Faculty careers are often planned by default, implicit assumptions, and institutional needs and processes, but not necessarily by the faculty members. Faculty are expected to publish in high-ranking journals, fulfill tenure requirements, serve on committees, etc. All of this is important; however, it will not be enough to create a fulfilling career.

We aim to help faculty author their own career plans that reflect their values, purposes, and goals, meet institutional and disciplinary expectations, and allow for a healthy (and individually appropriate) work-life balance.

• Faculty values, purposes, and goals
• Faculty aspirations for their careers and lives
• Faculty reflections on their experiences, especially appreciation, and analyses of their successes
• Faculty work as a whole, integrating teaching, scholarship, service, and possibly other areas of work in a way that reflects faculty values, purposes, and goals
• Institutional mission, vision, and values as they intersect with faculty values, purposes, and goals
• Faculty work and life as part of a community (professional, local, religious, affinity, and so on)
• Faculty lives that combine work with other aspects, such as (to use Burnett and Evans’s framework) health, love, and play

• Faculty identify their values, purposes, and goals
• Faculty clarify how their values, purposes, and goals relate to the mission, vision, and values of the institution
• Faculty author a career plan that connects values, purpose, and goals to observable outcomes, such as projects, grants, publications, student learning success, etc.
• Faculty author a professional development plan that identifies future projects and associated resource and professional development needs and specifies a timeline for professional growth

Individual career consultations can help individual or small groups of faculty work towards any of the outcomes listed above. Request a career consultation.

What’s Next? Review Your Career and Design Possible Paths in Times of Change is a weeklong summer institute that takes participants through career planning activities.

For new faculty, several New Faculty Academy (NFA) workshops take participants through a series of career planning activities, including creating a faculty development plan.

The Career Planning area regularly organizes individual workshops, roundtable conversations, and faculty communities centered on career planning. These include faculty learning communities for mid- or late-career faculty, writing studios for faculty preparing tenure or promotion packets, and more. These programs appear in the CFI Weekly Digest and the CFI events feed.

Also, watch for programs offered by the Teaching, Scholarship, and Wellness and Well-being areas for more specific sessions and communities that support planning in these areas.

Please add your name to our notification list if you want to receive notice about upcoming career planning programs.

How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes | Adam Leipzig | TEDxMalibu, 2013.

Baris Gunersel, Adalet, Pamela Barnett, and Mary Etienne. “Promoting Self-Authorship of College Educators: Exploring the Impact of a Faculty Development Program.” The Journal of Faculty Development 27, no. 1 (January 1, 2013): 35.

Block, Peter. Community: The Structure of Belonging. Second Edition Revised and Updated. Oakland: Berrett-Koehler, 2018. (Electronic copy available through JMU Libraries.)

brown, adrienne maree. Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. Chico, CA: AK Press, 2017. (Electronic copy available through JMU Libraries.)

Burnett, Bill, and Dave Evans. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. First edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. (A hard copy is available through JMU Libraries and can be found in local thrift stores.)

Burnett, Bill, and Dave Evans. Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness at Work. First edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. (A hard copy is available through JMU Libraries and can be found in local thrift stores.)

Robison, Susan. The Peak Performing Professor: A Practical Guide to Productivity and Happiness. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013. (Electronic copy available through JMU Libraries.)

Seldin, Peter, and J. Elizabeth Miller. The Academic Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Documenting Teaching, Research, and Service. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2009. (Hardcopy available through JMU Libraries or CFI.)