do any of you know any academic couples who have shared fractional appointments? specifically, do you know any couples who have two .75-time appointments or two .67-time appointments? a couple i know has been wondering how sharing 1.5 jobs might work.
[note: i am not asking about two .5-time positions, which for whatever reason do not sound that interesting to these people.]
I hope that this couple isn’t being made to make this decision or no dice at all! That seems like it would be very difficult to make—although a 2/3 or 3/4 appointment could be nice, I can imagine it backfiring in terms of colleagues’ jealousies and frustrations of the sort, “Mr. 3/4-time won’t take another committee, so I have to take 2!” That’s not likely, but if it can be imagined…
But I’m just speculating. The only answer I can give is, No, I don’t know anyone like that. (Neither does Kathy.)
by greg—Feb 16, 10:49 PM
at least at our school, unless you are a full-time, permanent hire lecturer you are not expected, nor pushed to serve on any kind of committee. and, regardless if you are “junior” or “senior” lecturer—SL’s achieve something ressembling tenure, or at least permanence—your load is a 4/4.
they can, of course, should they take the initiative, but it really doesn’t translate into being able to jump out of lecturing into professoring, serve on committees. but, in a way, they are still never viewed as fully invested in setting the vision for department…regardless of the reality of their being both workhorses and the Charons of the department. my colleagues, of course, would take umbrage with me and tell me i’ve got it all wrong…lecturers are Virgils…we who provide “content” classes, are Beatrices.
it could be different in other languages and other universities, however.
what i forsee is scheduling issues. professors, for the most part, get dibs on time and class. they do, after all, need time to publish (though i suspect a number of my colleagues to be doing other more pleasurable things than inhabiting the long dark night of writing…possibly even blogging…the b*st*rds!). part time appointments and visiting instructors (at least with us, lecturers get to choose their hours as well, since they are a permanent hire) get the dregs.
they too get to choose, but, as a prof, i could choose anything from a one day to a 3 day a week schedule at any time of the day i find most convenient for me. though, they prefer that i choose between 1 and 2 day schedules and that i have 3 days i ostensibly dedicate to research. (which, this semester isn’t happening but that is because, due to child-care issues, i didn’t want a late afternoon schedule)
granted, should my hour prove to be unprofitable to the institution, the chair will step in and tell me that 7:30 advanced seminar on 17th century mexican and peruvian poetry should be moved to 1, in the hopes that more people will enroll.
the class schedule for part time appointments is already set, intro to spanish is always taught either 3 or 5 days a week, always at certain times and ptas get to duke it out amongst themselves for the hours that best suit them.
by hermit x—Feb 17, 07:55 AM
also, i was wondering, did that interviewee say anyting as to the kind of journal and type of article would have to written and published twice a year? or is the point moot (btw, is this etymology correct?)
and, we are away for the weekend at the in-loves. my parents come in tonight and tomorrow we shall celebrate la bambina’s b-day
by hermit x—Feb 17, 08:00 AM
the part-time appointments asked about above are ideas conceived by the couple as a way for their present institution to be able to keep them. And they would be tenure-track appts that would eventually convert to full-time. They are, of course, only figments of the couple’s imagination at present.
In answer to J’s question, nothing was said of the nature of the articles for reduced course load, although for tenure at least two of them have to be in top-tier journals.
by mary—Feb 17, 08:12 AM
I believe the workings of it could be beneficial to said couple, if present school were to bite. In schools with greater courseloads than J has—which is most—the reduced teaching time would offer both parties the chance to 1) take care of their daughters/sons, and 2) research/write/whatever. I’m certain the couple has already considered this.
I would offer a suggestion for negotiations’ sake: the couple shouldn’t ask for different appointments (e.g. one 2/3 + one 3/4, or some similar combination). This suggestion is for the sake of consistency and emphaiss: either present univ. accepts both members on equal terms (at equal pay) or not at all. This is an even more important statement to make if present school has a history of being wishy-washy vís a vís offers for 1/2 of this couple.
Further, I think the couple should definitely NOT ask for two 1/2-time appointments. I think two 3/4 should be the asking price (if two fulls is out of the question) with two 2/3 the negotiation fallback. Two 3/4 is significant, and means the couple is serious.
by greg—Feb 17, 08:32 AM
said school, with the stimulus of new developments in the couple’s employment opportunities, now has renewed interest in having both as full-time tenure-track employees. option of less-than-full-time status was not seriously entertained. couple awaiting divine intervention to help them make a decision, as the divine apparently intervenes in their current students’ lives to assist with much less weighty decisions.
by mary—Feb 17, 11:23 AM
Ah! Said school thought it had it made, then the couple dropped the bomb and its contrition is great. Allow me to express a little annoyance, bordering on indignation, with said school for having to wait for threat of couple’s leaving to make its move. It need not be said that this couple was a very valuable addition to its faculty from the beginning, and the offer of two FT tenure-track jobs should have been offered ASAP. Said school has some explaining, groveling even, to do.
That said, does the couple have a direction in which it leans yet? Is waiting a weekend an option? Isn’t there some kind of direct line to God at most schools, sort of like the grotto at Notre Dame (see image), where such divine guidance is easily sought?
by greg—Feb 17, 11:41 AM
if said couple really and truly had a personal relationship with the living...that is, had they actually taken advantage of their xian education…
well, i will stop being facetious before i am struck down by an avenging angel.
Study: Big Decisions Best Made With Less Thought
And, congrats!
and, whatchu’ talkin’ ‘bout? whether or not to accept billy joe’s invitation to the spring banquet is a very, very weighty decision that shouldn’t be made without clear indications from the divine!
by hermit x—Feb 17, 12:03 PM
am looking high and low for the grotto…
by mary—Feb 17, 12:31 PM
having worked with college students and/or having been one for the past decade or so, this prob goes without saying, but…do people ever hook up in there?
by chris—Feb 17, 12:37 PM
It’s actually mostly fenced off, but I wouldn’t be surprised if hooking up’s the reason it’s fenced. I was told during a tour of campus that there’s an awful lot of votives lighting it up at finals—and before football games.
by greg—Feb 17, 01:07 PM
Where doth said couple lie: in decision—or yet in deliberation?
by greg—Feb 21, 09:27 AM
in wait.
by chris—Feb 21, 09:41 AM
Meanwhile, on the job front:
Phone interview scheduled, Thursday morning—For a job I didn’t apply for and which pays less, but which also has good upside.
by greg—Feb 21, 04:50 PM
upside being…?
by mary—Feb 21, 05:49 PM
grant writing.
by greg—Feb 21, 06:35 PM
Unfortunately, I’m so jumpy nowadays that, when I get a call for an interview, I have no self-control. I sell myself on the most ridiculous things, at the worst times. “Oops, I just spilled my coffee.” “Really? That reminds me of a cup of coffee I spilled. I bet you didn’t know I can roast my own beans, did you?” And so on… it’s really very pathetic; I just hope the coffee-spiller didn’t notice.
by greg—Feb 21, 06:40 PM
my brother roasts his own beans over an open fire with sugar somewhere down mexico way
by hermit x—Feb 22, 09:28 AM
Does he makes his own chocolate, too?
by greg—Feb 22, 09:36 AM
Interview report:
It was long: 1.5 hours.
It was much more individualized than I’ve come to expect from a phone int: that is, they had actually read my resume/cover letter.
My inexperience in the field showed, I think, but they knew about that at least; I hope I sounded confident enough in my basic ability to a) write, b) talk, and c) be organized that I came across as green but solid. This is where my longstanding preference to be on the edges of things makes for bad demonstrable evidence of value.
They were nice.
They said they were going to check my references, and they said they would probably call me back to talk more.
I have one reservation, and it’s in consideration of salary, but I fear I don’t have much leverage.
Nevertheless… when/if there’s any more to report, I will report it.
by greg—Feb 23, 03:17 PM
Upon further reflection, after debriefing with K. The int ended positively, and it may even have gone very well. The ending makes me think good thoughts, esp their promise to follow up, and I think that my application from the beginning was strong such that a solid, but not outstanding int won’t kill my chance. If it went badly, it’s probably because I have little street cred on the activist/political circuit, and I’ll have to find a way, somehow, if I want to apply to jobs like this, I’m going to have to find a way to make it clear to others that ardor can either flash like magnesium or cook like charcoal, and I’ll always be more the latter than the former. On the plus side, the kind of salary they want to pay implies that they know they won’t hire someone with strong bona fides. And in the end, if I don’t get an offer, then I’ll conclude with Kathy, “It’s just another disappointment in a long string of them.”
In which case I will continue to sing my refrain: ever the interview maid, never the hired!
by greg—Feb 23, 07:10 PM