About

An NSF CAREER writing workshop has been offered at previous ASME IDETC/CIE conferences, and these workshops have received very positive feedback and good attendance rates. At the 2014 workshop, an anonymous post-survey was given and more than 85% of the respondents “strongly agreed” that their experience in the workshop gave them a clearer understanding of a CAREER proposal, 78% were motivated to apply for a CAREER proposal because of the workshop, and 81% felt it was valuable to include the workshop as part of the IDETC/CIE conference. In 2015, over 80 participants attended, and on a scale of 1-5, where 5 reflects “strongly agree”, participant responded to having a “better understanding of what the CAREER proposal is” with an average score of 4.38. Open ended comments made by participants reflected that the event should not have a registration fee, that there should be more discussion about previously funded CAREER proposals and a greater opportunity for Q&A, and that the speakers should be encouraged to discuss their personal journeys in greater detail.

An advantage of conducting this workshop at the IDETC/CIE conference is that it helps to strengthen the community bond between researchers by allowing ideas and past experiences to be shared. Researchers who have previously been awarded the CAREER can share their experiences (both pre- and post- award) and NSF program officers can share their perspectives. The conference also provides an avenue for junior faculty to engage in dialogue and build relationships with senior faculty. Such interactions may provide a platform where junior faculty can begin to identify those senior faculty they might recommend as tenure letter writers. Results from an independent survey conducted by Co-chair Reid indicate that approximately 70% of junior faculty are not yet clear on which senior faculty they could call upon for tenure package letters. Over 82% of the faculty indicated that acquiring strong letters for their tenure case is an important criterion in their department, and a little over 60% were concerned about their ability to do so.