Liberal Arts College Positions Mini-Seminar

In continuing my search and preparation for a faculty position, today I attended a mini-seminar by LADO faculty.  (LADO - liberal arts colleges with diversity officers)  Here are some points that were raised during the breakout and panel discussions:

Teaching:
- You will teach both upper-level courses, as well as "service" courses.  Service is a good term to describe the low-level / introductory courses, as the faculty are rotating through this service to the department.
- Try to setup the teaching schedule so that 1 day is free solely from research.
- Continue to revise courses so they are fresh and current, but also avoid constantly creating all new courses.
- Valuable to set aside "non-office hours" times, during which the door can be shut.
- Faculty will sit in on courses and additionally interview the students, as part of composing an evaluation of your teaching.

Research:
- Recruiting undergraduates earlier for research to have time to train them, so that they will later be able to contribute.
- You can still collaborate and have broad impact through research with faculty at other more research-focused institutions.
- Grant proposals can also be keyed "RUI" (research at undergraduate institutions)
- Regular funding for sabbatical leaves, first often after the renewal of the 3-year contract.  This leave is focused on research and may be held at R1 or other institutions.
- Startup package is present to cover the transition to grant-based funding.
- Research lab costs are significantly lower at these institutions, as funds are not required for grad students, post docs, etc.
- Schools are looking for faculty hires that add diversity to the research available.

Service:
- Service is a component, but is much smaller than teaching and scholarship.  So be cautious about accepting invitations to committees, in terms of time commitment.  The service time can provide valuable insight to the functioning of the institution, as well as possible collaboration with collegues in other departments.
- You will be chair of your department someday.

Other:
- Many liberal arts institutions are located in small towns.
- Take the time to customize the cover letter.  Do you really want and care about this job?