By Ashley Wiersma. Many of us are preparing to enter the academic job market this fall and are wondering where to start and how to navigate this unfamiliar and intimidating terrain. In a recent professional development talk at Michigan State University, Dr. Sowande’ Mustakeem offered the following suggestions from her own successful experience on the job market:
Begin early:

• How do you want to market yourself? Begin to think about this question early in your graduate career and fine-tune your answer along the way.
• Start your job search early, generally the August before you plan to graduate.
• Begin drafting cover letters, CV, teaching philosophy, and leadership statements the summer before you go on the market. Take the time to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Read more...

ByJohn Warner. There was a time when I thought of myself as “The Rejectionist.” From 2003 until 2007 I edited McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Many of you may not know this publication, but it is a cultishly popular website associated with McSweeney’s Publishing, a company founded by author/activist Dave Eggers. Among certain demographics, McSweeney’s means something. For that period of time, every week I would reject 200 or more submissions while accepting anywhere between three and five. Our rejection rate approached 99%. Since 2007, I’ve had a different, much more pleasant, editorial role with McSweeney’s, but to give the current editor a break, I’ve been back at the helm of the S.S. Heartbreak, and it’s got me thinking about things. Read more...

ByTracy Mitrano. MOOCs: edX has some new partners, Cornell among them, named CornellX. Sometimes a later adoption is the right financial and strategic move, as was the minimal wait the Provost (with all kinds of administrative and faculty support behind him) gave before committing the University. My personal opinion? I am thrilled with the choice, the process, so far, as how the CU came to this decision, and look forward to future developments. Cornell has some outstanding teaching as well as research faculty. Moreover, in this digital age, I could not imagine a better approach to its long-standing commitment to outreach both as New York State's land-grant college and as a private university. Salute! Read more...

By Barbara Fister. Some clever and thoughtful people at the American Society for Cell Biology have done us all a favor by putting in writing something that is so good and so true that I’m delighted by it. The Journal Impact Factor has gone from being a rough measure of relative journal significance to being the measure of researchers, something it was never designed for and something it does badly. The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is intended as a “worldwide initiative covering all scholarly disciplines.” Read more...

By John V. Lombardi. The advent of Internet-enabled mass access to college level educational content offers a number of opportunities to both consumers and providers. Consumers can shop for any number of content items online from a wide array of providers, choosing products based on the subject, the prestige of the provider, and the subsequent value of participation. Providers will have access to large potential markets with low overhead expense and most importantly without an obligation to validate the preparation and capabilities of the consumers or guarantee a level of successful completion. This element of the MOOC process is of great significance, because the assessment of student preparation and the assumption of responsibility for student success represent major institutional costs, both financial and reputational. Read more...

By Eric Stoller. Recently, I was asked if I would be willing to give a keynote for a professional development event at a university. However, instead of coming to campus and delivering a presentation, the organizers wanted a "virtual keynote." While I've done numerous in-person presentations, webinars, and even a weekly web-based show, I've never done a virtual keynote. Conceptually speaking, I figured that it wouldn't be too difficult. A 30 minute presentation with slides, video, and audio…how hard could it be? Lecture capture is done all of the time. Read more...