June L. Preast, The University of Alabama
MacKenzie Sidwell, Mississippi State University
Within our academic positions, we encounter a range of experiences that seem to go beyond the typical Research, Teaching, and Service loads. While research productivity is often the focus in earning tenure and promotions, especially at research-intensive institutions, it is the unexpected situations that impede time spent on scholarship. As an early-career faculty member, tricky situations, especially those involving students, can be stressful, tough to navigate, and take up more time and energy than imagined. Below, we provide some guidance for handling tricky student situations and ensuring you and your scholarship feel supported.
Courses
A common setting for tricky situations with students is our classes, where disagreements arise over grades and/or assignments. When developing (or updating) your syllabi, provide explicit instructions and clear explanations for all course expectations. Consider having detailed rubrics for each assignment and providing those at the beginning of the semester. While time-consuming, the more structure you provide students before they even begin assignments, the harder it will be for them to dispute the grades you assign. Clearly outlining procedures, resources, and expectations is just one of the ways you can maintain inclusive syllabi for your courses. This is not to say that flexibility cannot be provided to your students and for your courses based on a variety of needs and situations. If changes are made during the semester, take note of all changes and rationales, and clearly document your communication of those changes to students in case there are any questions later. Given the impact of AI on instruction, it is helpful to include an AI policy in your syllabus, with clear language about its use in coursework. Faculty will likely need to confer with colleagues, institutional policies, guidance from the field, and recommendations in the literature when crafting this language. Clear communication, whether through grading with comments or responses to student inquiries, is key to lessening disagreements within courses. If you are unsure how to handle a dispute about course grades or assignments, review your institution’s faculty handbook for guidance.
Field Experiences
For some of our students, participating in field experiences may be the first time they have had to show up to a “job,” where they might not be getting paid directly but have important responsibilities. It’s important to set expectations for students’ field experiences from both the university program and site perspectives. Students may not know that they are expected to show up on time or early for their placements, that business casual is the dress code, or that it is unprofessional to be on your phone during an IEP meeting. Our site supervisors may have different expectations of our students than we, as faculty, do. It’s also important for site supervisors and university supervisors to communicate early and often, especially if there are any concerns or skills of the student(s) that require more training. If a tricky situation arises involving a student and their field experience placement, make sure any conversations with the student and the placement site have been documented. Review the memorandum of agreement (or memorandum of understanding) between the placement site and the program/institution to ensure that no breach of contract has occurred. If your program has procedures for issues with field placement sites, review them and ensure the student has received adequate and appropriate support.
Research
Mentoring students in research can be a fulfilling aspect of our jobs in academia. With mentoring also comes providing advice, coaching, and teaching to support the mentee’s professional development. Regarding research with students, it is important for us to encourage growth in their research skills while also providing instruction. When working with student researchers, whether in research teams or one-to-one, set clear expectations and boundaries. Creating a formal agreement at the beginning of a project or semester may help prevent future disputes. If students are not completing assigned tasks or engaging in potentially unethical behavior (e.g., plagiarism, inappropriate AI use), have a conversation with them to remind them of the stated expectations and next steps for their participation in research. As such, dissertation contracts can be particularly helpful tools to delineate the dissertation-related tasks to be completed by the student that both you and the student agree represent satisfactory progress each semester.
General Issues
Sometimes, students forget that program colleagues communicate with each other, especially about how best to support students. With that, students sometimes attempt to triangulate, or ask multiple faculty for the same thing in an effort to get their desired outcome, similar to asking dad for something after mom refused. Students sometimes also go to female faculty with questions or requests for help more than to male faculty. And early-career faculty can also be targets, typically being closer in age to the students or being seen as more of a pushover than more seasoned faculty. Certainly, not all students are out to get faculty, and some who engage in this behavior do so because they struggle to communicate their needs to faculty due to insecurity or unclear boundaries and expectations. It is helpful to be mindful that this might happen, and take note if a student comes to you for something that feels a bit off, or is related to a program or course expectation that is not solely under your purview. At the beginning of the semester, remind students of the different options for seeking support within your program and at your institution, and when these situations do arise, don’t feel like you have to answer all student questions right away. Take time to find the correct answers, consult with your colleagues, or point them to a colleague who is better suited to answer their question.
Finding Support
Hopefully, issues related to students are few and far between in your career, and taking proactive steps may help to prevent issues down the line. Setting boundaries can be helpful not only for promoting your research productivity but also for your well-being. Clear communication and expectations at the beginning of each course, supervision experience, or research project will help to lay a solid foundation for positive interactions with students. Mentors at your institution and external to your institution (e.g., NASP, APA Division 2, state school psychology organizations) may provide pertinent perspectives and guidance on navigating situations that may arise that align with university policy and norms. In addition to the multitude of blog posts from the Early Career Forum, both the Trainers of School Psychologists and the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs provide resources for graduate training, including supporting students. Finally, the Early Career Forum also hosts a happy hour during the NASP Annual Convention, offering early career faculty a chance to connect around research and collaboration, while also building community and finding peers who understand the challenges of navigating tricky situations, and who can remind you that you’re not alone.