Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Reassigned Time

First, and before I get into the philosophy of this blogspace, welcome! Welcome to new readers (if there are any) and to old (who've followed me from my previous blog, which is in the process of self-destructing under the weight of its own limitations).

For those of you who don't know, "reassigned time" is something that college professor types on the tenure track can apply for to get a break (however small) from teaching obligations in order to - you guessed it - do other work. This is also known as "course relief," "course release," or "release time." One can receive this time for a number of reasons. For example, if one is chair of one's department or if one takes on being the department's director of graduate studies (should one's department have graduate students) one can often expect to get a "course reduction" (another term for this that I forgot about). Or, if one is at an institution like mine - a regional comprehensive university with a 4/4 load - one can apply for "reassigned time" in order to accomplish one's research (since there are no pre-tenure sabbaticals here, thank you very much). Oh, and I guess one can apply for it if one is doing some major service thing as well. You get the idea.

I decided to call this blog "reassigned time" because I feel like it's a title that reflects my lifestyle as an academic. I often feel like any time spent doing one thing (grading, for example) is time that must be "reassigned" from some other essential task (like eating a healthy meal, for example). Also, and I'm sure this comes as no surprise, I've actually got reassigned time this semester. No, this is not like a dream come true. While it's true that I've only got to teach 3 courses and to do two preps, the course whose time was "reassigned" was my one upper-division course, and two of the three courses that I will be teaching are writing courses (though I've revamped the writing course, which now has a theme of "celebrity" about which I'm very excited). So. I'm a person, a single female person, in my third year on the tenure track, at a regional comprehensive university in a metropolitan area in the midwest, who has been "awarded" approximately 6-12 hours a week to do the following:

  1. Co-edit a mini-journal
  2. Write an article
  3. Finally make my dissertation into a book proposal before the thing is totally obsolete
  4. Send out two proposals for conferences and make travel arrangements for at least one of them, should I be accepted
  5. Find the cash to go to that one conference, if not both, since it's in Europe and I can't expect for my dept. fully to fund it
  6. Make use of the gym membership that I bought yesterday to lose, at minimum, the weight I gained a) quitting smoking and b) eating enough for four people over the holidays
  7. Continue not smoking, oh, and eat better, too
  8. Dating? Can there be time for dating?

So that's me in a nutshell and the beginning of this blog. Stay tuned.....

(P.S. Yes, I'm in the process of redesigning the template, adding the blogroll, etc. But now I need to go eat lunch and then go to the gym, because I am all about the good use of time now that I'm in my new space.)

19 comments:

Mel said...

great new title Dr C!

Anonymous said...

Great first post babe. And seems perfect time to wish you a happy new year too! Good luck with it all, and hope you achieve everything you set out to do. And you're on my blogroll.

New Kid on the Hallway said...

Excellent philosophy of the blog! I could use some reassigned time. (I've never actually heard it called that before, but then, as I haven't yet been eligible for any, I suppose that's not shocking.) Anyway, I hope the new space works out for you!

Pink Cupcake said...

Think the new blog name's great. Best wishes for the new blog...I'll add it to my blogroll right away.

Jesse said...

Hallo!

jo(e) said...

Where I work, we call it release time. I like the new name.

Tara Kuther said...

We use "release time" too - kind of reminds me of being released from prison or bondage or something. Great new space!

ScienceWoman said...

Welcome to your new home. I'm awfully glad you let a forwarding address. And, as others said, I really like the title. Its how I often feel about my blogging habit.

Mon said...

My mentor told me to negotiate for reassigned time in my first job search--I love that phrase. Good for you!!!

michelle said...

great new name. thanks for leaving a forwarding address.

best of luck with the new space.

CharlieAmra said...

Happy New Blog Year!

Brian W. Ogilvie said...

As sciencewoman wrote, welcome to the new blog! and best wishes for the new year!

Terminal Degree said...

I like the new home! Glad you're still here!

krisluvswool said...

Ooooh, I'm glad I caught this before you disappeared from my radar forever! Great first post, and wonderful goals for your reassigned time!

Seeking Solace said...

What a great title for a new outlook! Cheers to you!

Scrivener said...

I love the new name and the first post too.

negativecapability said...

I'm glad you kept the orange!

~profgrrrrl~ said...

Cool new digs! :)

Leslie M-B said...

Good work. I like the new blog! Thanks so much for leaving us a forwarding address.