Irregular update from Chris Davis, PhD
How is your summer going?
I have been busy spending time with my family, adjusting to expanded responsibilities at work, and writing. My wife and our ten children moved back to central Florida during the pandemic, and now we are wondering what the future looks like for work and where we will live. Next month I have to clean out my awesome office that I have not seen in over a year. I have forgotten what I left there, so it will be like a treasure hunt. The university is still working on our return to campus plan, but for now we have been asked to clean out our offices.
It has been about a year since I sent out an update on my work, and I have a couple of updates to share.
This list started almost five years ago when I was working on a project that became my first book, "How to Become a Professor." I posted a survey in a few LinkedIn groups asking for advice for people looking to start academic careers. One of the biggest take-aways was how many people described why they were leaving higher ed. That feedback inspired a new project which led to my second book, "The Guide to Indie Teaching." I started working on how professors could teach independent of colleges and universities. Most of the people receiving this announcement have engaged with me over the last five years on one of those projects, and many of you responded to that initial survey.
In addition to those side projects, over the last five years I have changed universities and changed roles within those universities. I have been fortunate in my higher ed career. It has not been without set-backs and disappointments, but I am very excited to be doing the work I am doing now and the people I get to do it with.
My side work continues to evolve. My focus now stems from ideas that followed from my third book, "Should I Go To College?" I am interested in how I can help others make good choices to support their career and personal goals. I teach the first term experience class at my university, and these are themes we talk about in that class as well.
Last week a former colleague reached out to me for help with her job search. She had been downsized during the pandemic and had limited success finding anything new. She is not alone. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, higher ed lost 650,000 jobs in 2020. Higher ed employment is the lowest it has been in 15 years. In another Chronicle story, 55% of faculty are considering retiring or leaving higher ed. This is a time of significant disruption for those of us who work in higher ed.
Reflecting on these sobering statistics, it occurred to me that the odds were pretty good that someone on my list might want someone to talk to about their career goals and plans. If that is you, you can schedule a chat with me from my web site: https://www.chrisdavisphd.com
Scroll down about 3/4 of the page to "Make an Appointment." You can also catch up my writings here, if you are interested in what I have bee thinking about lately. There is no cost or obligation for anything. I have been very fortunate to have had great mentors and advisors across my career, and I want to pay that forward for others.
If you do not want to receive any further updates from me, please use the unsubscribe link to remove yourself. I would like to believe that I will send out these updates more often than once a year, but I don't see them being anything but irregular and infrequent. You can always simple respond to this email if you want to tell me to my face. I apologize for intruding, and it won't hurt my feelings to remove you. My purpose is help others, and I know I cannot create value for everyone.
If you want to talk about your career and how I might be able to help (or anything else), I am happy to do so. The direct link for an appointment is https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=17354360&appointmentType=9422665 The scheduler is connected to my calendar, so you can only schedule a time when I am free.
My latest project is "agile wayfinding," a process for personal and organizational planning. I have done a couple of presentations on the process, and expanding these ideas is my main writing focus. It is also the basis for my coaching work. Make sure to follow my site for updates, or you can wait for my next irregular email update for more information.