The Kardia Group

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What Changes at Tenure?

What Changes at Promotion to Full?

The progression of a typical tenure track career is highly predictable, marked by a small number of highly significant transitions: achieving the doctorate, tenure, promotion, and retirement (with variations by institution and field). Each of these transitions is years in the making, and a tremendous amount of personal and institutional resources are devoted to preparing, assessing, and enacting these transitions. Far less attention is given to what is needed either to survive or, even rarer, enjoy these transitions, and individuals are often left on their own to integrate and understand what these transitions mean to their career, the institution, or their own personal goals and satisfaction.

Many faculty also experience a collection of other momentous transitions such as moving from one institution to another or shifting from a primary identity as scholar to a key administrative role in the university or college. Again, considerable investment is made in these transitions though search processes and individual reflection, while less attention is given to the integration phases once these transitions have been made.

Meanwhile, the life of every academic is comprised of an assortment of smaller transitions that typically go unmarked in the life of the institution: transitions into and out of leadership roles, graduating one's first or last student, scholarly transitions into new questions or fields, shifts in service loads, defining changes in relationships with colleagues, and maturational changes that may shift one's focus or investment in any aspect of one's career. Additionally, a variety of personal transitions relating to relationships, children, family, health, and other arenas have a significant impact on faculty careers as well.

Kardia Group LLC offers a variety of resources to help navigate and integrate these transitions. Individual Coaching provides a venue to assess individual strategies, frustrations, fears, and possibilities. Group coaching provides these benefits within the context of those facing similar transitions. Seminars provide a set of common reference points to help navigate new terrain. Retreats provide a pause amidst the chaos of transitions to gain resources and engage more intentionally. Kardia Group LLC also works with institutions on custom-designed seminars and programs to support faculty transitions more broadly.