Dr. Amy Chasteen Miller – Top Ten List of Things to Know Your First Year University of Southern Mississippi

1. Top Ten Things to
Know Your First Year
Amy Chasteen Miller
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
College of Arts & Letters
amy.chasteen@usm.edu
601.266.4636
@DrAmyMiller

2. Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year
⑩ Create a detailed, thorough
syllabus, after getting
examples from as many fellow
faculty as you can. This pre-
semester time-sucker is a mid-
semester time-saver. A solid
syllabus is an investment that
pays off.

3. ⑨ Don’t take yourself or your teaching
too seriously. Let your passion for your
discipline and your desire for students to
learn drive your class preparation and
performance. Remember they don’t
always come with a love for the subject
(yet), and some may well be scared of it.
Push them, and let them know where the
bar is; encourage them to seek your help
if needed. Have fun and it will be better
for everyone.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

4. ⑧ Get involved in service—but not
too involved. Be active & helpful in
your department, stay involved in
your profession, and agree to small
service obligations as needed… but
you can be chair of five committees
and President of Faculty Senate
after you get tenure!
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

5. ⑦ Protect your time. Organize your week
intentionally and strategically into
teaching time and research time, and
stick to that schedule. Do not give up
your research time to do ―just a little
more work‖ on that PowerPoint, or just
participate on one more committee. Plan
a reasonable schedule now and stick to
it. Talk to your chair and seek his or her
support for your effort to manage your
time.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

6. ⑥ Don’t work all the
time, and don’t feel guilty
about having fun, taking
vacations, going to the
movies, having a
hobby, or working out.
Sanity is important.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

7. ⑤ Listen. A lot. And don’t gossip or
waste time complaining about
things we all have to tolerate –
students skipping class or turning in
late papers, not having enough time
to get everything done, and the
juggle of research/teaching/service.
Listen more; talk less. Be nice to
your colleagues and avoid any pre-
existing civil wars.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

8. ④ Take people for coffee—or
cocktails. Fellow assistant
professors can support you;
more senior faculty can mentor
you; non-faculty can keep you
from losing perspective. Seek
out mentoring, support and
advice rather than waiting for it
to happen.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

9. ③ In your first semester, get a
copy of your department’s
tenure & promotion
guidelines, read it carefully, and
create a plan with goals and
dates. Talk to senior colleagues
about your short and long-term
goals. Keep a version of your
timeline posted on your wall.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

10. ② Remember that students are
people. They want to do
well, but many don’t know how
and have no idea how to
navigate higher education. Be
kind and helpful. Let them
know you want them to
succeed. You are the
professor, and your actions can
have a huge impact.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

11. ① Your department
secretary is your
new best friend.
Top Ten Things to Know Your First Year

12. Top Ten Things to
Know Your First Year
Amy Chasteen Miller
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
College of Arts & Letters
amy.chasteen@usm.edu
601.266.4636
@DrAmyMiller