Thriving as an Associate Professor Seminar Series

The Thriving as an Associate Professor Series is a set of seminars designed to assist mid-career faculty in strategizing for a successful career.

Publicly-Engaged Research & Your Career: Navigating the PERO Option

September 25, 2025
11:30am-1:00pm
Illini Union, Room 210

Curious about the Publicly-Engaged Research Option (PERO) for promotion and tenure at Illinois? Join us for an informational session to explore the PERO pathway, hear about recent updates to the guidelines, and discover resources designed to support both assistant and associate professors as well as their executive officers in building strong, compelling dossiers for tenure and promotion. Whether you’re just starting to think about your case or actively preparing your materials, this session is a great opportunity to learn more and ask questions.

Speaker:

  • Eva Pomerantz, Director of the Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Registration:
Register for the PERO workshop no later than Thursday, September 18, 2025.

*And there’s more! We’re also offering dedicated “office hours” for faculty members and executive officers who are considering the PERO pathway for promotion and tenure. These sessions provide an opportunity for individualized or small-group consultations to discuss specific aspects of your PERO dossier. Feel free to sign up for any of the available dates and times that work best for you:

Location for each session: Swanlund Administration Building, Conference Room 500 (601 E. John St, Champaign, IL 61820)

Adapting, Pivoting, Reframing, Reorienting: Pathways for Faculty Members to Address Current Challenges

October 1, 2025
8:30am-10:00am
Illini Union, Illini Room A

We invite early- and mid-career faculty members to explore with our panel of leaders their strategies, and insights to navigate shifting priorities, reframe challenges, and reorient academic paths with resilience and purpose.

This session will take place in person only and will not be recorded, to support open and candid dialogue among participants.

Panelists:

  • Antoinette Burton, Director of the Humanities Research Institute, Swanlund Chair and Professor of History, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
  • Rodney Johnson, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Animal Sciences, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
  • Chrystalla Mouza, Dean and Gutgsell Professor, College of Education
  • Eva Pomerantz, Director of the Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Who should attend?
Assistant and Associate Professors (tenure-stream and specialized faculty).

Please register for the October 1 session no later than 5:00 PM on Thursday, September 25. If you have any questions, please email Provost events at provostevents@illinois.edu.

Congratulations, Now What? Planning Your Next Steps to Advance Your Academic Career

April 23, 2026
8:30am-10:00am
Levis Faculty Center, Room 210

In this session, our panel of recently promoted senior colleagues offer support and insights to associate professors as they plan their next steps by exploring opportunities for leadership, refining research direction, planning, and making the most of sabbaticals, and aligning career goals with personal well-being.

Panelists:

  • Dawn Bohn, Teaching Professor of Food Science & Human Nutrition and Advisor to the Director of the Office of Online Learning, Office of the Provost
  • Teresa Cardador, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, School of Labor & Employment Relations
  • James Patrick O’Dwyer, Professor and Associate Head, Plant Biology

Who Should Attend:

  • Associate Professors (tenure system and specialized faculty)
  • Senior Instructors
  • Senior Lecturers

Archived Series

2024-25

Teaching Feedback and Evaluation: What’s New, What’s Coming, and What it Means for You

February 12, 2025

Our campus is moving towards a vision for teaching feedback and evaluation that is focused on helping course instructors improve their teaching through sharing of best practices, encouraging experimentation, identifying needs, and mobilizing resources to meet those needs. In other words, teaching feedback and evaluation should do more than provide documents for a promotion or tenure decision.  In this online interactive discussion learn about the coming changes to teaching feedback and evaluation and how to make them work for you.

Session Facilitator: Geoffrey Herman, Provost Fellow and Teaching Professor, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science

Congrats You’ve Been Promoted, Now What?

October 15, 2024

Participants engaged in broad ranging conversation with colleagues who were recently promoted to Full Professor. We shared tips and strategies to help you develop a framework as you continue on your career path at Illinois.

Presenters

2023-24

Making the Most of Your Sabbatical

April 10, 2024

Are you planning for a sabbatical? Whether you are going on one next academic year or planning to apply sometime in the future, don’t miss this session! We will discuss expectations regarding sabbaticals and how you can make the most of your time during your leave.

Congrats You’ve Been Promoted, Now What?

October 5, 2023

We will engage in broad ranging conversation with colleagues who were recently promoted to Full Professor. We will share tips and strategies to help you develop a framework as you continue on your career path at Illinois.

Panelists

  • Anna Dilger, Professor, Animal Sciences
  • Nora El-Gohary, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider, Teaching Associate Professor, Computer Science
  • Brian Ogolsky,  Graduate Adjunct Faculty, Labor and Employment Relations, Director of Graduate Studies, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, School of Labor and Employment Relations
  • Karen Tabb Dina, Professor, School of Social Work

Office of the Provost
Swanlund Administration Building
601 E John Street, MC 304
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-6677