Faculty-Related Tasks

Personal tasks

Annual evaluations

Annual evaluations of Faculty are a required part of the employment and promotion process at UAF. This is in accordance with terms of the collective bargaining agreement and past and current practice at UAF.

Each faculty member holding special academic rank should prepare an Annual Activities Report (AAR), and a self-evaluation. Each evaluation file must contain a current curriculum vitae and should be submitted to the IARC Director in early October each year. Evaluative feedback should be provided. More information on annual evaluations can be found on the UAF Provost website. You will also receive annual reminders from the IARC Executive assistant on due dates and requirements.

Annual workloads

An annual workload will be due April of every academic year. A workload is a summarization of the activities the UNAC Faculty member will be required to perform to meet the requirement of their contract. You will write up your own workload(s) then submit this to the IARC Director for review and acceptance. You will be alerted that your workload is due and be provided with guidance on how to submit this information by the UAF Provost's office and the IARC Executive Assistant.

Proposal writing

IARC Faculty members, including postdoctoral researchers, are permitted to write proposals either as a Principal Investigator (PI) or a Co-PI. If you plan to submit a proposal, contact the Office of Proposal Development (OPD) as early as possible in order to accommodate internal deadlines.

The OPD will help prepare the budget, and all other documents required for submission of IARC proposals. Please contact them as soon as you know that you will submit a proposal. OPD will work with the Office of Grants and Contracts Administration to ensure that all IARC proposals have been approved by the IARC director prior to submission. Please provide adequate time for review.

Plan to have your proposal completed at least two weeks prior to the submission deadline with the OPD to allow for enough time for processing. All proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) that include a Postdoctoral researcher must contain a Postdoc mentor plan.

Find the boilerplate sample NSF postdoctoral mentor plan and a more IARC specific template for this plan in the internal IARC documents Google Drive folder.

Promotion and tenure

Faculty wishing to be considered for promotion in the next academic year need to inform the Director in writing by April of the current year. You will need to prepare a ‘file’ that documents your achievements as part of the review process. The file contents and required format are specified on the UAF Provost website.

The Provost's Office holds an annual Promotion, Tenure, Pre-Tenure and Post-Tenure Review File Preparation Workshop each year, usually in August, which provides a lot of information on the promotion process at UAF. This information is disseminated through email from the UAF Provost office and through the IARC Director's office. or all new faculty that is relevant to postdocs as well. All new postdocs (and their supervisors) should review the UAF Mentoring Handbook.

Supervisorial tasks

Supervisors and mentors

During your time as an IARC Faculty member, you will have both a supervisor and one or several mentors. Your supervisor will be identified to you in your appointment letter. If no mentor was assigned during the hiring process, before or upon arrival at IARC, you should talk with your supervisor to identify the IARC (or UAF) faculty member(s) you wish to act as your mentor(s). If no suitable mentor exists within IARC, potential mentors outside of IARC may also be identified.

The UAF Office of Faculty Development sponsors a faculty-mentoring program for the benefit of faculty members in their first few years at UAF. The mentoring role and strategies for being an effective mentor, as well as an effective mentee are outlined in the UAF Faculty Mentoring Handbook and the Mentoring Best Practices Guide. The UAF Faculty Development Mentoring Hub may also be helpful.

Roles of the supervisor and mentor

• The supervisor manages the on-the-job performance of the mentee, including annual evaluations and workloads. The mentor is not involved in performance assessment for purposes of employment or job certification. The mentor's role is to guide the mentee through a process of reflection and effective self- assessment, followed by professional growth, goal setting, and planning.

• The mentor guides, suggests, teaches, challenges, and coaches using the power of experience, expertise, and caring to influence the mentee's actions and growth.

• The supervisor's emphasis is often on meeting short-term targets and effective day-to-day work focused on productivity and results, while the mentor will usually have a longer term, more strategic focus on the mentee’s development.

Postdoc mentor plan

With respect to mentoring, IARC postdocs are considered to be part of the IARC faculty. UAF has a mentoring program designed for all new faculty that is relevant to postdocs as well. All new postdocs (and their supervisors) should review the UAF Mentoring Handbook.

Undergraduate research assistants

IARC faculty and postdocs are encouraged to hire undergraduate student assistants. This will provide you with valuable supervisory experience and will expose these students to real scientific research. Discuss with your supervisor the need and possibility of hiring an undergraduate assistant. Once you receive approval to hire an undergraduate student, meet with IARC’s Executive Officer about listing the position posting. Do this at least four weeks prior to the desired start date for the position. You must then compile a list of screening and interview questions. The Executive Officer can provide examples of questions. Job postings will be advertised through Careers at UA.