NFCDD Faculty Success Program

[PlatCat]

Has anyone participated in this program? Did you find it worthwhile? I've heard some good things about it, but I also get their emails but I'm not a fan of their insistence on writing every day (after trying this struggling with it, I ended up reading up about it and it turns out there's not a lot of evidence to suggest that this method is more any more effective than other writing strategies). I'm interested to hear if there's other aspects of the program that people find helpful, or if it's just more of a way of structuring the advice given in the weekly emails.

[Puget]

I did it because my university paid for it for all junior faculty and it seemed like the sort of thing we were supposed to say yes to.

I think it can be very helpful for people who don't have a system that is working for them (struggling with balancing research and teaching, or life/work balance). The couch was pretty good, and it seemed to be helpful for several people in my small group. However, I was already doing most of the things they teach (using a term plan, scheduling writing tasks, SMART goals, etc.) so I didn't learn all that much. Some of the exercises like time tracking were somewhat useful, but I could have done them on my own.

Again, I don't think it's a bad program-- I think it can be very helpful for people who haven't been exposed to these techniques or need more coaching/cheerleading to implement them. I also learned some coaching strategies to use with my grad students, so I'm not sorry I did it, it just didn't turn out to be something I particularly needed myself.

[adel9216]

It looks quite expensive if your university doesn't pay for it...

[PlatCat]

Thanks for your replies (and sorry to take so long to respond, COVID time has been strange). I think I'll see how things go in my first year TT and re-evaluate if I think it wold be helpful. I feel like I've already had a good system in place, so I'm not sure if it would be that helpful to me.

[mamselle]

The couch was pretty good...

Which brand did they send?

My sofa needs replacing...and I get a lot of work done on it, with my laptop and papers nearby...

;--}

M.