Northeastern University College of Science

Dear College of Science Faculty and Staff,

What’s your JD? That means job description, and for our excellent COS positions – Staff, Teaching Faculty or Tenure Stream, JDs are long and detailed to give the full landscape. But there is also the ‘mini-JD’, that may be even more valuable. Let’s limit it to six points, encapsulating the essence of your job, not so easy to write but a great way to focus on what’s key.

My JD runs several pages, but see what you think of this mini-JD:

• Dedicate my energy and talent to the College of Science and Northeastern University
• Lead effectively, with vision, by collaboration, with supportiveness and encouragement
• Build a respectful, diverse, and inclusive COS community
• Invent the Brilliant Future of Science Research and Training
• Empower every student to be a Confident, Entrepreneurial, Problem-solver
• Communicate widely the Excellence of Northeastern Science

To complicate things, we all have more than one job and JD, that are extremely important in our lives, although most are not articulated. There’s your home job, your job as a friend, a child, sibling, parent, community member, and more. May be useful to write mini-JDs for these.

In a broad view, everything alive has a job, even if there is no written JD. What’s the job of your students? I asked one semester, and each found it valuable to lay out personal reasons and goals for their university education. How about a third grader? A baby? Your dog? An ant? That’s a provocative one. Gather food and materials, build the nest, keep it clean. Work as a team. Protect the pack. Sound familiar?! If we could ask, a tree would likely write that its JD is to make food, produce seeds, fend off insect attacks, and connect with other trees. On the other hand, you might think that a tree’s job is to provide shade and wood, and to help modulate the climate, highlighting an important thing about JDs. They can depend on your perspective. What you think is your job, may not be the same as your supervisor’s view, which is why goal setting and mid-year reviews are useful all around.

In the College of Science, we have outstanding job opportunities, at every level. We are committed to bringing exceptional talent into our College and Northeastern University. I am deeply grateful to have each of you as a COS member addressing your JD, to have your collaboration so we meet our goals, and as we extend our vision into a brilliant future of Science at Northeastern University.