Faculty Link Forums

Faculty Link forums are designed to bring together faculty from across campus to discuss various elements of the faculty experience in a moderated, open discussion. Forums are held in-person, with lunch provided. The first 15 minutes will be a chance to grab food and settle in, then our faculty co-leads will host the forum and prompt faculty panelists to share their experiences, insights, and tips relating to the forum topic. We encourage attendees to join the discussion and share their own questions, ideas, and expertise. These informal conversations offer great opportunities to meet faculty from across campus and learn from one another. We're excited to see you there!

Please note: The forums are currently limited to senate faculty members, adjunct faculty, clinical faculty, and cooperative extension specialists.

Participant feedback:

"Even though I didn't know many of the faculty, I immediately felt like I was part of a community. The expertise of the panelists and their diverse perspectives was also quite helpful."

“Wonderful tone, very full participation among presenters and attendees, substantive advice received”

"Just having a space to share and see other faculty who are looking for a sense of connection and meaning was wonderful."

Fall 2026 Forums

Please register in advance to attend. Registered faculty will be sent calendar invites. 

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact facultylink@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.

September 30

Register to attend!

Location: The Gateway - Room 1420 (Large Social Kitchen)

Taking risks as a tenured faculty member

This forum will focus on the possibilities that open up when you have the freedom and security of tenure. We will explore opportunities for taking risks, being ambitious, and using your academic freedom, whether pivoting your research into new areas, starting a major research initiative, engaging in advocacy, or just trying something new. We’ll also consider how to better work on your own terms, including saying yes strategically and making time for your personal life, and how to respond when things don’t go as planned. Faculty Core Advisors will share ways they have taken risks and learned from new and unexpected outcomes.

Faculty Panelists:

  • Lok Siu, Ethnic Studies

  • Noah Whiteman, Integrative Biology/Molecular and Cell Biology

  • Rodrigo Almeida, Environmental Science, Policy & Management

  • Sanjay Kumar, Bioengineering/Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

October 29

Register to attend!

Location: Dwinelle Hall - Room 127 (former Academic Innovation Studio)

Classroom innovation in the current teaching landscape

Come share what’s working for you and learn from colleagues! The challenges facing faculty in the classroom are evolving quickly. This forum will focus on exchanging practical strategies and tips for navigating and innovating in the current teaching landscape, including experiences for adapting and responding to student use of AI, teaching with fewer GSIs, managing accessibility requirements, and other classroom dynamics. 

Faculty Panelists:

  • Julia Fawcett, Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

  • Steven Raphael, Public Policy

  • David Marno, English

  • Grace O'Connell, Mechanical Engineering

November 18

Register to attend!

Location: The Gateway - Room 1420 (Large Social Kitchen)

Looking outward: Scholarship and service to the broader community and society

Many faculty want to move beyond the traditional audiences for their academic work and engage with a broader community. Join us as we explore how faculty can share their expertise beyond the university. This forum will highlight a range of ways to reach non-academic audiences, including translating your scholarship to news articles, podcasts, books, speaking tours, creative activities, and more. Bring your experiences, ideas, and questions to discuss how engaging with broader audiences can be personally enriching, inspire new research, and simply be fun.

Faculty Panelists:

  • Laura Kray, Haas School of Business

  • Chung-Pei Ma, Astronomy/Physics

  • Lisa García Bedolla, Education

  • Sonia Katyal, Law

Suggestions?

Please let us know if you have an idea for a future forum topic. Email facultylink@berkeley.edu. We welcome your suggestions! 

Past Forums

Spring 2026

  • Making Berkeley’s merit and promotion system work for you

  • Fostering collaboration within and across research groups

Fall 2025

  • Mentorship: How to do it, how to find it 
  • Finding Balance: Nurturing Academic and Personal Well-Being

Spring 2025

  • Navigating "alt-ac" (alternatives to academia) and the changing landscape for careers in academia
  • Leadership opportunities across the faculty career arc: Should I? What? Why? When?

Fall 2024

  • Carving Your Path and Having an Impact as an Assistant Professor
  • Working Interdisciplinarily: Connection, Collaboration, and Cultivation

Spring 2024

  • Maximizing research excellence through inclusive lab environments 

  • Revealing and discussing the “hidden curriculum” for recently tenured associate professors

Fall 2023

  • I Need Money: Uncovering Strategies for Getting Funding

  • Finding your people: Strategies for building valuable new connections across the faculty career

Spring 2023

  • Capstones and Consolidation: Thriving Creatively in Later Career

  • Empirical Work for the Public Good: Strategies for community-engaged research

  • Publishing for Broad, Non-Academic Audiences

Fall 2022

  • Telling your Story: Making your best case for merits and promotion

  • From Service to Opportunity: Using department, campus, and professional service to support your career goals

Spring 2022

  • What is the "new normal"?
  • Writing the second book: Getting started, getting finished, and everything that happens in between
  • Cultivating corporate or philanthropic funding for your research

Fall 2021

  • What’s my identity?: What do you want to be known for and how do you shape your professional identity
  • Mentorship as a community of practice
  • #$^%*! Now what?? Dealing with rejection in the academy

Spring 2021

  • Finding balance? The gift and the curse of a flexible faculty life
  • Pivoting or pirouetting: Starting a new research project or changing your research course at any point in your career
  • How Does This Campus Actually Work? Demystifying how and where things get done so you can be most successful

Fall 2020

  • Taking Care of the Flock (and Yourself): Mentoring in the time of Covid
  • Navigating Choppy Waters: Promoting healthy relationships with department colleagues

Spring 2020

  • I Need Money: Overcoming Hurdles to Getting Grants
  • Is my summer a total wash?!?! Strategies for maintaining productivity, catching up, or just staying afloat over the summer