Show producer and Claire’s husband Ralph joins Claire as special guest co-host to talk about spouses of professors. Ralph has been able to arrange his own schedule to fit with the academic calendar, which is great for fully taking advantage of breaks as a couple. Plus, he’s found that semesters are a good length of time for him to focus on a particular project. Claire finds it very helpful to talk through all aspects of her job with Ralph, from teaching and research, to running effective meetings. Ralph and Claire are both working on planning a sabbatical! And Claire is working on being creative and humble enough to take some things that Ralph has found helpful as a musician and apply them to her work as a professor.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

Blaise joins Claire as special guest co-host to talk about delegating to undergraduate workers. Blaise has a successful system for casting a wide net while hiring, and Claire is excited when the undergraduates achieve independence in their work. Blaise is working on providing a meaningful experience for his undergraduate employees even when they might not see a project to a successful ending. Claire is working on fostering independence in her workers.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

Today Claire talks with Dale Oliver, professor of mathematics and former dean and associate dean. Dale describes the roles of deans and what surprised and motivated him as dean. He also talks about how he got the positions. Spoiler: it involved saying ‘Yes’ to opportunities and leadership rolls. For Dale, the time in administrative roles strengthened his faith in academia. He is inspired by the faculty and staff that comprise the institution and who share his commitment to higher ed.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

Today Claire talks with C.D. Hoyle, professor of physics, about securing funding and successfully conducting research with undergraduate students. They cover many angles, including tips from C.D. to maintain NSF funding, how to select and train research students, and fostering community in the research lab. C.D. would like to encourage his students to log their lab work more, and is also working on emphasizing the importance of finishing a project by writing short, publishable articles.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

C.D. mentions some journals where completed pieces of undergraduate research can be published before the whole project is completed: Journal of Undergraduate Reports in Physics: https://www.spsnational.org/jurp, Journal of Undergraduate Research: http://www.jurpress.org/

Ruth is taking a leave of absence from her professor job! And, also importantly, from this podcast. Here we discuss her motivations for taking the leave of absence, how leaves of absence work, and what’s working for her as well as what’s challenging for her about this process. We hope she’ll be able to come back to the podcast soon. In the meantime, Claire and Ralph will continue to produce and release episodes of The Professor Podcast with Ruth and Claire, so stay tuned!

Today Ruth and Claire talk with Ben Van Dusen and Jayson Nissen who run the platform Learning About STEM Student Outcomes (LASSO). LASSO is an online tool for educators to assess their students for either content knowledge or class climate. Perks include not taking up class time, easily visualizing the results, and being able to compare with other classes at similar universities.

More info: stemequity.net, @STEMEquityEd, facebook.com/stemequity, and learningassistantalliance.org. Also see https://www.facebook.com/Circle-Limit-Designs-280829378743695 for Ben’s awesome fractal artwork.

Ruth and Claire reflect on how they start the semester by sharing one thing that is working and one thing they are working on. Claire’s thing that is working is making her syllabus and canvas page early, like really early. Ruth’s thing that is working was an introduction assignment before the first day. Claire is working on her system for scheduling office hours, how to decide? Ruth was fretting about her first day and establishing the tone.

Send us your thoughts on starting the semester, potential future topics and celebrity professors: [email protected].

Ruth and Claire discuss pre-semester communication. Ruth likes to send an email setting expectations about course workload and other details, particularly with virtual classes. Claire sends out an email with info on the textbook so students can get it earlier (and cheaper!), and she sends information about how to enroll in online homework in advance. Claire is thinking about giving a list of which topics from prereqs her course will build on. Ruth is working on the tone of emails: how can she be friendly without using too many exclamation points or sunshine emojis? :-D

Ruth and Claire discuss prereqs and background content. Claire has success capitalizing on student enthusiasm in the first two weeks of class by bringing up content that will be used again and again. Claire is working on making a “homework zero” that covers relevant prereq material. Ruth goes through a math review early in the semester that serves students of varying confidence levels. Ruth wants to bring up specifics from previous class syllabi to remind students that they have, in fact, seen this content before.

Ruth mentioned Summit-P: https://www.summit-p.com/. Claire mentioned: Teach Better, Save Time, and Have More Fun: https://teachbettersavetime.wordpress.com/

This episode Ruth and Claire begin a series on job etymology to clarify the roles of the different players in academia. The first installment is on lecturers. Ruth gained much teaching experience in her previous position as a lecturer. Claire feels it is important to ensure fair compensation when lecturers work on projects. Ruth wants to make professional development more accessible for lecturers. Claire is excited to learn more from the lecturers in her department.