CRA-W Promotion & Tenure

Dilma Da Silva, Texas A&M University

Kathryn S McKinley, Microsoft Research

The next hour of your life

• A bit about me• 15 minutes on tenure• A bit about Dilma• 15 minutes on promotion in research labs• 15 minutes partner exercise• 10 Q&A

Kathryn McKinleyPrincipal Researcher, Microsoft

Endowed Professor, UT AustinTenured at UMassACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow18 PhD studentsTestified to Congress

Uncertain<T> programming with estimatesImmix Garbage CollectionDaCapo BenchmarksCross system boundariesSoftware for Heterogeneous Hardware

Better systemsProgrammable, correct, fast, secure, energy efficient

Energy

+

The Academic “Ladder”

Postdoc 1-2 yearsAssistant Professor ~6 years

Associate ProfessorProfessor

Chaired Professor Department Head Associate Dean

Dean . . .

tenure

Tenure Criteria

Research

Teaching

Service

Quality and quantity is institution specific

Read tenure CV of successful faculty

Learn the influential faculty (chair, etc.)

Ask them for feedback every year

Tenure Process

Yearly department evaluationsMid-tenure review

CVResearch, teaching, & service statementsTeaching evaluations External letters

Tenure packetCVResearch, teaching, & service statementsTeaching evaluations External letters (typically 8-12)

Research

Move the needle

Work on important problem(s)

create or borrow a theme: self managing home, private web,

accurate search, energy efficiency, programmable, etc.

Enough funding & students to do it

industry funding demonstrates near term important

test out students before committing

Collaborate when the solution requires technical skills you want

write at least one paper before applying for joint funding

Publish in top venues – quality over quantity

Be “a goto person” in your theme – research leadership

publish, PCs, organize a workshop, tutorial, attend, questions, give talks

Research RelationshipsResearch is a social process

Students

build your own group culture

training great students

vs doing great work

Collaborators

multiply your research, learn new skills

Community

develop relationships and improve your community

Teaching

Teaching – hard work & rewarding Enjoy it – immediate feedbackTeaching plan – what, when, how NEGOTIATION

• Match your expertise & needs to the department’s needs

Before tenure• Limit number of different courses, so you can teach well• No one cares how many times you taught course X, just that

you did it well when you did teach it• Take available teaching release, e.g., maternity leave, new

faculty, mini-sabbatical

Teaching – hard work & rewarding Execution for good student evaluations

• Prepared for every class: topic, learn, extra, how it fits in• On time, end on time; course structure; stay on schedule• Quizzes, structuring of assignments, tests, drop deadline• Peer tutoring matching to help top & bottom of class

Teaching gives back • Technical material you want at your finger tips• Attracting, evaluating, and training graduate students• Inspire the next generation

But in R1 institutions, teaching alone wont get you tenure

Service

Service

Department & UniversityWhat matters to you, important to department, strategicBuild relationships with your colleagues, harder to fire you if they like youUnderstand department values

DisciplineBefore tenure, only do research enhancing serviceSay YES to

program committees of top venues, your area specific venue, NSF grant reviewing, research visioning activities

Say NO to treasurer, local arrangements, poster chair, etc.

Quality and reliability are more important than quantity

Dilma Da Silva, Texas A&M

Operating Systems in large scale that transparently adapt to workloadcloud computing mobile cloud computing operating systems

• Ford Motor Company Design Professor and Department Head, 8/25/14 – present• Principal Engineer & Manager, Qualcomm Research Silicon Valley 8/12 – 8/14• Research Staff Member & Manager, IBM TJ Watson Research Center, 1/07-7/12

• Also PI on Exascale Ireland Group 2/10 – 7/12• Assistant Professor, University of Sao Paulo, 07/07 – 09/00

Industry (Research) Promotions

• Usually not as defined as a tenure track promotion path; often not as stressful

• Find out from early on• What is available ? (tracks, ladders)• What do you want at this stage ? • What behavior and attitude got it around you?• Who can help? Timelines?• HR-speak of responsibilities & expectations• Impact on salary, bonuses, opportunities

Tracks:Technical, Managerial, Hybrid

• Initial steps are usually the same for all• Fundamentally involve ever-greater

scope• technically more challenging projects• requiring the cooperation of more people,

components, and organizations• of greater importance to your organization

• All require visibility, interpersonal skills, and established record of success

Key growth areasInnovation: relevance

Execution: deliver, ship, fix, solve, do!

Strategic thinking: execution will take only so far

Leadership: does not require authority

• Almost always pays off:• being the GO-TO-PERSON for something relevant

with broad appeal … better if not owned• “T” profile (breadth with demonstrated depth)• grow into the next role and then get the title

• This DOES NOT mean the title is given to you as recognition of how awesome you are, how much you work, etc

Keep in mind• “out of the box” options are possible and often attractive

• Lateral moves can be fun• Exploring other fields expands our knowledge and may create

opportunities• Promotion through new employer can work, but make sure you don’t

focus on short term gains too much

• Take charge of your career• But learn as much as possible from other people’s path• Be careful with your “brand”: too much focus on being promoted may

not help• Make sure you take promotions that you want• Manage fear. Manage competition• Excel on articulating what you do for the organization• Ask for more visibility. Ask for broader scope. Ask for more

responsibility. Ask for money. Articulate what you give.• Assess happiness.

Find a partner

What’s the weakest part of your promotion case?

What should you about it?

Partner Exercise

Questions?

Next Steps

CRA-W wants to change the face of computing

What does CRA-W do?Individual & Group Research Mentoring

Undergrads Undergraduate Research Experiences

Undergrads Distinguished lecture role models

Grad Cohort group mentoring of graduate students

Grad Students Discipline Specific Research workshops

PhD Researchers group mentoring early & mid career @ CMW, CAPP, Grace Hopper & Tapia

Graduate StudentsUndergraduates

Academic careers

Industry/government labs

600+ students & PhDs a year

25

Does it work?

Compares program participants to non-participants

✔Yes!

Private Foundation

University Departments

www.cra-w.org www.cdc.org

Thank you & thanks to our sponsors