Sooner or later, all semesters end. And each is soon followed by another academic term close upon its heels.

Here are some tips from the ProfHacker archives for ending your term so as to be in good shape when you return to your office in a week or two.

Look Backwards

Think about what worked and what didn’t work so well this semester. Write down some ideas for what habits or practices you want to continue and what you want to change next semester.

Update your cv and your annual review/promotion notes with relevant publications and activities from the semester.

Clean Up

Gather up the semester’s teaching materials (whether digital or paper), archive the important things, and shred the rest.

Try a five-minute clean up of your desk. (Or maybe more than one.) Coming back to a desk piled with last semester’s detritus won’t make re-entry very pleasant.

Check your office supplies (and lunch items) and make a note of what you need to restock at the start of next term. (Add it as an item in your task management software or send yourself a future-dated email reminder.)

Look Forwards

Order your books for next term, if you haven’t already done so.

Add the next semester’s important dates to your calendar.

Start thinking a bit about what resolutions you’d like to set for the new semester.

What else do you do to wrap up the semester? Let us know in the comments!

[Creative Commons licensed image from flickr user comedynose]