Your Career: Adjusting Mentally to an Unexpected Promotion

The instant you step into a leadership role, the clock is ticking for you to adopt a new mind-set. ADVERTISEMENT [Your Career Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. You can now read The Chronicle on [Apple News]( [Flipboard]( and [Google News](. The instant you step into a leadership role, the clock is ticking for you to adopt a new mind-set. One of the most difficult aspects of moving into campus administration, or up the ranks, is making the mental adjustments required for new leadership posts. That transition is hard enough when you intentionally pursue an administrative career and plot your path. It’s far more difficult when you are asked to step into a new role on short notice. And that happens a lot in higher education, thanks to any number of controversies or life circumstances that create unforeseen job vacancies. Among the many emotional challenges of a surprise promotion: - Prepare mentally to relinquish control of your calendar. In administrative roles, emergency phone calls at 2 a.m. don’t happen often, but they do happen. In the first weeks of a promotion, you will have to rethink your concept of calendars, agendas, and time to one that is more nimble, flexible, and facile. Get used to pressing the restart switch on your scheduled plans. - Rethink the meaning (and limits) of work friendships. What people tend to find most jarring about becoming a chair or dean is how their relationships with colleagues transform seemingly overnight. Part of the mental transition to your new role is deciding what kind of leader you are going to be — one who tries to treat all colleagues as fairly as possible or one who plays favorites. Continue reading: "[Admin 101: The Difficult Mind Games of an Unexpected Promotion]( by David D. Perlmutter Share your suggestions for the newsletter with Denise Magner, an editor at The Chronicle, at denise.magner@chronicle.com. If you’d like to opt out, you can log in to our website and [manage your newsletter preferences here](. ADVERTISEMENT UPCOMING PROGRAM [The Chronicle's Next Steps for Faculty Success: A Program for Mid-Career Faculty Development] [Join us on a Saturday in April]( for a virtual professional development program which will provide the space, time, and tools to help mid-career faculty reignite the passion that brought them to higher ed. During this full-day program, participants will explore the variety of journeys they might pursue at this important inflection point in their professional lives. [Register today and save $200 with code NEXTSTEPS23!]( NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. LATEST CAREER ADVICE, OPINION, AND NEWS ADVICE [ChatGPT Just Got Better. What Does That Mean for Our Writing Assignments?]( By Anna R. Mills [STORY IMAGE]( An educator who tested the new GPT-4 before its release offers advice for faculty members on how to respond. SPONSOR CONTENT | University of Wisconsin-Madison [Great Minds Converge Here]( ADVERTISEMENT THE WORKPLACE [Free Report: Hiring for Success]( By Megan Zahneis [STORY IMAGE]( Competing in a candidates’ market. THE REVIEW | ESSAY [The Librarians Are Not OK]( By Joshua Doležal [STORY IMAGE]( A years-long attack on their status is bad for all of us. FACULTY IN THE CROSS HAIRS [Florida’s Public-University Board Approves Firing Poorly Performing Tenured Professors]( By Emma Pettit [STORY IMAGE]( The governing board endorsed on Wednesday a process for post-tenure review that creates a uniform method for dismissals across the 12-campus State University System. FREE SPEECH [A Professor Is Suspended for Suggesting It’s Better to ‘Kill’ Racist or Homophobic Speakers Than Shout Them Down]( By Sylvia Goodman [STORY IMAGE]( Wayne State University’s president said the comment crossed a line and reported the professor to police. HR POLICIES [What Higher Ed’s Paid Parental-Leave Policies Look Like]( By Megan Zahneis [STORY IMAGE]( A graduate student who struggled to balance childbirth, parenting, and academic work figured she wasn’t the only one facing such difficulties, so she collected data on what appeared to be a systemic issue. Here’s what she found. ADVICE [How to Embrace Uncertainty in Your Teaching]( By Jeremy T. Murphy and Meira Levinson [STORY IMAGE]( Five simple ways to spark your students’ curiosity and learning by welcoming mistakes and ambiguity in the classroom. FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [Solving Higher Ed's Staffing Crisis - The Chronicle Store]( [Solving Higher Ed's Staffing Crisis]( The Covid-19 pandemic upended norms surrounding how academic institutions work, putting the relationship between colleges and their staff members under greater stress. [Order your copy]( to explore how higher education can better manage a crucial part of its work force. What we’re reading. Here’s more on career issues and trends from around the web. See something we should include? [Let me know](mailto:denise.magner@chronicle.com?subject=Your Career feedback). - In The New York Times, the [Ethicist columnist]( offers advice to an “underpaid professor” who asks: “Can I do the bare minimum?” - [New data]( from the American Association of University Professors shows that more than two-thirds of U.S. faculty members “had contingent appointments in fall 2021, compared with about 47 percent in fall 1987.” - [Advice]( in the Harvard Business Review on how to avoid “learning the wrong lessons from failure.” MORE CAREER RESOURCES POLITICS AND RACE [DEI Legislation Tracker]( By Adrienne Lu, Jacquelyn Elias, Audrey Williams June, Kate Marijolovic, Julian Roberts-Grmela, and Eva Surovell [STORY IMAGE]( Legislators, mostly Republicans, want to get rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion offices; end anti-bias trainings; and banish diversity statements. NEWS [How Much Are Private-College Presidents Paid?]( [STORY IMAGE]( Base pay, bonuses and benefits for 265 chief executives at private colleges with expenditures of $100-million or more. DATA [How Much Are Public-College Presidents Paid?]( [STORY IMAGE]( Base pay, bonuses, and benefits for 196 chief executives at public doctoral universities and systems in 2021. PACKAGE [The Trends Report 2023]( [STORY IMAGE]( For more analyses that will help you anticipate and respond to key developments in higher education, read on. JOB OPPORTUNITIES [Director of Institutional Research and Assessment]( Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [Search other jobs.]( CAREER RESOURCES [Man sitting at a laptop computer.] Explore [Career Resources]( a new online destination to find career-related articles, advice, reports, events, and more designed to help you advance in your career. NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. 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