By Katya Hrichak

Jennifer Houtz, Ph.D. ‘23, always knew she wanted to be a professor at a primarily undergraduate institution.

But the journey from a Ph.D. to an academic career can be challenging to navigate with numerous components and requirements. To better prepare herself for the job search and transition from student to professor, Houtz participated in the NextGen Professors Program.

Co-sponsored by the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement and Future Faculty and Academic Careers, the NextGen Professors Program aims to prepare Cornell doctoral students and postdocs for faculty careers across institutional types.

Participants, as a cohort, engage in a series of professional and career development activities including monthly NextGen Professors meetings, Power Mentoring Sessions with faculty members, and Future Faculty and Academic Careers workshops and consultations.

“The NextGen Professors Program offered a streamlined and comprehensive professional development pathway that would help me achieve that dream career,” said Houtz, an assistant professor of biology at Allegheny College since fall of 2023.

Meetings cover topics such as readying application materials, including CVs, cover letters, and research, teaching, and mentoring statements, and preparing for campus interviews, job talks, and entering negotiations. Power Mentoring Sessions can address these topics as well as any other questions participants may have in a confidential, casual setting with faculty.

“The NextGen Professors Program helped me reflect on my own graduate school experience and think forward about how I want to shape the educational experiences of my future students,” said Kim Hochstedler Webb, Ph.D. ’24, an incoming assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Division of General Internal Medicine. “This reflection enabled me to enter my faculty job search with a clear intention for how I would mentor students, teach classes, and contribute to collaborative research.”

In addition to gaining in-depth knowledge about the ins and outs of the job search and what beginning a faculty role can look like, participants gain a community of other likeminded individuals.

“I wanted to be a part of a community of senior Ph.D. students and postdocs who were preparing to enter the academic job market. I felt that being a part of this community would be very beneficial and provide me with the right support system to succeed,” said Kianté Brantley, who participated in the program as a Cornell postdoc and is now an assistant professor of computer science at the Harvard University John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Becoming part of a NextGen Professors cohort connects doctoral students and postdocs across fields and disciplines, offering new perspectives, added support, and connections that might not have otherwise formed.

“I decided to apply for and participate in the NextGen Professors Program at a time when I was feeling immensely overwhelmed by the job search and by doubts about my place in academia and the professoriate,” said Caitlin Kane, Ph.D. ’22, now assistant professor of theatre history at the Kent State University School of Theatre and Dance. “I was looking for community and guidance on navigating the transition from the Ph.D. into the profession and was thrilled to find both through the program.”

“By the time I entered my current position, I felt absolutely prepared for the job, and that is due, in no small part, to the guidance I received from the program,” Kane said.