Professerror

Bryan and Steve discuss when future work may NOT be needed for specific research topics. Sometimes researchers collect data that indicates a novel concept or approach aimed at improving our field will not work. Despite this evidence, we often say “future work is needed” to study the topic further. But is it? When should researchers read the writing on the wall and discontinue pursuing a particular topic – even if they deeply believe in it? Bryan and Steve discuss some experience they’ve had and have also seen in others related to this topic. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss their experiences with seeing grade inflation among students. They discuss some underlying causes of it, issues with it, and potential fixes that could theoretically mitigate some aspects of it. These fixes probably won't happen, but hopefully they make for interesting food-for-thought. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss their experiences in handling technology vendors who often want access to students. They talk about when they do and don't agree to provide access and some of the factors they consider when making these decisions.

Professor Chuma Nnaji (Texas A&M University) discusses his experiences, headaches, and some successes with recently leading the planning/orchestration of a major conference in our field. It is great to hear the honest dialogue about the kinds of camaraderie that was built through this experience, but also some of the surprising challenges that kept him up at night while planning for this event. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss aspects of academic jobs that they do NOT like and if these aspects of their job were to expand in scope (hypothetically) would lead to them leaving their positions. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss experiences where they allow graduate students to struggle through certain professional experiences to support long term learning, even if that comes at the expense of near-term research outputs. Enjoy!

Formerly "Professor" Dan Aukes of Arizona State University talks about his journey into academia, succeeding in academia, and ultimately choosing to leave it to explore new professional life chapters. Considering non-academic careers after finding success in academia is common, but following through with the decision to pursue other career paths is less common. It's refreshing to hear such an honest and open account about the drivers to making this type of career decision. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss their experiences in finding professional purpose after tenure. The post-tenure life undoubtedly comes with high levels of freedom, but also lacks direction, which can have unexpected challenges for finding motivation and purpose in the profession.

Bryan and Steve discuss challenges with following unclear, conflicting, or unchecked policies in academic environments. They discuss difficulties with understanding these and also discuss strategies they’ve employed to handle these challenging situations in academia.

Bryan and Steve discuss challenges and ramifications of instances of poorly set expectations between graduate students (i.e., advisees) and faculty (i.e., advisors). Hopefully the stories resonate and possibly even give some tips for how to handle these if they relate to your academic situation. Enjoy!