The Journey To A Teaching Oriented Faculty Position: A Handbook Of Advice For Graduate Students

A graduate education usually trains students as researchers and scholars in their fields. Curricula of computer science and engineering graduate programs generally include courses in research methods and provide ample opportunities for students to work as research assistants. Recent research has shown, however, that graduate students are not necessarily prepared for teaching positions after graduate school. The Preparing Future Faculty program is an example intervention to assist graduate students when making career choices and preparing for a faculty career. Because graduate students generally complete an advanced degree at research institutions, there are few opportunities for graduate students to learn about teaching positions at teaching-oriented colleges and universities. The purpose of this paper is to provide advice and information to graduate students in computer science and engineering fields who are considering a teaching-oriented position after graduate school. There is little information about teaching-oriented positions and few opportunities for mentorship between faculty in teaching-oriented positions and graduate students. Therefore, this paper presents advice about acquiring teaching experience in graduate school and more detailed advice about finding open position announcements, preparing job applications, preparing for interviews, and knowing what to expect when interviewing at teaching-oriented colleges and universities. The advice and expectations for a teaching-oriented career path were harvested from the authors’ recent experiences in conducting teaching-oriented job searches in computer science. Effective mentorship takes place when a person has access to a mentor at the next career or life stage. This paper serves as a surrogate mentor to computer science and engineering students who wish to pursue a career oriented towards teaching.