What does “impact” mean in the context of academic work? Is it all about how many citations your papers get? Or are there other important ways research and creative work can have influence? Those were some of the questions explored in a fascinating panel discussion promoted by the Center for Faculty Excellence that focused on faculty impact narratives across disciplines.
The group included professors from education (Kristy Brugar), theater (Seth Gordon), library science (Melissa Seelye) and, well, me. We had a really thoughtful chat about not only how each of their fields defines “impact” but also the very human stories behind developing an impact record over an academic career.
The Imposter Makes an Appearance
Both professor Brugar from the College of Education and professor Gordon from the Drama School confessed they grappled with imposter syndrome when transitioning from their former careers into academia.
Kristy Brugar described moving from 13 years of middle school teaching into higher education adjunct work and realizing she wanted to dig deeper into research. Seth Gordon recounted his journey from professional theater directing and producing to realizing he wanted to impart all that wisdom to the next generation.
But when faced with creating syllabi, letter grades, and canvas rubrics? Let’s just say self doubt crept in. Both agreed candid honesty with themselves and their students went a long way to combat those feelings.
Strategic Planning or Just Saying Yes?
When asked whether building an impact record was methodically strategic or more organic, our professors had different takes. Gordon emphasized remaining open to unexpected opportunities that reverberated well beyond a singular project, like directing Our Town in Cairo shortly after the U.S. invaded Iraq. The political impact was immense.
Kristy took a more purposeful tack, always considering with each research project how to translate findings for three target audiences. But she also stressed embracing invitations even when unsure where they might lead professionally.
Tough Topic: Academic Publishing
The conversation took a thoughtful turn in discussing how academic publishing, especially regarding open access and sharing data/findings outside paywalls, can impact whose hands research lands in. Melissa from the Library urged all academics to closely read author agreements before signing away rights and retention options. She also shared helpful context on how publicly-funded research gets essentially “double dipped” when published in paywalled journals universities must subscribe to.
Rethinking Assessing Impact
There was collective agreement that academic departments disable themselves when trying to create standardized assessment rubrics. How can the Drama School measure themselves against STEM disciplines? As Kristy noted, “It’s more valuable assessing ourselves in relation to other schools with similar missions.”
The group explored how tenure committees could better capture impact beyond citation counts. Gordon speculated that STEM colleagues could take cues from how the Arts and Humanities incorporate influencing later generations over decades. Kristy described weaving in paragraphs on previous graduates now shaping classrooms nationwide thanks to their mentored research projects.
The bottom line was that scholarly impact manifests across infinite dimensions, and our methods for documenting such should reflect that diversity. The panel certainly convinced me that NEXT time imposter syndrome rears its ugly head, I’ll defeat it through proud storytelling… not statistics spreadsheeting. As Einstein is said to have said (but probably not), “Not all that can be counted counts, and not all that counts be counted.”
