Sponsored by the National Postdoctoral Association
Knowledge regarding how the North American faculty job market is structured is not equally distributed. International scholars may be unfamiliar with the norms and expectations of applying for faculty positions in the United States and Canada. Furthermore, individuals without robust networks of academics (those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, first-generation students, and groups historically under-represented in the academy) to lean on for support may struggle to navigate the faculty job market. This session seeks to empower all attendees with useful information and insights and facilitate interaction among attendees to better understand and navigate the faculty job market.
About the panelists
Amanda Haage, Ph.D., assistant professor in biomedical sciences, University of North Dakota
Haage (Hay-Gee, she/her) is an academic focused on making an impact. After training as a cell biologist and educator at Iowa State University and the University of British Columbia she started as an educator scholar at the University of North Dakota in 2019. Here she launched an innovative undergraduate anatomy and physiology program that integrates the goals of a liberal arts education, such as teamwork, literacy, and the experiences of a diverse humanity with traditional pre-health content. She helped found the Faculty Job Collaboration as a way to make a difference in the culture of higher education after her own faculty search; experiencing first hand how opaque the process can be. Haage also maintains a cell biology lab interested in understanding how cells move through their environment using mostly microscopy based techniques. Overall, she loves the merged life of research and teaching as a service to creating a more just world.
Nafisa M. Jadavji, Ph.D., assistant professor in physiology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (incoming); research professor, University of Arizona and Carleton University
Nafisa (n uh – f ee – s ah) Jadavji (j aa – d uh v – j ee, she/her) is a neuroscientist. She is an assistant professor in physiology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (incoming), research professor at the University of Arizona and Carleton University. She completed her doctoral training at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. Her laboratory investigates how the brain responds to different biological processes throughout the lifespan. Jadavji has been part of the National Faculty Collaboration since its inception and wants to make the faculty job market more transparent. When she is not working, Jadavji enjoys cooking and baking gluten free treats. She is also an avid traveler, runner, and knitter.
Chris Smith, Ph.D., postdoctoral affairs program administrator, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, Virginia TechSmith (he/him) directs the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Virginia Tech. Prior to this role he was the Postdoctoral Affairs Program Manager at North Carolina State University. He received his doctorate in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and conducted postdoctoral training at Vanderbilt University. He has served on the NPA Board of Directors since 2020 and contributed to work on the faculty job market and mentoring in the academic ecosystem since moving into an administrative role in early 2019. Prior to working in postdoctoral affairs Smith spent 10+ years researching human decision making and valuation processes.