BECOMING A PROFESSOR AT A PUI – PART 1: SUCCEEDING, ADVANCING, AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

Tags: Faculty, Administrators

In Part 1 of this series, we explored what it means to work at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI), who might thrive there, and how to secure a faculty position at such an institution. In this second part, we turn our focus to what comes after the hire: how to succeed, earn tenure, and continue growing as a teacher-scholar and contributor to both your institution and the wider academic community.

This article builds upon insights from the book A Professor's Job in a Primarily Undergraduate Institution by Dr. M. P. Raman and Dr. Mark Orsag. It offers practical advice and philosophical perspective for early-career and mid-career faculty working in PUIs, drawn from years of firsthand experience. If you're already in the PUI pipeline or about to start, this book is a must-have resource to guide your journey.

Defining Success in a PUI Context

Success at a PUI looks different from success at a research-intensive institution. While publications and grants still matter, the primary measure of success is often how well a faculty member contributes to student learning, engagement, and success. Promotion and tenure (P&T) decisions hinge on three main areas: teaching effectiveness, scholarly or creative activity, and service to the institution and community.

What sets PUIs apart is their mission-focused culture. Here, your work is evaluated not only for its academic merit but also for how it supports student development and aligns with the institution’s goals. Faculty are expected to be good citizens of their departments and institutions, actively participating in governance and mentoring students in and out of the classroom.

Teaching: The Core of Your Professional Identity

At PUIs, teaching is central to your identity as a faculty member. Excellence in teaching is measured through multiple lenses:

1. Student Evaluations: These are often the most visible metric, though not always the most comprehensive. Students evaluate your clarity, engagement, responsiveness, and course organization. While these surveys can be imperfect, consistently poor evaluations can be a red flag in tenure reviews.

2. Peer Observations: Colleagues may observe your classes and review your syllabi, assignments, and teaching strategies. These observations can offer valuable formative feedback and are often required components of annual or biennial reviews.

3. Student Learning Outcomes: This is the most objective measure of instructional effectiveness. It includes exam performance, assignment quality, and capstone projects. Standardized assessments, when applicable, can provide evidence of student growth and your success as an educator.

To succeed in this area, it’s essential to develop and articulate a clear teaching philosophy, maintain well-organized and inclusive syllabi, and pursue continual improvement. Many faculty enhance their teaching through workshops, online courses, or professional teaching conferences like CUR, AAC&U, or Lilly.

PUIs also provide fertile ground for teaching innovations. With smaller class sizes, you can experiment with flipped classrooms, project-based learning, or community-engaged instruction. These innovations can become part of your teaching portfolio, showcasing your adaptability and creativity.

Research: Sustainable, Student-Centered, and Mission-Aligned

Although PUIs are teaching-focused, research is still a key pillar of the faculty role. The key is to frame research in a way that supports undergraduate learning and can be sustained with limited resources.

Faculty at PUIs are often evaluated on their ability to:

• Conduct publishable, peer-reviewed research

• Involve undergraduate students meaningfully in research

• Apply for internal or external funding

• Present at regional or national conferences

The expectation is not to maintain a high-output lab with multiple grants and postdocs, but to build a research program that is educationally enriching. This might mean guiding students in independent studies, developing summer research experiences, or publishing student co-authored papers in accessible journals.

Start-up packages at PUIs are usually modest—often between $10,000 and $75,000—so early-career faculty must be strategic. Selecting manageable projects, collaborating with colleagues, and applying for small grants (e.g., from CUR, NSF RUI programs, or local foundations) can go a long way.

Importantly, PUIs often reward effort even when it doesn’t lead to immediate grant success. Documenting your research planning, submission of proposals, and scholarly dissemination all contribute positively to your record.

Service: Building the Institution from Within

Service is the most underappreciated and least discussed pillar of faculty work, but at PUIs, it plays a critical role in departmental and institutional functioning. Service includes:

• Departmental Work: Curriculum design, assessment coordination, student recruitment, lab management

• Institutional Committees: Faculty senate, hiring committees, strategic planning groups

• Community Engagement: Outreach to schools, local partnerships, public lectures or science fairs

Early-career faculty are often advised to start small with service, focusing on their department. Over time, as they grow in confidence and understand institutional dynamics, they can expand their service footprint.

Successful service also requires documentation. Keep a running list of activities, emails, meeting notes, and outcomes. This portfolio will support your P&T applications and show your holistic value to the institution.

Navigating the Path to Tenure

Tenure and promotion reviews at PUIs typically take place at multiple levels: department, college, dean’s office, and provost or president. While policies vary, most institutions conduct a six-year review with a mid-tenure check around the third or fourth year.

To prepare for tenure:

• Collect evidence of teaching effectiveness: syllabi, evaluations, peer reviews

• Track research productivity: papers, presentations, grants

• Maintain a service log: committee memberships, leadership roles

Many PUIs provide mentoring for tenure-track faculty. Take advantage of this. Attend workshops, ask questions, and seek regular feedback from senior colleagues. Transparency and proactive planning are key.

One of the biggest tenure pitfalls is burnout from overcommitment. Many new faculty say yes to everything. It’s crucial to manage your time, guard your course prep hours, and say no when necessary. Remember, quality over quantity matters—especially in teaching and service.

Post-Tenure Growth: Renewal, Risk, and Reinvention

Securing tenure is a major milestone, but it should not mark the end of your professional ambition. In fact, tenure offers new freedoms: to innovate, take risks, and pursue long-term goals.

With tenure, faculty can:

• Experiment with new teaching methods

• Redesign courses or propose new curricula

• Seek leadership roles in governance or administration

• Launch higher-risk research projects

• Apply for sabbaticals to write, explore, or collaborate

Post-tenure faculty may also explore external consulting, industry partnerships, or community-based research. These ventures are often encouraged, provided they align with institutional policies and do not interfere with teaching obligations.

PUIs often offer academic sabbaticals after 6-7 years of service. These provide paid leave (typically one semester or a full year at partial pay) to engage in professional development, research, or curricular innovation. Sabbaticals can be career-reviving experiences and are well worth planning for.

Additionally, promotion to full professor involves demonstrating sustained excellence and a broader impact across teaching, research, and service. This often means deepening community engagement, mentoring junior faculty, and taking on institutional leadership.

Avoiding Burnout and Finding Fulfillment

One challenge of PUI life is the broad scope of responsibility. Teaching, advising, research, service, and administration can stretch faculty thin. Avoiding burnout requires:

• Time management: Block time for grading, prep, and writing

• Prioritization: Say yes to high-impact activities; politely decline the rest

• Support networks: Seek mentorship and collaborate with colleagues

• Self-care: Maintain boundaries and preserve personal time

Despite the demands, many PUI faculty report high job satisfaction. The ability to form meaningful relationships with students, contribute to institutional growth, and live a balanced academic life makes the journey worthwhile.

Final Thoughts

Working at a PUI is not simply a job; it is a vocation. It asks for your intellect, empathy, and creativity. It rewards you not only with professional advancement but with the satisfaction of shaping lives, building programs, and contributing to the public good.

If you are already in a PUI or planning to begin that path, let A Professor's Job in a Primarily Undergraduate Institution be your companion. The wisdom and strategies it offer are grounded in the lived realities of PUI faculty, and it speaks directly to the aspirations of educators who want to make a difference.

The PUI path may not be glamorous in the traditional academic sense, but it is rich with meaning, purpose, and possibility. Embrace it, and you may find that it leads to one of the most rewarding careers in academia.