In our new thread soliciting questions on tips for faculty on the tenure-track, the OP asks: how involved should you get in department politics or the direction of the department (if at all)?
This is a good question, and not an easy one to answer. On the one hand, departmental politics (and university politics, for that matter) can involve all kinds of risks–alienating people with power over your career, etc. On the other hand, I know of some cases where departments have factions of various sorts and not getting involved in departmental politics is itself risky–as members of the various factions might expect a new TT member to 'choose sides', as it were. Finally, as a tenure track faculty member you might feel like you have a right and duty of some kind to get involved: to help push the department in one direction rather than another.
In my 12 years at my current university, I have seen tenure-track faculty adopt vastly different styles here. I've seen faculty who try to stay out of the fray, as it were, and I've seen faculty get deeply involved–and speak out a lot–in both departmental and university politics. It's never been entirely clear to me what the best approach is.
What do you all think? It might be good to hear some stories or experiences from TT faculty who have adopted one approach or the other. Was getting involved in departmental (or university) politics fruitful, or did it turn out to be more trouble than it was worth? Or, did you just keep your head down and focus on teaching and research?
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