The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020 27 Jane Zimmerman, retired FSO Current position: Started summer 2019 as John and Ruth McGee Director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. How she found the job: • Through her network of contacts. The Davidson College search committee reached out to George- town University. Davidson alumna Jillian Burns was invaluable in helping her prepare for an opportunity in higher education, McGee says. • Global Jobs and Devex. She notes the importance of search terms you select; she used “professor of practice.” Responsibilities: • 75 percent programming, advising, networking for the college. • 25 percent teaching. • 100 percent for the students. Her first class: “Diplomacy in the First Person,” using Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training oral histories and memoires of foreign policy practitioners, focusing on how to think strategically and ethically in difficult moments when there are no good options. Her mission: Paying it forward for the next generation, which interconnects with Davidson’s mission of “developing humane instincts and disciplined and creative minds for lives of lead- ership and service.” Observations on teaching today: “Our students want to save the world, and they definitely see a career in the Foreign Service and government as a great way to do that. The recruiting visit of our region’s Diplomat-in- Residence was oversubscribed. “Students want to engage with their professor, guest speakers and, especially, each other in exploring the concepts in the assignments. I receive tremendous support from fellow faculty and the college to innovate and improve my teaching. The librarians will become your best friends, along with the IT staff.” Advice to FSOs thinking about teaching: “Get on LinkedIn and join the group Foreign Policy Practitioners–Educators Network. It offers resources, ideas and community. Also, look on YouTube at AFSA’s ‘Next Stage’ panel on ‘Teaching International Affairs and the Art of Diplomacy.’ You may have left the Foreign Service, but your Foreign Service family is still there for you.” In short, teaching international affairs may be the perfect follow-on career for some FSOs, but it can be challenging to find opportunities, particularly well-paid options. Types of Positions and Employers There are basically three types of positions available in higher education. Adjunct or part-time instructor. Effectively a contractor, an adjunct or part-time instructor is paid per course. According to the American Association of University Professors, more than half of all faculty appointments are now part-time. While adjuncts are usually freed from other academic duties—e.g., faculty meetings, committee responsibilities, student advising, requirement to publish—they may receive few benefits and little professional support. Administrative position with teaching responsibilities. Some universities employ former FSOs, and particularly former ambassadors, in positions that include administrative respon- sibilities for managing academic programs but also include opportunities to teach. Former FSO James Seevers, for instance, serves as the Director of Studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and both manages pro- grams and teaches at the graduate level. Former AFSA President Ambassador (ret.) Barbara Stephenson just took up a vice pro-