Welcome to my tenure portfolio. I have only been at Pacific since August 2013, but as a result of my previous academic experience I am applying for tenure during the 2014-15 academic year (see also Flipsen-Pacific-hireletter). Although much of what you encounter here will be based on work I did while at other institutions, since arriving at Pacific I have endeavored to ‘hit the ground running’ and hopefully have made enough of a contribution to warrant a successful application.
I was advised that this portfolio should be framed around “telling my story”, so that is what I will try to do. That said, my Canadian sensibilities leave me somewhat embarrassed at the prospect of having to blow my own horn. Thus, the reader should be prepared for a large dose of understatement, as I must leave it to others to decide whether I possess the requisite qualifications for the status of “Tenured Professor” at Pacific University. To see specific elements of my portfolio please click on the links near the top of this page.
My Somewhat Atypical Path
As noted I didn’t come to Pacific by the typical route. Thus, I thought I might begin by briefly describing how I did arrive here. After perusing this, the reader should then look to each of the Teaching, Scholarship, and Service pages via the links above.
I have held three academic positions prior to coming to Pacific. In my first I spent a brief 1.5 years at Minnesota State University, Mankato. While there I quickly realized some important things: (1) I enjoy classroom teaching but not clinical supervision, but (2) I don’t love teaching so much that I want to give up being a researcher. This second point is by no means trivial. A large part of my original motivation for getting my PhD was that during my 4 years as a practicing clinician I grew tired of having to regularly answer questions from clients and caregivers with “we just don’t know”. I knew of the PhD shortage in my field. I had also been told that I might have the intellectual horsepower to work at the doctoral level. Indeed my first three publications were in print before I started my doctoral program. So I decided that I needed to do my part to help find better answers. It didn’t take me long at Mankato to realize that teaching 12 credits each semester (i.e., three classes along with clinical supervision) wouldn’t allow for much research.
That led me to my second academic position at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where I spent the next 7 years. In many ways I thrived with the lighter teaching load (2 classes per semester and no clinical supervision). Here I was able to develop a research program looking at the emergence of speech and language skills in deaf children who have been fitted with cochlear implants. But it was also there where I had my “epiphany” about teaching (see my Teaching reflection). While at Tennessee I was promoted to Associate Professor and granted tenure. But as northerners accustomed to temperate climates my wife (who is from the Netherlands) and I (being Canadian) were never able to adapt to the heat and humidity of the south.
We then moved to the more moderate climate of Idaho and Idaho State University where I spent the next 6 years. The teaching load was less than at Mankato but a bit heavier than at Tennessee (3 classes per semester but again no clinical supervision). I was able to continue being a productive researcher albeit at a slightly slower pace. I also started to shift the focus of my research away from cochlear implants and towards treatment research. It was also here that I developed skills with teaching classes online. After 5 years I was promoted to Full Professor and granted tenure. But shortly after that promotion I learned of the new program at Pacific.
As it turned out Pacific was looking for someone with my area of expertise. That of course was hardly enough. But the more I heard the more I liked. I was particularly attracted to Pacific, because it offered the possibility to: (1) help with the development of a brand new training program, and (2) help with mentoring a group of new and enthusiastic young scholars who also love teaching – all of this with a reasonable teaching load. It didn’t hurt that it also included moving to a political climate much more in tune with my somewhat liberal and somewhat progressive bent. And so here I am.
To conclude here is my curriculum vitae: Flipsen-CV-PacU-tenure