The Fora STFU Center for Professional Development

[polly_mer]

[historical context is found at https://www.chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,40858.0.html]

Dear Miss STFU,

I channeled my inner LarryC and successfully STFU during three occasions today where there was no benefit to my career in saying what I was thinking.  I wrote the line "LarryC would not approve" in my notebook every time I felt like I was slipping and it worked!  I went through three pages of notebook, but I successfully STFU during a huge meeting, an unexpected ambush in the elevator, and a small meeting.

After a mere 12 years of advice, I have successfully applied the lessons out in the wild!

Signed,

A Long Time Reader

[Morris Zapp]

So glad this thread is back! Missed it!

[gw_hayduke]

I am going back on the TT this fall at a new institution, so I will need to keep this in mind. At least for the first semester...

-gw

[wellfleet]

I just landed a plum committee assignment (I know. I know.) with some very interesting long-term career potential. But it will definitely require some up-front STFU, so I'm glad to see this thread again.

Polly, I like your note-taking mantra; I shall adopt it.

[Ruralguy]

My opinion differs on this, but I think I will just STFU..for now.

[mamselle]

Yes, to carry over from the earlier, longstanding discussion on this, it is important to note that legally improper issues, events that cause bodily or serious psychological harm to others, and downright criminal behavior do not fall under exactly the same strictures.

There has been a lot of discussion about where the lines fall in some of those cases, but the general consensus has seemed to me to have been that, while in general it's a very important skill to have, there may be exceptional instances to be considered.

Ethics is always so much fun...

M. 

[Ruralguy]

I mean something more fundamental. That is, I don't necessarily think STFU is a good default position, but neither is the opposite.

Some decent advice for new faculty (or new to a position, new to admin, new to a committee, etc.): Listen more than you speak for a while, but don't completely shy from giving an opinion, especially if you are asked directly. The one category I would probably keep to almost blanket STFU is criticism of particular individuals. You really have to know those situations very well before you say anything, and even then, you have to be careful. I also think that almost from the beginning you can offer opinions based on your expertise provided that you don't step on toes or say the proverbial "Well, at  Alligatorshirt College we used to....".

I agree with Mamselle that "whistle-blowing" categories should be exempt. Though...be careful about what you get yourself into.
Reporting an assault or abuse is one thing.  Reporting that Chairman Bigwig likes to always add 10-50 miles to the mileage he actually used with his personal vehicle is maybe not worth the fuss. Pick your battles.

[polly_mer]

Pick your battles.

This is the key feature and is something that can be hard to do the earlier in one's career one is and the fewer places one has been.

The hard part is exactly 'provided that you don't step on toes or say the proverbial "Well, at  Alligatorshirt College we used to....". '

As the new person, knowing where all the toes are can be very difficult.  It may seem innocuous to say, "Since we're reviewing the intro course sequence, I suggest looking at Paper X that has some ideas", but it turns out that personal baggage means what someone heard was the equivalent of "Let's use Steve's ideas because everyone knows them and your ideas still suck 15 years after that international presentation in front of the auditorium full of people where Steve pointed out all the flaws and everyone laughed".

As an early enough career person, one may not have enough perspective to know all the backroom dealings at Alligatorshirt College so even if one is correct in observing the outcomes, the actual process differs from what a student or visitor observed.  Being faculty for the first time is not at all like being a teacher with some extra duties.

I strongly recommend cultivating several mentors in several different areas of a new place of whom you can ask questions on where the toes are and doing some run-through of ideas before jumping in publicly.  Ruralguy is correct that being very bland and talking about nothing other than small talk is bad.  However, one cannot possibly figure out where the toes are without some guidance.

[Ruralguy]

I do recall saying recently "Reticent junior faculty become reticent senior faculty and then they become Deans."

In case that's too opaque, I mean to say that yes, you can go far being social and political (and not saying much but "Hey there!" an awful lot), and then you get picked to lead *because* you don't offend. The problem then is what will you be speaking up about at that point?
Will anyone listen?  Perhaps so. Perhaps not.

[polly_mer]

From the really mouthy side, being tapped all the time because one is known as being fearless in speaking up all the time and having a reasonable plan for necessary change may mean one burns out fairly quickly in a new job.

Yes, too meek is a huge problem.  Perhaps because of my unusual background, I haven't encountered too many people whose problem is being too meek on matters of true importance.

I have watched many, many people shoot themselves in the foot on full auto by refusing to believe that having many quiet one-on-one conversations in the background to get the lay of the land is often a better course than just standing up in the big meeting as the newest person with the lowest rank and spouting off "expert opinion because I have a PhD".

[Ruralguy]

Yes, I have seen the "fearless" thing lead to burnout, but sometimes its the rest of the faculty that gets  tired of the person rather than the person getting tired of their fearlessness. Or maybe its both.  In any case, it probably is a recipe for getting elected to some stuff (but probably not appointed), but you'll also have real enemies.

[gw_hayduke]

I mean something more fundamental. That is, I don't necessarily think STFU is a good default position, but neither is the opposite.

Some decent advice for new faculty (or new to a position, new to admin, new to a committee, etc.): Listen more than you speak for a while, but don't completely shy from giving an opinion, especially if you are asked directly. The one category I would probably keep to almost blanket STFU is criticism of particular individuals. You really have to know those situations very well before you say anything, and even then, you have to be careful. I also think that almost from the beginning you can offer opinions based on your expertise provided that you don't step on toes or say the proverbial "Well, at  Alligatorshirt College we used to....".

Exactly. From my experience, demonstrating to my colleagues early on that I was really listening to their positions, arguments, concerns, etc. allowed me to emerge as a thoughtful member of the community interested in what was best for our institution and not solely what was best for me or my department. That led to me having some very high-level service roles the last few years. Of course, to your point, if you only listen and never contribute substantively to any discussions, you can't ever really emerge in that way.

And I went to undergrad at Alligatorshirt College, so I will be very careful not to say that at my new institution. Ha.

-gw

[Volhiker78]

I wish that the Dean of Students at my alma mater, Oberlin College, had STFU instead of grabbing a bullhorn, joining student protests against Gibsons Baker, and attacking colleagues in emails who cautioned her against her stand.  Now Oberlin has to fight a 44 million dollar jury decision.  See latest Chronicle for details. 

[fast_and_bulbous]

In my mind, STFU applies only when it applies. I like to think of words as being finite resources, so I try to only use them when I have something good to contribute. When I was a third year assistant prof I spoke out strongly against reappointing a new faculty member at her first year reappointment meeting. She was really that bad. I couldn't STFU about it because trainwreck professors are bad for the department, school, students, and probably themselves as well. I got a bit of flak for that from some of the bleeding hearts but two years later she just up left the country without so much as a goodbye. I have many examples of not S ing T F Up in my own career that I do not regret - if anything, I wish I had spoken up more in some cases (but hindsight is always 20/20).

I think why some vehemently defend STFU is because they think younger faculty simply haven't developed the ability to know when to speak out or not, so always default to not to avoid trouble. For some, this is probably a good idea. But if you present yourself as a friendly blank slate, don't be surprised when people fill in that slate with things that are of their own devising, and these things are rarely good in my experience.

[Puget]

I wish that the Dean of Students at my alma mater, Oberlin College, had STFU instead of grabbing a bullhorn, joining student protests against Gibsons Baker, and attacking colleagues in emails who cautioned her against her stand.  Now Oberlin has to fight a 44 million dollar jury decision.  See latest Chronicle for details.

Its more complicated than that: https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/content/office/general-counsel/current-issues/faqs.pdf