"The Annotated Vita" Development
Content — Carl Anders dialogue
SETTING: On-campus coffee shop
TEXT TYPES LEGEND:
- Initiation (with a "close" button).
- Passive (keyword advances the dialogue).
- Active (becomes cv content; advances the dialogue).
- Informational — sidebar of hyperlinked text).
CHARACTERS:
Each character should be identified with value[s] in each of these variables:
- Where do they influence most — External (outside world) or Internal (on campus)
- What do they influence most — Teaching, Research or Service (TRS)
- Who (level of authority) — Colleague, Student, Superior, Staff, Personal
- Narrator — provides introductory information, access to bibliography, and details in pop-up windows; no variables required for this class of character.
- Candidate — user role; no variables required for this class of character.
- Mentor — passive role; no variables required for this class of character.
- Tina Androtti, female senior faculty in Ander's unit
- Cell phone (Always External)
- Example 1 — Editor with a question/response (External, Research, Superior (because presumably dictates format of paper))
- Example 2 — Doctor with update on medical condition (External, Teaching (because new condition limits teaching capabilities), Personal)
- Laptop (External or Internal)
- Example 1 — Collaborator on a project (Internal, Research, Colleague)
- Example 2 — Someone who invites Anders to give a seminar at another institution (External, Service, Colleague)
- Coffee shop visitors (Always Internal)
- Alex Bettor, colleague in Anders' unit who has already finished paperwork (Internal, TRS, Colleague)
- Camille Danton, colleague in different unit who was promoted two years ago advises the importance of checking draft of curriculum vita (cv) with senior colleague (Internal, TRS, Colleague)
- Katie, gender-neutral representation (Internal, Teaching, Student)
NEW SCRIPT
ISSUES that do not reflect directly on the cv, but are important in developing the cv (show in activity? how?)
- time constraints on mentor and on mentee ISSUE
- when to submit cv for preview
- who to ask for advice
Setting: Carl and Tina Androtti enter the coffee shop and stand in line to place orders.
[THIS ENTRY SETS THE STAGE FOR THE USER; IT ALSO ACTS AS THE BUTTON FOR THE USER TO INITIATE THE DIALOGUE, BY CLICKING ON COLORED TEXT. THIS CAN BE DELETED IN LIEU OF SOUND THAT ACCOMPLISHES THE SAME THING.]
Type: Informational
Speaker: Narrator
Dialogue: Carl Anders and a senior faculty member, Tina Androtti, enter the campus coffee shop and stand in line to place orders. They exchange comments on their busy schedules. Carl has some very specific questions about the kinds of work he should highlight in his narrative and what goes where on his cv.
[NOTE: IN WHAT FOLLOWS, I AM REVISING, ADDING, AND DELETING AS NECESSARY, BUT I AM NOT IDENTIFYING THESE CHANGES EXCEPT THOSE THAT DELETE WHOLE ENTRIES.]
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: Are you as busy as I am this time of term? I can only talk for an hour because I have to go back to my office to meet with groups of students working on projects.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: Yes, it's a difficult time. I appreciate your taking time to talk with me about getting my curriculum vita (cv) ready now to submit to the chair. These deadlines always approach so fast, with it being so close to summer.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: Yes. We used to turn in paperwork after the summer, when everyone had time to update the cv and write the narrative. Now, submitting a draft in the spring that goes to reviewers ensures that they have enough time to read and comment on the candidate's scholarship, even though it's a busier time of year.
POST-IT: Remember to work on cv and narrative well before due date and in time for others review.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: Well, I have some specific questions about what I should highlight in my narrative and what goes where on my cv. I hope that's ok to ask you.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: Absolutely. It's good to show your documents to a senior faculty member who might notice something you miss, as long as that person is not going to be on the review committee next year.
ISSUE 2: Teaching Scores
Type: Initiation
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: I think the thing I am most worried about are my teaching scores, which used to be quite strong but have steadily declined in the past two or three years.
[THIS ENTRY IS FROM THE CAREER ACCOUNT, (WHICH CAN SHOW IN A POP-UP/SIDEBAR WINDOW). IT GIVES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LEARNER TO REVIEW THE CANDIDATE'S CAREER ACCOUNT, AND DISPLAYS WHEN THE PREVIOUS LINK IS SELECTED. PERHAPS IT CAN BE IN THE PILE OF PAPERS ON THE TABLE -- DO NOT DELETE]
Type: Informational
Speaker: Narrator
Dialogue: When he first joined the faculty, Anders was regarded by faculty and students alike as a fine teacher. He was even mentioned as a prospect for a teaching award. His teaching was considered strong and would have contributed to a strong cv. Later, when the new chair came to the department, his scores suffered as a result of new constraints added to his schedule.
Type: Problem Summary
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: It’s been hard for me to manage research commitments and service with a four-day teaching schedule. I used to be able to excel in teaching when the old chair was more flexible with my schedule and understood all my accessibility and scheduling issues.
Type: Informational
Speaker: Narrator
Dialogue: It is important that you accurately represent your entire history of teaching and explain any missteps in teaching. It might even help if you could suggest a strategy to improve teaching. [is this true? If it is, should this link up to something? Remember, all statements of type "INFORMATIONAL" show up in pop-up/sidebar window and typically has info taken from bibliography, including links to bibliographic entry or other supporting source, much the same way as done in the analyis portion of the Simulated Meeting.]
Type: Problem Summary
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: I know. With my disability, I can’t spend too much time sitting in my office waiting for students. I don’t think they understand how painful it is to overexert myself that way. Some students appear personally offended if I suggest that we communicate instead via email or phone.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: It’s hard for them to approach faculty at all, so they might feel rejected or that you're completely inaccessible. But perhaps you might offer to make other arrangements.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: Too many times their idea of convenience is the day before the project. Over time, I’ve had to be very detailed about assignments and build in time for questions about assignments into class meetings so that everyone is on the same page all along.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: Those are the type of teaching strategies that might not be noted on the cv, but can be part of a teaching portfolio and be mentioned in your narrative.
POST-IT: Remember to include a succinct teaching portfolio with syllabi, assignments, etc.
[The link in this previous paragraph opens a pop-up/sidebar window of a sample narrative, or information regarding the narrative - maybe link to the GT webpage with proper format for narrative. Closing the window triggers student entrance.]
Type: Standard
Speaker: Student
Dr. Anders? Hi! How are you? Oh, am I interrupting something?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Oh, hi. No, not at all. I remember you..Katie? Is that right? This is my colleague, Dr. Androtti.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Student
Yes, that's right. It's been a couple of years. My minor in CS is over, and I'm just concentrating on my major now. But I miss taking your class. It was one of my favorites.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
That great to hear. Sometimes I think the students only show up to get credit for attending.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Student
Well, that probably is the case sometimes, but your class was really interesting.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Sounds like it was a good experience. If you don't mind me asking, why did you enjoy the class?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Student
Um, well, let me think. Well, the material itself was already interesting. And Dr. Anders was enthusiastic about teaching the material. He was also patient when students asked questions. I gotta go, Dr. Anders, but it was good seeing you again.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Sure, absolutely. I'll see you around. Thanks.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
So, a couple of years ago you were probably more enthusiastic about teaching in general and it showed, and you seemed more accessible. How open are you with students about the specific medical constraints you have to deal with?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Well, I assume students know that my disability affects my availability because my disability is visible. I don't go into depth about the bus scheduling or how hard it can be to get to campus because I don't want to complain in the classroom.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
You could briefly address your disability in class and on the syllabus. Run what you say by your Chair or other colleagues first to see if there is way to state your condition and issues without whining. It would help everyone to discuss these issues openly and completely.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Well, I don't want them to have pity on me, although maybe being clear about limitations would help. But I'm weary of approaching the chair about that again, because she seemed so aloof and indifferent before.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Oh, yes, I remember that. But I think that this change in scheduling, from two days of teaching to four must be documented in your narrative as affecting your teaching scores.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
That is a good point. I guess I should accurately represent how many more constraints I am dealing with now than before.
POST-IT: Clarify health and other constraints for chair and in syllabus for students.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Absolutely. A good place to start, before you even write the narrative, is to discuss new teaching strategies with your Chair or even other colleagues, including speaking openly with students. Students might be open to meeting elsewhere or other accommodations if they see the reason behind it. Then maybe your teaching scores would improve.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
OK, I'll schedule a meeting with the chair to discuss what I can communicate with students about my disability and necessary accommodations, especially regarding office hours.
ISSUE 3: Balance Between Research, Teaching and Service
Type: Initiation
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: I have a couple of questions about representing my research, teaching and service. Have I put too much time into research? I'm not sure how to demonstrate accomplishment in teaching other than scores or or in service
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: Research comes first here, because this university expects its faculty to be first-class researchers above all. We are keen to increase our national reputation. Research and funding are critical. You must publish and present your work. What have you published so far?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
So far, I've published 8 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and 7 papers in Proceedings of various conferences. Additionally, for this school year, I have three articles that will be published.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Well, your publication record seems strong. And your teaching will hopefully improve now that we have suggested some strategies for your to discuss with your Chair. Are you presenting anywhere?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
I'm presenting a paper this year at CHI and 2 at SIGGRAPH. I'm also presenting at two smaller conferences during the summer, one in Switzerland and the other in Greece. And I've just been told that NSF will award that big grant.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Sounds impressive. What about service? Have you done service for the University or the greater academic community?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
I was appointed to a Presidential Commission. The Commission's main goal is to try to recruit and retain more students with disabilities into information technology. We're trying to formulate outreach efforts and to improve accessibility on campuses.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
That sounds excellent. Anything else?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Well, within computing, there are several panels that are trying to explore novel interdisciplinary approaches. My future projects include investigating health and assistive technologies. I will speak with or even to see if maybe there could be some avenue to follow.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
It's tricky to represent pursuing research partnerships as service on your CV and narrative, as these count for research, but serving on the commission is definitely service.
POST-IT: Carefully note service responsibilities, including university, national, and international service, on cv.
[Not sure how to finish this sentence.]
ISSUE 4: Contradictions/Repetitions
They are interrupted by Alex Bettor: “Hey, how are you all doing? I haven’t seen you all in months, since the dean’s holiday party.”
Tina: “We are reviewing Carl’s preparations for submitting his curriculum vita (cv). Do you have tips to share?”
Type: Initiation
Speaker: Internal Candidate, Alex Bettor
Hmmm, my big tip is that you should make sure to think about how people who don’t know your work would read it. Your work should be represented as accurately as possible. It can be a challenge to work on this stuff over and over again. Your eyes glaze over any mistakes. That’s why you have Tina here to help.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Yes, I'm glad she's able to look at things with fresher eyes. Should I have any additional reviewers or is she enough?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Internal Reviewer, Alex Bettor
Good question. You should also have someone else who has never seen your stuff read it. It doesn’t even have to be a faculty member here as long as that person is a good reader who can pick out any contradictions or repetitions.
POST-IT: Remember to have a colleague review material before it is turned in.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
What do you mean by contradictions and repetitions?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Internal Reviewer, Alex Bettor
Your cv and narrative need to be consistent and complement each other so that information in one doesn’t contradict or unnecessarily repeat what’s in the other. Your description of your research in your narrative should unfold from the factual listings in your cv.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
That’s a great way to put it. Reviewers and committee members need to see the candidate’s past achievements and future trajectory of productivity as related and reasonably connected. The representations in the narrative and cv should work together so that readers understand the field you work in and your contributions to it.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Internal Reviewer, Alex Bettor
I had to work a long time on explaining in clear, accessible terms what my field is. Most people outside science and engineering don’t know what thermodynamics is much less understand formulas about heat transfer.
Type Standard
Speaker: Internal Reviewer, Alex Better
Well, it was nice to see you, but I've got to be going now. I have meeting soon. Carl, let me know if you want to talk about this again.
Type: Informational
Speaker: Narrator
Carl and Tina say goodbye to Alex Bettor and notice Camille Danton, a colleague in a computer science department at another institution. They invite her to join them.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Camille, we've been talking about putting together a package for tenure as Carl will be coming up soon. Carl, following up what Alex was saying describing your research in accessible terms, it's also important to set your work in the context of the goals of the institution.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Camille Danton
Yes, now that I'm in the dean's office at our place, I have a better sense of how research areas converge. Since units and the institution have developed mission statements identifying areas of focus, it is mportant that each candidate's research areas be related to these missions.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
The narrative should begin with a description of your field and how your work supports the unit's goals. This description helps identify you to colleagues in other units and colleagues who will see your curriculum vita (cv) at other levels in the decisionmaking process.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Well, I will look carefully at our unit's mission statement so that I can best describe what I do. Can I quote it in my narrative?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Camille Danton
You should use some of the keywords and explain your contributions to the unit's mission that should demonstrate how your research and teaching fit the needs and focal areas of the institute.
POST-IT: Link issues in career narrative to mission of university and unit.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
The hard thing will be to make sure that my narrative is precise, comprehensive, and only three pages.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
And you should try to make it easy for the reader to see important information. Arrange the material topically and use fonts that show a hierarchy of topics. The outline of your argument, your story of career development and contributions, should be clear.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Camille Danton
The document should flow. It should have a logical progression. I thought of my narrative as having a beginning, middle, and end that told the story of my career in documenting my professional accomplishments.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
Your whole career? I was planning to describe only significant accomplishments during the time I've been here.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Yes, you should describe five significant accomplishments, which are most often specific projects, publications or clusters of publications.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Camille Danton
It is good if you set those accomplishments within the context of your career. That includes background of where you were educated and worked before, what you are doing now, and what you are planning to do constructs the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Candidate
So I can mention what my future projects will be?
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Yes, but mention them as natural outgrowths of what you have worked on before and are working on now.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Camille Danton
Even though you might not have planned out your career, your research, in logical order, someone who reads your narrative and looks at your vita should be able to see the connections that link projects together.
ISSUE 4: Commonality Among Research, Teaching and Service
Type: Initiation
Speaker: Candidate
Dialogue: Because it connects my career interests, that commission on disabilities has been rewarding to be part of, although corresponding with them, writing parts of reports, and traveling to occasional meetings takes a toll. Being on that commission has been time-consuming.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Mentor
Dialogue: Even though it’s a lot of time, it’s worth doing because it spotlights your research and gives you a chance to impact public policy. The administration and your colleagues understand that.
Speaker: Camille Danton
But that work also has an impact on teaching in some way. You are considering how to recruit and retain more students with disabilities into the University.
Speaker: Mentor
That’s two ways to beef up the teaching part of your curriculum vita (cv). First, you need to explain a range of teaching strategies that encourage student participation as part of your teaching portfolio. Second, you need to explain your work on the commission as having some impact on teaching pedagogies that others can employ.
POST-IT: Clarify convergence of teaching and research in career narrative.
Type: Standard
Speaker: Camille Danton
Connections among research, teaching, and service need to appear as logical in the narrative and not random or whimsical.
Phone call from an editor interrupts.
Editor tells Carl that he will send an email detailing revisions, which the editor hopes he can do pretty quickly.
Speaker: Carl
I guess I will have to put aside other work to finish off that article.
Speaker: Camille Danton
Well, I guess I better go. It was nice running into you two.
Speaker: Mentor
We should wrap it up as well. What if we meet again in about 10 days to review your draft of a narrative and revised cv.
Speaker: Candidate
That would be great. I really appreciate your taking this time.
Notes
- Triggers
- Candidate/Mentor "Rhythm"
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