Creating or Refreshing a Mid-Career Professional Development Plan

This workshop for faculty is the foundation of WPI’s mentoring system for all Associate Professors on all tracks. It was developed with funding from the Women’s Impact Network and WPI's NSF ADVANCE grant. A few notes:

• The process of creating a professional development plan (PDP) fosters agency, sense of purpose, and a strategic approach to the Associate years: What really matters to me? What work do I want to take on and why? What might I pause, set aside, or discontinue? Studies suggest that this meaning-making helps to prevent or mitigate burnout. We’re confident that the workshop will be a good investment of time and self-care as you start off the new year 2025.
• All are encouraged to participate regardless of years in rank, and we especially recommend participation within 1-3 years of being promoted to Associate. It’s also helpful on an ongoing basis, to reconnect with a cohort once a year to take stock and build community around a range of goals for professional growth.
• Part of the PDP process helps you chart a pathway that you’re excited about (first and foremost) AND that will advance you toward promotion to full Professor on your track as a happy consequence of that. That said, this workshop works for all, regardless of promotion aspirations!
• Since the workshop involves primarily personal reflection and small group discussion, we will not be recording the workshop or offering a hybrid option. If you cannot attend in person this year, we hope you can in a subsequent year. In addition, all of the workshop materials can be found on the ADVANCE Canvas site: an introductory video, the PDP template, and suggestions for creating an Associate Professor Mentoring Team.
• If you would like to attend, please register by January 17, 25 . During the first week of January, we’ll communicate with registrants about some modest advance preparation for the workshop. 

“This workshop…gave me a block of time to actually THINK about planning my own outcome in a purposeful way.  That was something that I seriously needed, but wouldn’t have set aside the time for myself without this prompt.” – previous participant