She suggests teaming up with a buddy. “Looking back on all the stuff I’ve produced, I’ve never produced it alone or in a silo,” she said. “You really need to connect with other people. And I think that’s a great way to do it.”
4. Find your mango. Colter said that piece of advice came from climate journalist Katherine Dunn, who runs the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. It means connecting climate to the things that people care about. “Yummy, delicious mangoes are struggling to thrive on a heating planet right now,” Colter said. “So that’s something that actually is under threat. It’s something that people love. The thing I like about it is that mangoes are really visual. Everybody knows them.”
5. Make small splashes as opposed to big waves. You don’t need to think about a massive climate headline, Colter said. It can and should be stories that you’re personally interested in that have a climate element to them. Climate is everywhere, Colter said. “It’s just about finding your route into it,” she said. “Find small ways to connect the dots to climate change.”
6. Keep it simple: Listeners want to feel like they are part of a conversation. So talk like you’d normally talk. “It doesn’t need to sound like a science textbook,” Colter said. “Like we’re not all climate scientists and I don’t think we should feel that we have to communicate in such a way.”
7. Keep it human: We tend to focus climate stories around some aspect of the planet: air, water, wildlife, plants. But it is a mistake to ignore people. “That’s who is mainly suffering and who will suffer,” Colter said. “Nature will go on, humans won’t.” She said center a story around humans and speak directly to the people that your story affects by reaching out to them and interviewing them.
“It’s amazing now you you can pretty much contact anyone all over the world,” she said. “And what I would say is just go for it because you’d be surprised at who replies.”
8: Give people ways that take action. Colter said that you don’t want to lecture people or demand that they change the way they live. But you can make suggestions and give them blueprints of how others have taken action. “It’s very much about taking stock of what’s going on in your life and your community and taking action within that,” she said.
9. Find technology you are comfortable with. There are seemingly endless apps and software programs and hardware you can buy and download and install and use. But you don’t need expensive equipment or complicated programs. There are simple, inexpensive microphones you can buy or use the one that comes on your laptop or phone. You can use free software that called a digital audio workspace. On an Apple device there is an app for recording called Voice Memos, for example. “So you literally just open that, hit go and you’re good to go,” she said.
You will need an editing program. Again there are fancy programs you can get such as Adobe Audition but there are simpler programs as well. Colter pointed to Descript, which allows you to edit the audio by editing the words. “So you can literally highlight a whole sentence and click delete if you don’t want that sentence,” she said. “I think Descript is a really good entry tool if you just want to have a play around.”
10. Publish. Like with recording and editing technology, there are a lot of publishing platforms like Buzzsprout, Acast and Simplecast and all will enable people to find your podcast on Apple, Spotify and other commonly used streaming services. Some are free and some cost money. You might want to explore and compare.
Questions to consider:
1. Why is there more to podcasting than just talking into a mic?
2. What are some ways you can connect to an audience?
3. If you were to create a new podcast, what would it be about?
There are over 4,000 universities and colleges in the United States employing over 1.5 million faculty, over half of which are either tenured or on tenure track. The National Center for Educational Statistics estimates that there are 160,000 assistant professors at any one time, so given the approximate time to tenure, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that there over 20,000 newly minted faculty hitting the ground running every year on their quest for academic establishment—most of them with relatively little preparation, training, or even awareness of the rigors and pitfalls of the tenure track journey ahead.
Much has been written about the substantive pedagogic aspects of the profession—research methodologies, student success and satisfaction, diversity and inclusiveness, etc.—but relatively little about the fundamental survival strategies necessary in the early days of a fledgling appointment while struggling with a new environment, a hefty teaching load, and demands of students and colleagues. Balancing these multiple demands can be stressful; mistakes can be made and the success rate in some disciplines can be unnervingly low.
Here, then, are 10 very basic, practical strategies for new faculty to consider during their early exploratory quests in the profession, based upon my experience of faculty development over the past 40 years. They are not necessarily appropriate for all institutions or all disciplines but offer a preliminary checklist of actions that put the challenges of academic career building in a realistic perspective. Plunging headlong into the process without any planning, forethought, or guidance is not a recipe for success, so a little reflective thinking beforehand may be prudent, even for the most talented and confident amongst you.
1. Know Your Institution
Even if you land a job at the institution that educated you, take time to find out the official philosophical and administrative underpinnings of the place. There are considerable differences between private institutions and public ones, shared governance and union campuses, and factors such as size, program mix, and location that will determine the character of each institution. Start with reading the rules, regulations, byelaws, and any recent accreditation reports that are available. Review the official website, recent news stories, and major committee minutes and note any interesting programs and initiatives that define the academic environment. Familiarization with your department and campus can help ease your transition, enable you to avoid any obvious political pitfalls, and concentrate on the immediate challenges of the new job.
2. Know Your Colleagues
If you didn’t do it before the interview, find out more about your new departmental colleagues. Web searches are quick and easy, and more detailed information on faculty backgrounds, achievements, and curricula can often be found in recent accreditation reports. Showing a general awareness of and interest in your colleagues’ work is flattering (although, should not extend to an appearance of unhealthy obsession) and can indicate shared fields of interest that could complement your own teaching and research agenda.
3. Find a Friend
The tenure process should not be a hazing exercise, and senior colleagues and academic leaders have a responsibility to mentor new faculty. However, institutions vary in their commitment to faculty development. Sadly, some still rely on the sink-or-swim approach, but others have excellent, supportive approaches to developing their new talent, so check into institutional and departmental programs that might be on offer. If none exist, explore national opportunities for mentorship within your discipline or, if appropriate, ask your departmental leader or senior colleagues to take on the role, meeting with you regularly and providing feedback and guidance.
4. Build a Network
A mentor is good, but a whole cohort of colleagues at the departmental, institutional, and national/international level can be invaluable as you shape your academic persona. Consciously seek out appropriate senior faculty whose work you admire at scholarly meetings, conferences, and online and try to engage them. Ask about their work and whether you may send them your own recent accomplishments in teaching or research. This might appear pushy and may be met with indifference, but you’d be surprised how willing some really impressive scholars can be in nurturing the next generation. If they know about (and are impressed by) your work, they may even see opportunities to work with you collaboratively or nominate you for guest lectures or conference roles.
5. Make a Plan
There is always a danger of trying to do too much too fast in the quest for tenure, so it is important to pace yourself (see #7). As a preliminary exercise, try writing a first draft of a case statement:
outlining your academic focus,
how you are exploring it in teaching, research and service,
and listing your collective accomplishments in each area to date.
Reflect on how you might continue this trajectory over the next few years to establish what you hope will be an adequate record of achievement to merit tenure. As you are unsure what that is, share the plan—which should only be a short, reflective narrative of your academic essence and activities—with your mentors and network to make sure you’re on the right track.
6. Juggling the Big Three
One of the fundamental challenges new faculty wrestle with is maintaining a balance between the seemingly conflicting demands of teaching, research, and service. On many campuses and in some disciplines, research and scholarly activity are likely to be emphasized as the primary vehicles for tenure success. However, this approach may seem disadvantageous to those who entered the profession for a love of teaching and can also result in the role of service being diminished or trivialized (see #9).
Obviously, consult with your colleagues about the appropriate balance—they after all will play a major role in your future—but rather than compartmentalize the three areas, think creatively about blending them. Can you ‘piggyback’ your efforts in teaching, research, and service and form a coherent whole that exceeds the sum of the parts?
Can, for example, student work completed in a teaching assignment form the basis of scholarly papers, exhibitions, or newspaper/journal articles? Can the work be submitted for awards for either students or yourself for teaching excellence? Similarly, could service activities for a community group or similar organization generate grant funding or recognition that could be expanded into a paper or article?
This approach, which requires some flexibility and ingenuity, helps to elevate teaching and service by transforming their outcomes into more conventional means of enquiry and recognition more consistent with tenurability. It enables an individual to concentrate on their field of focus, avoid seemingly pointless work, and still develop a coherent career profile embracing all the aspects of a well-rounded academic.
7. Pace Yourself
One downside of thinking a lot about your career and tenure too early—such as reading too many cautionary articles like this—is an increased awareness and subsequent panic in the face of the rigorous challenges ahead. Theoretically, sound foreknowledge of the process and careful, reflective planning should minimize career-focused worries and free up time for the real joys of teaching, research, and practice. Establish your annual and long term gameplans, engage regularly with your colleagues, and remember, there are six long years to achieve them all.
Of course, there may be pitfalls, missteps, and diversions into academic cul de sacs along the way. That big research grant or killer article for the top journal in your field you’ve spent the summer preparing? Both rejected—but don’t panic. Nothing is ever really wasted. Can the work be resubmitted or sent in a modified form to another funding agency or publication, less prestigious or financially impressive maybe, but still a potential win. Can either be reconfigured into a conference paper or online outlet? Could it be the genesis of a new course or even a news story? There are a number of ways to demonstrate acceptance of your academic worth (see #8). They may have less scholarly impact, but by assembling a portfolio of success indicators of varying perceived worth, the collective impact can add up to a significant body of work.
8. Making the Grade
What do I need to do to get tenure? Is this enough? These are questions asked by generations of faculty, understandably looking for quantifiable benchmarks of achievement. Obviously, there is no answer that fits all. Some disciplines and departments may quantify their standards—which journals for publication, how much grant funding, etc. But many are less specific and leave it to the candidate to prove their case. So, what if that prestigious journal rejects your masterpiece after two years of consideration? Or the national granting agency you are depending on for support is cutting back or refocusing its funding elsewhere? Or your book proposal is turned down by a major publisher? Consider other means of demonstrating your quality and achievement. An individual’s worth should not be reduced to a list of publications or a tally of funding successes, and other means of determining impact and peer recognition are possible. This, by the way, is a personal perspective that may only be appropriate for some disciplines. Discuss it with your colleagues first, but consider framing your academic worth in three ways:
a. Peer Review
Obviously, the most recognized form of demonstrating quality is through the impartiality of blind peer review, preferably by the most recognized publications, grants organizations or awards programs in your field. However, putting all your eggs in one basket is a risky proposition. Don’t focus exclusively on the best, but explore other opportunities at the same time. Building a portfolio of more modest achievements that can supplement major accomplishments (or replace them if necessary) and can collectively demonstrate an impact on your discipline.
b. Peer Approval
This is probably not a recognized criterion, but is based upon your worth as an academic, rather than solely on your published work. You may be invited to review a book, to chair a workshop, or give a lecture at another institution. In such cases, it is not just your work but your reputation that is being validated. A cluster of such invitations and activities can be a helpful supplement to your peer reviewed work to demonstrate your impact upon the discipline, a process that can be accelerated by establishing a network of colleagues nationally and even internationally as early as possible (see # 4).
c. Dissemination and Impact
All too often, discussion of a tenure candidate revolves around the number of publications or grants rather than how the individual is enriching the department’s teaching excellence and adding to the advancement of their discipline. Remember, your work can reach broader audiences than just your department, so think about the differences you have made and the impact you have created. For example, has your work been included in the curricula of other institutions? Has your work been referenced in other publications? Have you been asked to consult on local or national issues, or has your opinion/input been sought on discipline-related matters? Have your ideas been implemented in tangible ways, such as the creation of a neighborhood park or a local sustainability plan?
Remember, this three-point breakdown is a personal one and tenure criteria vary considerably across campuses and disciplines. As always, check this viewpoint out with your colleagues. Even if it is not appropriate to your situation, it may be useful in opening a dialogue as to how it differs from their understanding of tenurability, and in clarifying their expectations of your performance.
9. Making a Difference
Service always appears last in the trinity of academic expectations and is all too often sidelined to perfunctory appearances on a moribund committee that meets infrequently (I remember my time on the Contagious Diseases Committee with mixed emotions). Frankly, this is a waste of time, opportunity, and initiative.
Service can be defined in a number of ways, some of which will hopefully match your interests and passions. It can be undertaken to enrich your department, your institution, your academic discipline, your professional affiliation, or your community. Look for opportunities to constructively engage and bring your strengths to bear on relevant issues to make a positive contribution. And remember ‘piggybacking’ (See #6). Can you focus your coursework on real world issues of the community, or reflectively rework that governmental report or committee action into a paper or article?
10. Getting Ready for Tenure
Obviously, it’s way too early to spend a lot of time on tenure preparation, although there are a couple of steps you could take now that will make the final push a little easier.
Firstly, review the tenure regulations for your department (and institution) and familiarize yourself with their requirements. Ask your colleagues about any questions you have, especially the ones who have recently passed through the process themselves. Being aware of the parameters should demystify the process and help to avoid any pitfalls or unpleasant surprises in a few years.
Secondly, start collecting evidence (articles, papers, press cuttings, curricula, student work etc.) of your academic achievements and activities now, while they are fresh in your mind and easily accessible. Don’t be too selective and keep as much as possible—a modest contribution to a local newsletter isn’t much on its own but, added to a batch of similar activities, may grow into an impressive collection. It may not, but it is easier to discard something later on than try to find evidence of it if you change your mind. Collect all press releases, journal statistics (readership, approval rate, editorial board members, etc.), student work examples, and other materials that might be useful in your tenure documentation. Add to the file as you progress. You do not want to be scrabbling about collecting materials in the final months before tenure when files may be hard to access, editors may have retired or passed, or materials may have been discarded or long forgotten.
Finally, consider your approach to seeking tenure as a process akin to an attorney making a legal case. If you prepared a rudimentary case statement in your first year as recommended (see # 5), this one-page narrative, updated and refined each year, provides an effective introduction to your documentation. It should clearly justify your role within your department and your discipline and enumerate your contributions to both, in quantitative and qualitative terms, providing evidence of success. It is a powerful route map to what has become a complicated document, and an early start on outlining the case statement guides your progress through tenure track.
There is no magic formula of performance that can guarantee tenure and, ultimately, a worthwhile academic career. Too many variables connected to the discipline, institution and personal circumstances will be major determinants in success or failure. However, reflective planning at the beginning of the process—a review of the basic issues outlined here coupled, of course, with full engagement of your colleagues—can help to set the parameters for sound progress, prevent wandering into academic backwaters, or getting lost in the minutiae of everyday activities. Good luck.
Robert Greenstreet, PhD, is professor and dean emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has authored/coauthored over 200 papers and articles and 8 books, including The Junior Faculty Handbook 2nd Edition (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2009)
I’m sitting in my office with a cup of tea thinking about how many of the academics I work with experience anxiety when it comes to talking about themselves. When I sat down to write this episode, I realized I was having some of that anxiety myself.
Today’s episode of The Social Academic is all about me, Jennifer van Alstyne. But, it almost didn’t get recorded.
I thought talking about myself and why I started my business, The Academic Designer LLC, was something you wouldn’t want to hear. I don’t know why I felt that way. I’m always asked about my origin story when I go on podcasts as a guest. I tell most of my clients how I got started.
I had a lot of hesitancy when it came publishing on The Social Academic about myself.
You probably noticed that most of my content is focused on educational how-to’s about how to have an online presence as a professor. When I went back to my very 1st blog post, called Welcome to The Social Academic, I realized that I don’t share a lot about myself with you.
When I told a friend I was going to record this episode, she said, “I’ve always been curious about you!” Getting that kind of response made me feel warm, and helped me get ready to record my story for you. My friend is probably excited that this episode will finally come out. Thank you for encouraging me!
Have you ever worried about bragging or self promotion? Professors tell me that it brings them anxiety to talk about themselves. They don’t want other people to feel like they’re bragging. They don’t want to come across as narcissistic.
But telling your story, sharing why you do the research you do, will make a difference to the people in your life. And the people who care about your research. The people you want to help most.
It’s been 5 years since I started my business The Academic Designer LLC working with professors to build personal websites and social media so you have a strong online presence you can feel confident about.
5 years into my business, I realize I am personally struggling with the same thing that stops my clients from talking about themselves online.
It’s a great reminder that our feelings about what we share, how we share it, and why change over time. I knew that it was time for me to push past my comfort zone and share this episode, my story, with you.
I’m Jennifer van Alstyne. Welcome to The Social Academic blog, podcast, and YouTube channel. Before we dive into today’s episode please subscribe to The Social Academic. Stick around for the whole episode because I’m going to share about my online presence program for professors where we work together 1:1 to create the digital footprint you need. Get support from me on your personal website,social media, and a new bio that shares who you are with the world.
I remember the moment I had the idea for my business so clearly. I was sitting in my professor’s office at the university, her desk with an old desktop computer and even older books. My bag on the floor was leaning against my leg. My professor and I finished up a meeting about the online course we designed together. I packed up my things, placing the cap back on my pen. I slipped it into my bag and stood to leave.
My professor asked me, “Do you know anyone who would be great for this role? We really want someone who wants to grow and learn for their future career.”
You see, my academic department was hiring a graduate student assistant to do professional writing and communication. They were putting together a team to handle things like the website and social media.
I sat back down. “You want me for this job. I’m perfect.”
I already knew I wasn’t interested in moving on to a PhD, despite all the encouragement of my mentors and peers. This? This role would give me an opportunity to gain valuable skills and experience. But I only had one semester left before I was done. My professor was looking for a person on behalf of the supervisor of this role. And they had discussed someone who could stay on for a year or more.
So I argued for myself. And told her why I was the best. It was the first time I felt so sure I was the right person for a project.
I pitched myself then because I knew I was the best person to help. My professor’s disappointment that I didn’t want to continue in academia didn’t deter me from sticking up for myself. It didn’t lessen the excitement I felt when talking because I knew in that moment I had a path forward perfect for me.
I didn’t know at the time that my business, The Academic Designer LLC would help professors increase their confidence talking about themselves. That I would love empowering academics to build an online presence so they can help more people with their research and teaching. That specificity about my business came later.
It was in my professor’s office that I discovered that spark, and knew that I would own my own business after graduate school.
Thinking back on it, my professor impacted my feelings about working with academics. You see, she didn’t have a strong online presence. The 1st thing that came up when you Googled my professor’s name was her faculty profile. But her faculty profile hadn’t been updated in years! It didn’t reflect her promotion or current research interests.
You may have noticed that your faculty profile on your university website doesn’t really reflect who you are now. Maybe it hasn’t been updated in a while. Oftentimes it’s limited. Many faculty members, just like my professor, weren’t sure what information made the most sense to include on their faculty profile.
Universities often put the responsibility on professors to write their own faculty profiles. Universities don’t offer the kind of support professors need to keep your profile updated as your research and teaching interests change over time. Universities also don’t offer the kind of staff that is needed to support the technical side of updates, actually making those changes on the website. And if your university does provide staff support, they’re likely overworked and might not get to update your faculty profile because of the many responsibilities they have.
Writing a new faculty profile for my professor was the most impactful thing I could do. Before I graduated, my professor had a new faculty profile that reflected who she was and the research and teaching that were important to her.
I knew then that even small changes to your online presence could make a big impact for professors. A new faculty profile can bring you new opportunities.
Imagine what a personal website could do. A space online that you control. Something separate from the university. A website of your own where you can share your research in creative ways. Where you can invite people around the world at any time to explore what you care about.
A couple weeks after graduating with my 2nd master’s degree, I became a small business owner.
I’ve been interviewing people here on The Social Academic and talking with them about their online presence. It’s fun because we get to talk about their research and also about social media.
Today I’m going to tell you a bit about my experience with social media. I’m going to talk about some of the things I like to ask my guests.
My name is Jennifer van Alstyne. I am a Latina woman. I’m an immigrant. I’m the owner of The Academic Designer LLC.
I’m also a poet. One of my very 1st interview guests here on The Social Academic asked me how poetry impacted my work today, and I said, “It’s so much like social media.” I told him that I love form and constraint, the kind of rules that help you be more creative. That gives you a box to focus your energy.
Social media is the same way for me. Each platform whether it’s Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube which I’ve been experimenting more with recently, has its own rules. Its own constraints. I love that!
In grad school, my research focused on representations of nature in poetry. When I think about it now…Looking back, I dedicated a lot of my time studying the writing of old white men. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my research. It just didn’t help people the way I wanted. I knew I couldn’t make the kind of impact I wanted for professors if I stayed in the academy. Especially as a woman of color.
I feel much more aligned with the work I do in my company, The Academic Designer LLC, helping professors around the world share their research online. As a latina woman, I love that I get to work with professors who are making massive impact in their respective fields. And that I get to work with professors at all types of universities whether you’re at an ivy league school or a community college. I’m not limited to any single campus, which means I get to help you too!
There is one story about grad school I want to share with you. I wanted to share it with you because it’s about an award I got, one that made me feel seen. It’s something I’m so proud of. The award was from the grad student association for my academic department. 6 years ago they got together and organized personalized awards for each grad student in the program.
What was my award you ask?
I got the award for Person You Most Want To Stick Up For You In A Meeting.
I love that. That’s so meaningful to me. My graduate student association saw me as someone who will support you, stand up for you, protect you if I am able. It makes me smile, because that’s how I see myself too.
Being named Person You Most Want To Stick Up For You In A Meeting by my fellow grad students is more meaningful to me than academic and research awards. It matters more to me now than my publications. My peers saw me as someone who will stick up for you. Someone you want to stick up for you.
I feel like that’s what I do for my clients when we work together 1:1. I know we can build an amazing online presence for you together.
Actually, this was a good story to share with you because some of that anxiety when it comes to talking about yourself? I experienced that then too. And it stopped me from saying anything on social media.
I should have posted about my award then, because it made me smile.
But I was too anxious to post about myself all the time on social media. I didn’t want to come across as narcissistic. I didn’t want to make anyone feel bad.
I remember writing a post and then feeling like I had to apologize, and be like “Don’t worry – EVERYONE got an award.” Which was true. Yes.
But what mattered was how much being a Person You Most Want To Stick Up For You In A Meeting mattered to me. How warm it made me feel to be seen. To want my voice in support of yours. I counted the posts I shared that semester that might seem like bragging…I decided to delete my post.
Don’t do that. If you’re in academia, celebrate the things you care about. Share what you’ve worked hard for. Don’t hit delete like I did.
Being open to sharing your accomplishments can be easier than being open about your struggles. Or about the things in your life that aren’t so positive. I’ve definitely dealt with that before.
I was sitting in a farm-to-table Italian restaurant in Cold Spring, New York over Thanksgiving with one of my mom’s best friends Barbara and her husband Peter. We spoke about the death of my mom, when I was 13, and her struggle with prescription pill addiction and bi-polar disorder. It had been almost 15 years since I had seen Barbara and Peter.
In that time, my father had died of pneumonia after a long battle with cancer. I had escaped a physically abusive ex-husband. I found myself a young undergraduate student alone in the world struggling to find a reason to live.
Barbara was totally engrossed as I talked about my life over an endive and pomegranate salad. She had questions about what I went through, about how I survived.
She was so curious without judgment, I even told her a dark secret about my mom, Kitty, her close friend. Kitty adopted me from Peru as an infant, told me, “I never should have adopted you. It was a horrible mistake.” Twice. I was 13 when she died.
Barbara leaned in to talk more, but Peter had a solemn look on his face, now well wrinkled in his 80s. He said, “Let’s change the subject. This is the saddest story I’ve ever heard.”
The saddest story he ever heard.
He actually repeated it because Barbara asked, “What?” in surprise. The saddest story he ever heard.
That was a whole new level of seen for me. I’ve heard sadder stories than mine, now. I mean it’s never a competition. But I did often feel like I was carrying around a heavy tapestry of sad. This weight I got used to, that’s become a part of me.
I’m grateful for the therapy that got me to a place where I can talk openly about my past, without overwhelm.
But I don’t want to overwhelm anyone else. It’s probably why I’ve given you a whole lot of sad in just a few sentences. When people ask me why don’t I talk about my past, I often say because it’s too sad. I don’t want to upset people. And that has kept me from opening up with the people I care about.
Yes, there was anxiety about what people would think. Fear of judgment. Fear of what you might say about me.
But that doesn’t change that it happened to me. That it’s my life. And I can’t change it. No amount of “not telling you” will make my sad history disappear.
Not telling you relieves my anxiety. But it doesn’t help me, or you.
What I went through helps me help you better. I’ve had fear about being online. Paralyzing fear. I deleted my social media accounts after leaving a physically abusive marriage. The idea of being seen by the person I feared most kept me awake each night. I was scared to sleep. I jumped every time the phone rang. Eventually, I moved on campus where I could feel safer.
As I began to heal, I started to recognize how small I’d let my world get. I missed the friendships and larger network I’d stopped communicating with. Staying off social media altogether was no longer right for me. So I started a new Facebook account and sent out friend requests one at a time. Baby steps.
I kept being surprised when people connected. I looked deeper into my past, reaching out to childhood friends. Having so many people connect in a short timeframe made me feel good about myself because they were real people that I knew.
I started connecting with my professors, visiting writers, or people I met at events. When I presented at my 1st conference in undergrad, I connected with my fellow panelists. I moved past my fear and allowed myself to be more connected with the world.
Now I help professors build deeper connections with people online in ways that impact their research. I help them feel less isolated in the academy.
Telling my story is powerful. It may help you, or others feel seen too. Even if you judge it. Even if you judge me.
I was adopted by people who regretted adopting me.
I am a survivor of domestic violence.
I am an orphan, who had no family.
Except that I did have family. And social media became so important in connecting with them. That’s what I want to share with you next.
Having an online presence has impacted my life in many ways. I’ve been invited to speak, publish, lead workshops. My poetry has been read by more people than I’d ever imagined. My blog The Social Academic has reached you in over 191 countries around the world so far in 2023.
What’s the weirdest thing to happen to me? I was invited to audition for a reality tv show!
But the most impactful thing that has happened to me since taking my social media profiles public was being found.
Both my adoptive parents died before I went to college. It was so easy to fall out of touch with friends when you moved around like I had.
I couldn’t even afford a phone in college. Seriously. I signed up for Google Voice because I felt like I was missing out. Each person who said, “Oh, I would have texted you to meet at the dining hall, I didn’t have your number,” weighed on me.
I often feel like people forget about me. Like if I’m not there talking with you, if we haven’t seen each other in a while, I’ve dropped off the face of the earth. Like I don’t exist to you anymore.
Social media was the easiest solution for me to communicate with my friends. To keep in touch with people so they wouldn’t forget about me. So as a person alone in the world, I could still have connection.
I’m someone who needs to remind myself that “people care more about you than you think.”
It was actually through social media that my birth sister, Patssy reached out to me. I have a sister. One who has been missing me and thinking about me much of her life.
I have lots of siblings: Patssy, Veronica, Andrea, Isabella, and Leonardo.
When my sister Patssy found me, I was scared. I was still in that space of fear, with anxiety about being seen. I remember literally saying, “How did you find me?” And not knowing what to say.
Sometimes Patssy sends me videos on Facebook of her with my nieces. I get to see my little brother Leonardo on Instagram stories. And my sister Andrea and I share a love for singing. I got to hear her perform at a concert at her college in Peru when the video was posted online.
What a gift it was to connect with my family. Imagine if I hadn’t had the strength to build my online presence. Imagine if I hadn’t taken the chance to be public again on social media. My family in Peru might not have found me. The feeling Patssy had, the timing of her search for me. I had moved 11 times across 3 states since I’d been adopted as an infant. But Patssy reached out through social media and found me 27 years later.
Social media has changed my life. I know it can change yours too.
OK so maybe a long lost sister isn’t going to reach out to you from across the world. But more people are going to care about you.
When you’re more open about yourself, you invite people to engage with what you care about too (like your teaching and research).
Having an online presence can help you connect with people around the world. More people care about you and your research than you think.
Help them by having an online presence that invites them to connect with you. When people Google your name, you want them to find a bit about you. Things like your bio, a photo of you. Can they learn about your research? Do you have a website that helps them explore it further?
I’m here to help you with your online presence. I have lots of free resources on The Social Academic blog to help you get started.
I’m here to help you, so don’t hesitate to reach out at [email protected] or on social media @HigherEdPR.
If this episode touched you, send me a direct message. Share The Social Academic on social media with your friends. Getting an email or DM from you just makes my day, so I would absolutely love a message. I’d love to hear from you.
When you’re a professor, you may feel unsure what path to take for your online presence.
Do you need a website? A LinkedIn profile (even when you’re not job searching)? A new bio for your faculty profile? Maybe you’ve been wanting to build your social media skills. But is that where you should start?
Let’s chat on Zoom if a stronger online presence is a goal you in 2024. I’m happy to see how we might work together. Professors, you deserve an online presence you’re confident in.
