this number, the number of applications received from one department will likely be limited.