Searching for a Job in Higher Education
Higher Education and student affairs professionals provide leadership for colleges and universities. From creating robust programming to implementing systems and policies, higher education administrators and personnel oversee services to enhance students’ college experience and well-being.
Career Advice Quick Tips
Tip #1 Explore which functional areas you are interested in (i.e. academic support, residence life, admissions, student accountability, and more).
Tip #2 Think carefully about what sorts of transitions you are willing to make: geographic location, public vs. private, large vs. small, etc.
Tip #3 Research the job and the schools with whom you are – campus culture, organization structure, centralized vs. decentralized offices and resources.
Tip #4 Consider a summer internship placement through the Association of College and University Housing Offices to gain hands-on experience in residential education and orientation/first-year experience programs, respectively:
News in the Field
- American Association of Colleges and UniversitiesA voice and a form for liberal education. AAC&U advances the vitality and democratic purposes of undergraduate liberal education.
- American Council on EducationACE is a membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice.
- The Chronicle of Higher EducationIn-depth and breaking news, opinion, advice and jobs for professors, deans and others in higher education from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Video Resources
Higher Education & Student Affairs Job Search Websites
- Academic KeysAcademic Keys offers universities a venue to efficiently recruit for higher-level faculty and administrative positions.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education Job BoardSearch for your next job from over 30,000 live job openings.
- Diverse JobsUse DiverseJobs.net job search engine - the best way to find a job. Find employers hiring near you and quickly apply to job openings.
- HigherEd JobsFaculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities. Updated daily. Free to job seekers.
- Higher Education Recruitment ConsortiumSearch or post higher ed jobs on HERC Jobs. Our mission is to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the higher education workforce.
- Inside Higher Ed CareersUpload your resume and let employers find you for your next job in higher ed.
- The Placement Exchange (TPE@NASPA)Sponsored by six national Student Affairs organizations, The Placement Exchange is the largest career placement resource.
- Student Affairs.comJob database with thousands of student affairs job openings covering every functional area, from academic support to residence life and housing.
- Times Higher Education Job BoardThe leading source of international university and academic jobs. Search for vacancies at top universities and institutions including research jobs, senior management jobs and professional services jobs.
Resources from Vanderbilt Libraries Research Guides
Professional Organizations
This is a list of links to national and international organizations that focus on higher education. For a listing of organizations focusing on K-12 education, see the guide for Government & Research Organizations for Education.
- American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
- American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
- American Association of Community Colleges
- American Association of School Administrators
- American Association of State Colleges and Universities
- American Association of University Professors
- American Association of University Women
- American Council on Education
- American Education Finance Association
- American Educational Research Association
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- American Federation of Teachers
- American Indian Higher Education Consortium
- American Society for Engineering Education
- Association for Continuing Higher Education
- Association for Institutional Research
- Association for the Study of Higher Education
- Association for Theatre in Higher Education
- Association of American Colleges and Universities
- Association of American Universities
- Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
- Association of College and Research Libraries
- Association of College and University Auditors
- Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
- Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning
- Association of Community College Trustees
- Association of Fundraising Professionals
- Association of Governing Board of Universities and Colleges
- Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities
- Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities
- Association of Research Libraries
- Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education
- CareerColleges.com
- Carnegie Foundation for Teaching
- College and University Professional Association for Human Resources
- Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion
- Comparative and International Education Society
- Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration
- Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE)
- Consortium of College and University Media Centers
- Council for Advancement and Support of Education
- Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
- Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
- Council of Graduate Schools
- Education Commission of the States
- EDUCAUSE
- European Association of Institutions in Higher Education
- European Centre for Higher Education
- European University Association
- Higher Education Information Technology Alliance
- Institute for Higher Education Policy
- International Association of University Presidents
- Internet2
- National Association for College Admission Counseling
- National Association of College and University Business Officers
- National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
- National Association of Independent Schools
- National Association of Student Personnel Administrators
- National Business Education Association
- National Center for Public Policy & Higher Education
- National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education
- NCHEMS Information Center for State Higher Education Policymaking & Analysis
- Online Colleges.org
- POD Network: Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
- Society for College and University Planning
- Society for Research into Higher Education
- State Higher Education Executive Officers
- Tennessee Board of Regents
- Tennessee Higher Education Commission
- University Continuing Education Association
Career Books
Faculty Career Paths by
^IFaculty Career Paths^R examines the multiple ways faculty travel through the academic environment--from graduate student to post-doc, to contingent, tenure-track, non-tenure track, or senior faculty--recognizing that, as the environment for higher education changes, so must the administrative approach to recruiting, hiring, and retaining faculty. Based on national research as well as studies done within the diverse, 16-campus University of North Caolina system, the authors provide practical advice to administrators in higher education. Changing demographics and a new emphasis on economic development, internationalization, and technology, are changing the ways in which university faculty conduct their work. University and college administrators need to be prepared to recruit, hire, and retain new faculty for this new world, and this book is designed to help. In addition to providing a wealth of data about the faculty of the future, it offers practical advice from the authors, and from a number of expert contributors, on recruiting and retaining new faculty while providing a supportive environment for senior faculty during a period of growth in higher education. The lengthy bibliography directs administrators to informative resources on particular topics that are important to their roles in working with academic personnel. The statements of the contributors support the data and conclusions of the authors, and, at the same time, reflect the changing attitudes and expectations about faculty careers. The authors also discuss the issues concerning non-tenure-track faculty. A large and helpful bibliography directs administrators to important resources on particular topics that are important to their roles in working with academic personnel.
Call Number: LB2331.72 .B38 2006ISBN: 9780275987480Publication Date: 2006-08-30
Good Work If You Can Get It by
What does it really take to get a job in academia? Do you want to go to graduate school? Then you're in good company: nearly 80,000 students will begin pursuing a PhD this year alone. But while almost all new PhD students say they want to work in academia, most are destined for something else. The hard truth is that half will quit or fail to get their degree, and most graduates will never find a full-time academic job. In Good Work If You Can Get It, Jason Brennan combines personal experience with the latest higher education research to help you understand what graduate school and the academy are really like. This candid, pull-no-punches book answers questions big and small, including * Should I go to graduate school--and what will I do once I get there? * How much does a PhD cost--and should I pay for one? * What does it take to succeed in graduate school? * What kinds of jobs are there after grad school--and who gets them? * What happens to the people who never get full-time professorships? * What does it take to be productive, to publish continually at a high level? * What does it take to teach many classes at once? * How does "publish or perish" work? * How much do professors get paid? * What do search committees look for, and what turns them off? * How do I know which journals and book publishers matter? * How do I balance work and life? This realistic, data-driven look at university teaching and research will help make your graduate and postgraduate experience a success. Good Work If You Can Get It is the guidebook that anyone considering graduate school, already in grad school, starting as a new professor, or advising graduate students needs. Read it, and you will come away ready to hit the ground running.
Call Number: LB1778.2 .B74 2020ISBN: 9781421437965Publication Date: 2020-05-05
Life of the Mind Interrupted by
Academia isn't an easy place to be if your brain isn't quite right. Colleagues carelessly call each other "schizo" and "bipolar." Another colleague is fired--easy enough to do these days, when most college teachers no longer have tenure--for "instability." In these ways and many more, psychiatrically disabled people working in higher education are reminded every day that their privilege, their very livelihoods, can be stripped away by the groundless suspicions of others. Their lives can be, in an instant, interrupted. The essays in this book cover topics such as disclosure of disabilities, accommodations and accessibility, how to be a good abled friend to a disabled person, the trigger warnings debate, and more. Written for a popular audience, for those with disabilities and for those who want to learn more about living a disabled life, Life of the Mind Interrupted aims to make higher education, and the rest of our society, more humane. "Katie Rose Guest Pryal is one of the foremost writers of disability and higher education we have today." --Catherine J. Prendergast, Ph.D., Professor of Disability Studies
Call Number: LB2333.2 .P79 2017ISBN: 9781947834057Publication Date: 2017-10-16
Professing to Learn by
Research, teaching, service, and public outreach--all are aspects of being a tenured professor. But this list of responsibilities is missing a central component: actual scholarly learning--disciplinary knowledge that faculty teach, explore in research, and share with the academic community. How do professors pursue such learning when they must give their attention as well to administrative and other obligations? Professing to Learn explores university professors' scholarly growth and learning in the years immediately following the award of tenure, a crucial period that has a lasting impact on the academic career. Some launch from this point to multiple accomplishments and accolades, while others falter, their academic pursuits stalled. What contributes to these different outcomes? Drawing on interviews with seventy-eight professors in diverse disciplines and fields at five major American research universities, Anna Neumann describes how tenured faculty shape and disseminate their own disciplinary knowledge while attending committee meetings, grading exams, holding office hours, administering programs and departments, and negotiating with colleagues. By exploring the intellectual activities pursued by these faculty and their ongoing efforts to develop and define their academic interests, Professing to Learn directs the attention of higher education professionals and policy makers to the core aim of higher education: the creation of academic knowledge through research, teaching, and service.
Call Number: LB1778.2 .N475 2009ISBN: 9780801891311Publication Date: 2009-06-01- Starter Kit: New to the Faculty by Starting your first tenure-track position can feel like a dream come true. But it can also bring anxiety: How do you develop a good work-life balance? What is the right mix of teaching, research and service? How do you navigate a new campus culture? This collection of essays written by experienced professors offers answers to those questions and more.Call Number: LB1778 .N49 2018ISBN: 1035014884Publication Date: 2018
Your Future on the Faculty by
How are the human and institutional systems fundamental to succeeding in academia?In graduate school we are trained how to be scholars, and maybe how to be effective teachers. But there is much more to being a college or university faculty member--and most of it is left to figure out on one's own. This job isn't hard because the core scholarship is hard, but because of thecomplex mix of activities that scholars must figure out how to juggle. These are dominated by human and institutional structures within departments, universities, societies, and professional communities. Succeeding and thriving as an academic calls for developing wider, "non-academic" insights andskills into how these operate and how to operate effectively with, and within, them. Functioning as an academic is about the relationships we develop with our communities of students, campus colleagues, professional peers, and our university administrative and support staff--the people who enablefaculty members to function.Your Future as a Faculty Member: How to Survive and Thrive in Academia is organized into four sections, each focusing on one aspect of the human systems that are fundamental to succeeding as an academic. Section 1 starts in the center with new professors, as they build their career. Section 2 looksat university administrative systems and the staff who manage them. Section 3 focuses on teaching and training roles. Finally, Section 4 looks at wider professional networks outside of university, publishers and academic communities.
Call Number: LB1778 .S28 2023ISBN: 9780197608838Publication Date: 2023-08-04
