The Foreign Service Journal, February 2010

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 27 Texas Tech University, I can attest to the value of the ad- vice Ambassadors Perkins and Corr gave me: Academia can be a fantastic follow-on to a State career. It offers tremendous professional and personal satisfaction — but you do need to learn the language and culture. A Variety of Opportunities Schools offer niches for Foreign Service personnel of all skill groups — and not just in teaching and research. Like any large organization, a campus requires the full range of business, administrative and physical-plant operations. While some FS careers are particularly well-suited to the classroom (political, economic, science, USAID, FCS, FAS), numerous other positions are a good fit for those with management, public affairs, consular, security, med- ical or other skills. Since my own Foreign Service experience was in man- agement, my position as vice provost for international af- fairs at Texas Tech University is a great fit. Most campuses have an international programs office, though it may op- erate under a variety of names and chief executive titles. Thus, my counterparts can be deans, vice presidents or ex- ecutive directors. Directing TTU’s Office of International Affairs is simi- lar to managing a small U.S. mission. With about 45 em- ployees, we send about 800 U.S. students on a variety of study-abroad programs; welcome about 1,600 interna- tional students and scholars from more than 80 countries to our campus; coordinate exchanges with international in- stitutions; and manage our centers in Seville, Spain, and Quedlinburg, Germany, where students can gain language fluency in one semester. My office also operates the International Center for Arid and Semiarid Land Studies, which undertakes inter- national development projects, promotes community out- reach by bringing distinguished speakers on global topics to Lubbock, and presents international-themed programs to more than 20,000 K-12 students in the region each year. In addition, we operate a passport acceptance agency for the region, processing more applications than the main post office. Consular issues on overseas assignments, difficulties re- lated to visas and work permits for visiting students and scholars, and Department of Labor wage classifications for foreign teachers and researchers have become major parts of the workload. (At times we feel like we’re employees of the Department of Homeland Security instead of the uni- versity!) Such functions are handled by international stu- dent/scholar advisers (ideal jobs for retired consular offi- cers, by the way). Our work also includes duties that are good matches for management officers, public affairs offi- cers, cultural affairs officers, general services officers, building and maintenance officers and information sys- tems officers, as well as security specialists and office man- agement specialists. Since the main functions of universities are teaching and research, I do my best to teach at least one semester each year — either on Africa or global issues. In addition to increasing my credibility with academic colleagues, teaching is an excellent way to stay in touch with student life. I also want to stir up interest in Africa among our stu- dents, and promote international civilian U.S. government service in a part of the country where few young people consider such careers. Academia 101 Those interested in transitioning to academia can pur- sue several strategies. I maintained contact with Texas Tech University (my undergraduate alma mater) through- out my Foreign Service career. It was close to our home leave point, so I did class presentations and guest lectures whenever I passed through. This long-term involvement was instrumental in TTU selecting me for my current job. Serving a tour as a Diplomat-in-Residence, as I did, gives an excellent introduction to how campuses work and al- lows the DIR to get to know (and become known at) all of the institutions of higher learning in the region. The best source for most mid-level academic positions, and some senior ones, is the daily Chronicle of Higher Ed- ucation , whose Web version has an excellent jobs site (http://chronicles.com/jobs/) . Most institutions also recruit through their Web sites and maintain information on all current vacancies. There are also several academic re- cruiting firms that are hired by institutions to identify can- didates for the highest positions (e.g., chancellors, presidents, vice presidents and deans). However you get there, you will have to master the ba- sics of campus life. Interestingly, there are a number of parallels with the Foreign Service world. Academia is just as hierarchical and rank-conscious as diplomacy, and there is a professional chasm between “faculty” (teaching and research) and “staff” (support) akin to that between FS generalists and specialists. Professional faculty begin their careers as instructors, F O C U S