The Foreign Service Journal, January 2006

Top-level administrative officials, in addition to per- forming their management functions, also maintain their faculty status and may even teach a class or two (think DCM as the function and FS-1 as the rank). Faculty can leave their administrative positions (chair, dean, provost, even president) and remain on campus in their professo- rial role to teach or do research. The mandatory retirement age — if there is one — also varies among institutions, but is usually quite high (70 to 75). Tenure — originally intended to assure acad- emic freedom — is a key issue. The trend is toward fewer tenure-track positions (now averaging about 45 percent — but, again, with a high degree of variation among institutions), although faculty strongly support creating more. Someone on a tenure track can expect to wait about six years before making it. Challenges and Opportunities Management in academia often resembles trying to herd cats. Most policies are developed through commit- tees or collegial discussions, so someone accustomed to a real-time, command-and-control management style would probably face constant frustration. Fortunately, in my case academic colleagues have been very supportive of someone coming from the “outside” to a relatively high-level position, and have been more than willing to provide guidance and advice. Given the growing emphasis on globalization and internationalization, Foreign Service skills are welcome and readily transferable to many academic positions. With thousands of campuses spread throughout the U.S., academia can serve as an excellent transition to eventual retirement almost anywhere you might like to settle. The most comprehensive compendium of higher-level acade- mic vacancies is found in the Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicles.com/jobs/ ). Wherever you end up, in my experience, work in the State Department is just as ideal a preparation for academia as time spent on campus is for the Foreign Service. n F O C U S 48 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6 2000 N. 14th Street • Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Telephone (703) 797-3259 Fax (703) 524-7559 Tollfree (800) 424-9500