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Service

© Chelsea Paige Buffington

With respect to tenure, service can be involvement with a variety of committees and organizations. At large institutions or in particularly large departments, service within your department is likely the most important for tenure review. While it is unlikely for you to serve as a chair or director within the department, it is possible to participate in committees that deal with departmental matters. There are also university committees on such things as academic honesty or teaching. Committees on a variety of topics are possibilities. These are committees that you should seek out, offering your services. Make it clear to colleagues throughout the university that you are interested in being involved. It is also good to offer your services to student organizations.

Outside of the university, it is often important include yourself in community affairs by volunteering. You may want to become involved with the local, county, or regional historical society or with a particular community organization or museum. You may want to offer your help at the public library. Check out my article from 31 May entitled "Getting Involved," which deals with historical societies. Genealogical and Historical Societies is a site that can help you find historical societies, http://www.outfitters.com/genealogy/gens... Their are also societies specifically devoted to fields like the United States Commission on Military History, http://www.uscmh.org.

There are also possibilities for service outside of your community. State endowments for the humanities as well as state or regional historical societies are good organizations to extend your expertise. Service can also come in the form of committee service for organization to which you belong, such as a regional or field-specific association. For example, you may want to offer your services to the Southwestern Social Sciences Association http://www.sfasu.edu/soc/sssa or an association like the North Central Oklahoma Historical Association http://www.ponacitynews.com/community/lo...

To find out about possibilities for service, ask around in your department, university, and community. Find out what organizations exist both locally and regionally. Check sites like http://www.theaha.org or http://chronicle.com to find out what sorts of service opportunities may exist nationally.

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