About now, two waves of news are filtering across many American campuses.
Every year the first wave occurs.
People receive bad news about tenure. It's awful, it's inevitable, some people simply do not make tenure.
Saying it was a fair decision or not is out of scope. It just happens about now on many campuses.
Many years a second wave occurs.
Deans inform their faculty that the college is in a deficit and there will be belt-tightening.
Saying who is at fault or why budgets are not good are out of scope. It just happens on many campuses.
The timing could not be worse - it generally falls into the holiday season - making it all the harder to rebound.
The question for all of us, involved in academic life, is how do we handle the bad news?
Often, we have limited options.
Rarely, is bad academic news reversible - be it on tenure or be it on budgets or even on a journal paper (but that bad news comes all the time).
It just is.
So how can we cope? In ways that are constructive?
First, breathe deeply.
Knee-jerk panic doesn't help. Nor does anger.
Take a step back and take some time to calm down.
Literally.
Breathing deeply can help you do that.
So do it.
Second, activate your brain to move forward.
Breathing deeply helps do that.
Look forward.
Dwelling on problems does not help.
Look for solutions.
Third, accept that solutions may not come quickly.
Be it finding a new job or out of budget hole.
Academic timelines rarely move quickly.
Accept that it will take patience to find a happy ending.
Fourth, prepare for an aftershock.
Rarely, does bad academic news come alone.
No matter the content of the news.
If denied tenure, negative reviews might still come back.
If budgets are bad, colleagues might leave.
Steel yourself for the worst.
By doing so, you will be more #resilient to shocks that might come.
Fifth, talk about it.
Don't rant.
Don't #complain.
Once calm.
Talk it through with colleagues and collectively make sense of what is to come.
Seek help finding a new position, you may be angry, but your colleagues will surely help you, if you suffer from the first wave.
Seek understanding how you can help each other navigate #badbudgets, if you suffer from the second wave.
In academia, more than almost any other field, Ben Franklin's words are appropriate.
"We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
Finally, plan.
If denied #tenure, you have options - in #academia and outside it. You are not stuck. So don't dwell on failure.
If budgets are bad, you have options - you join in find local solutions e.g., new programs or streamlinging - or you can opt to look for a new home e.g., go on the market.
My point here is you have options, as best you can, work towards a happier resolution.
If you can look forward, and not back, most bad #academic news is manageable.
Best of luck.
Comments