GFDA Workshop for Early Career Faculty & Graduate Students
June 16-22, 2013, University of Colorado at Boulder
Registration has begun for the 2013 GFDA workshop for graduate students and faculty who are beginning their careers in higher education -- instructors, lecturers, assistant professors, and other untenured faculty. The workshop is open to faculty from all types of teaching and research institutions inside and outside the US. The workshop, sponsored by the Association of American Geographers, focuses on topics which are frequently the greatest sources of stress in the first years of a faculty appointment, including:
- Developing significant learning experiences for your students
- Career planning
- Time management
- Getting the most out of academic conferences
- Ethics in research, teaching, and advising
- Nuts-and-bolts issues about writing and publishing
- Preparing a CV, job search and interviewing
- Promoting collegiality
- Preparing for the tenure process
- Balancing personal and professional life
The workshop touches on issues of teaching and learning, particularly those revolving around designing effective courses, issues of diversity and inclusion, and active pedagogy. The goal of the workshop is to help participants balance the many responsibilities of academic life and to understand how their teaching, research, service, outreach, and personal lives intersect and interconnect. Most participants have built lasting networks among themselves and with workshop leaders.
Graduate students and faculty from all institutions and departments are invited to attend. Some teaching experience is useful. Readings and exercises will include selections from Michael Solem, Ken Foote & Janice Monk (eds.), Aspiring Academics: A Resource Book for Graduate Students and Early Career Faculty (Prentice-Hall, 2009) and Robert Boice, Advice for New Faculty Members (Allyn and Bacon, 2000).
The workshop begins at 7 pm on Sunday, 16 June and ends at 10:15 am on Saturday, 22 June. An optional, free fieldtrip into the Rocky Mountains to the Continental Divide will be available on Saturday afternoon for those wishing to stay until 23 June.
Registration
Follow this link to "Register Now." You do not need to be a member of the Association of American Geographers to register for the workshop and enter the website. Follow the instructions to "Sign Up" for a temporary password if you are not an AAG member. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis starting first with the waiting list from last year.
The registration fee of $1,150 includes a single dorm room, breakfasts, lunches & refreshments, three dinners, supplies, meeting rooms, computer network and printing access, graduate student support staff, and support for the workshops and teaching staff leaders. Often participants' home departments or colleges pay all or part of the workshop cost, so please check with your chair, advisor, or dean about fellowship opportunities.
For participants wishing to make their own housing arrangements in Boulder, the registration fee is $700 excluding dorm room and breakfast, but including all other activities. Participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements.
Spouses, partners and children are also welcome to attend. Accommodations are available at the following rates: 1) $350 for spouse, to cover double room, including meals; 2) $200 for each child over 7 years of age for room, including meals, but no additional room or meal charge of children under 7; 3) $160 for each child in daycare during the workshop, Monday through Friday, 8-5 pm. The on-campus care is arranged through a licensed, local childcare provider. Although you should pay your workshop registration through the AAG website, you will be billed separately for family members and daycare in May when these arrangements are finalized at the University of Colorado.
A minimum of twenty-five participants are needed to meet the costs of the workshop. If fewer are enrolled as of 15 May, the workshop may be cancelled and all funds returned to participants.
The AAG's Department Leadership Workshop will also be held in Boulder from 19-22 June. Participants in both workshops will meet and work together in some sessions.
More Information
For further information about the workshop please contact either of the co-leaders: Professor James W. Harrington, Jr. (jwh@u.washington.edu), Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Washington at Tacoma or Professor Ken Foote (k.foote@colorado.edu), Department of Geography, University of Colorado. The workshops were begun in 2002 with the support of the US National Science Foundation. See http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gfda/gfda.html for more information.
The University of Colorado is located along the scenic Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Boulder has an excellent system of hike and bike trails leading from campus to many local mountain parks and open spaces. The Denver regional bus system links Boulder directly to Denver International Airport and downtown Denver. Rocky Mountain National Park is within easy driving distance of campus. Many participants arrange to spend a few extra days in Colorado before or after the conference to travel or camp in the Rockies. Visitor information is available from www.bouldercoloradousa.com, www.explore-rocky.com, and www.colorado.com.
