REFLECTIONS ON TENURE

                                    Prof. Evan Porteus
                                    Stanford University

                               INFORMS Doctoral Colloquium

Tenure
  

    Background 
    Current Trends 
    Pitfalls of the University System 
    Strategy for Achieving Tenure 

Background 
  

    Reasons for It 
    Criteria for Attainment 
    How Tenure Review Works 
    Myth of Life After Tenure 

Current Trends 
  

    Teaching 
    Bridging Theory and Practice 

Pitfalls of the University System 

    Academic Feedback is almost all Negative 
    Every professor is a mini-CEO 
    External positive reinforcement comes from teaching and not research 
    To enjoy yourself you must enjoy teaching 
    To enjoy yourself you must LOVE doing research 
    You must publish. 

Strategy for Achieving Tenure 
  

    Getting Your Research Published 
    Quality vs. Quantity 
    How to Hit Home Runs 
    Research Collaboration 
    Multidisciplinary Research 
    Career Evolution 

Getting Your Research Published 
  

    Develop a big ego and a thick skin 
    Look for ways to interpret negative referees' reports positively 
    Be persistent: Keep revising and resubmitting 
    Be pragmatic 
    Emphasize the positive about others' work and your own. (Avoid criticism and even slight insults of other
    authors.) 

Quality vs. Quantity 
  

    One home run, combined with mostly very good work, and nothing embarrassing can get you tenure 
    One Strike out (bad paper) can cost you tenure: Publish and perish 

How to Hit Home Runs 
  

    Read the Literature after doing the research 
    Make it easy for readers to understand your ideas. EMPHASIZE CLARITY! 
    Dantzig Theorem: Don't put more than one major idea in a paper 
    Stress opening up an area, not completing the research in it 
    Know your audience and write explicitly for it 
    Consider writing papers for more than one audience 
    Translations of theory to practice 

Research Collaboration 
  

    Do Both Joint Work and Singly Authored Work 
    Accept and seek out mentors in your new institution 
    Invest time to inform/educate/impress your peers, not just your seniors 

Multidisciplinary Research 
  

    Big need 
    But a dangerous road 

Career Evolution 
  

    Pursue Your Loves 
    Move on the bridge from theory/method/technique toward practice 
    Always work on improving your teaching