Comments on Reassigned Time: There's Not a Thing in the World Wrong with Lookin...

I'm picking out this quote not to criticize it or ...

2007-12-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

I'm picking out this quote not to criticize it or address its main point, but to react to a phrase:

"(That's not to say the responses are not themselves gendered, only that the opprobrium's spread around to all untenured, junior faculty who lack corporate-style commitment to their department.)"

I say, corporate-style commitment is FAKE commitment these days. Some academics in the right situation can make REAL long-term commitments that go far beyond what is really given in the modern corporate world.

This, um, ongoing conversation makes me reflect th...

2007-11-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

This, um, ongoing conversation makes me reflect that after eighteen years as a sessional instructor...now I'm not...Nostalgia? Not so's you'd notice, not a bit

"I also think that it's interesting the way that t...

2007-11-04T16:26:00.000-05:00

"I also think that it's interesting the way that the go-to response to my post by Ed Smithers is to infantilize me, to imply that I'm a whore, and to tell me that I am disrespectful."

Yes - this is one of the most maddening things about the ways in which young or even youngish female academics are commonly spoken to.

This has been revelatory. I've known professors w...

2007-11-04T05:05:00.000-05:00

This has been revelatory. I've known professors who were helpful in sending juniors off to other campuses in part because when plummy jobs come up they might like to have, it's nice to have a friend on the new campus.

Most senior faculty I have known had friends all over the country or the world, and some of them came about due to being supportive to a junior looking for a better fit.

My comment is now, indeed, quite late, but first, ...

2007-11-01T21:57:00.000-04:00

My comment is now, indeed, quite late, but first, of course anyone at anytime can ethically look for another job as long as he or she is continuing to perform the job he or she has well. That's employment 101.

To add something else (I think-- there were an awful lot of comments to read), as someone who has tenure and been around just a little while, one of the things that I think is very interesting is that men seem to be much more aggressive in pursuing these second and third jobs -- and in using outside offers to get raises, etc. My evidence for this is purely anecdotal, but I sense a real gender disparity around this part of professional development. Women are much more expected to be "good girls", and then get looked down upon as being disloyal, whereas men are "playing the game" and looking out for their manful selves. (I think it's also true that women are slightly less likely to move because it's hard to move when you are about to, or just have given birth. But it's the larger gender dynamic that's more interesting and pervasive.)

Let me say this, there is not one dean, one provost, one college president in this nation who will not give a new job opportunity some consideration.

Like I said at NK's -- great post, and I will have...

2007-11-01T09:12:00.000-04:00

Like I said at NK's -- great post, and I will have to put my comments on my own blog, because they're long.

I can't believe no one's mentioned the elephant in...

2007-11-01T04:13:00.000-04:00

I can't believe no one's mentioned the elephant in the room.

Academics get their first job at around 30-35 these days, at least in humanities. An awful lot of them are married by then, and either to other academics, or to people who are well along their own career path and whom the academic met while residing in a large city with an R1.

In either case, it's often difficult for the spouse, whether academic or not, to find a decent job in his or her field in the small college community where the academic is hired. College towns of less than 25,000 don't have a lot of demand.

I haven't seen my husband since August. My cousin hasn't lived with her husband for two years. We know people who commute (or who have commuted) between SoCal and SeaTac, between Ireland and Boston, between the Southwest and London.

How can it be a surprise when those people go on the market?

This is interesting. It makes me realize I should ...

2007-10-31T22:55:00.000-04:00

This is interesting.

It makes me realize I should get out more.

I thought the 'betrayal by job search' issue was just some strange pathology of my own school.

I'm going to look next year because I might not get tenure and I'm coming up for tenure. So I sorta have to. I worry they might have a cow anyway. Who cares if I have mouths to feed? I'll be putting them through worry of losing faculty and that's pretty much what they will think about. But I'll remind them I have mouths to feed and they might chill about it. If I know them, they will prefer I immolate myself on the pyre of my tenure denial rather than create a back up plan.

What was interesting about this is that I realized a big thing keeping me where I am is that I never feel desirable enough. Maybe I'm not. But I get the feeling you are successful. The thing is, I am good. I do quality teaching, good service, good research. But it just feels like a jungle out there. I didn't used to feel like this. So this makes me realize it is SO LIKE A MARRIAGE IN EVERY WAY. I've gotten to the 'but who else would want me' phase.

Reading this, I guess that you've done well on something recently (or maybe a few things) and are striking when the iron is hot. This is my guess.

"makes me think that this person has probably been...

2007-10-31T13:21:00.000-04:00

"makes me think that this person has probably been burned by jr. fac. regularly jumping ship for the sole purpose of gettting away from this a**hole."

my thoughts exactly.

Dear Dr. Crazy --Your self-righteous commenter mad...

2007-10-31T12:27:00.000-04:00

Dear Dr. Crazy --

Your self-righteous commenter made Rate Your Students... Plus, there's a follow up post with responses both pro & con.

The tone of the post ("...had occasion to let loose on some selfishness I saw among a group of junior faculty who were spending a good deal of time congratulating one another on working in tenure track jobs while slaving like mules to get better jobs in more attractive situations - close to Mommy, warmer weather, a place where their own peculiar preciousness will be admired by all.") makes me think that this person has probably been burned by jr. fac. regularly jumping ship for the sole purpose of gettting away from this a**hole.

Oh, and I am equally offended by the obligatory ja...

2007-10-31T11:48:00.000-04:00

Oh, and I am equally offended by the obligatory jab at Man-Kitty! (who is NOT remotely mangy. But seriously. ad hominem, much?)

Re: Rate Your Students - AUUUGGGGHHHHHH! (channeli...

2007-10-31T11:45:00.000-04:00

Re: Rate Your Students - AUUUGGGGHHHHHH! (channeling Lucy Van Pelt...) Seriously, can they just shut up about this already? My blood pressure skyrockets every time I read more of this drivel! (and I know I shouldn't give them that much of my energy, but I can't help it - they piss me off.)

One thing I canNOT understand about Ed Smithers is maggie's question - which he still hasn't answered - so no one is supposed to leave a department, EVER? Because given the structure of the academic schedule - and someone somewhere made the really good point that it's not like jr faculty have any control over the hiring schedule - that is when people will leave, in the spring - it's just inherent in the system. Senior people, too, when they leave, leave in the spring. And then there are us numbnuts who get booted - we, too, get booted in the spring. ALL these things leave departments stuck with the job of replacing them for next year. Does Smithers seriously mean that departments can't ever terminate someone's contract??? After all, it has exactly the same impact as someone getting a new job!)

I assumed the poster was joking in a far too strai...

2007-10-31T11:40:00.000-04:00

I assumed the poster was joking in a far too straight manner, but essentially the same comment is now on rateyourstudents, so maybe not.

Outrageous, what does he expect, that junior faculty are stuck at whatever university hires them first unless the university decides on tenure.

Plus it all-too common, several of the senior faculty in my department did exactly that.

If anyone's interested and doesn't already know, t...

2007-10-31T11:29:00.000-04:00

If anyone's interested and doesn't already know, there's a post at rateyourstudents.blogspot.com about this...by Mr. Smithers, I believe...

Dr. Crazy - thanks for posting this. I am struggli...

2007-10-31T11:07:00.000-04:00

Dr. Crazy - thanks for posting this.

I am struggling with deciding whether to apply this year. I am in a t-t job at a nice "elite" R1, but the reality is that my department sucks (and even though I try to do good research, I can feel myself slowly sinking into the self-satisfied mediocrity of some of the senior faculty).

To me, the issue is not "if" but "when" -- do I give it another year to get some substantial grants/pubs/more visibility/ or do I try looking now while i still have some academic buzz going from my postdoc/grad school days? How do folks decide whether it's time to apply, or to hold off a year?

I'm late to the party, and getting predictable in ...

2007-10-31T09:22:00.000-04:00

I'm late to the party, and getting predictable in my dotage, but here goes anyway:

It's just a job.

You're allowed to look for another one, and even to take another one, if you want to. It's not indentured servitude or a holy calling. It's just a job.

Look to your heart's content, Dr. C.

Dr. C, just a word of support. You need to take c...

2007-10-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

Dr. C, just a word of support. You need to take care of your happiness, and the happiness of those you love as best you can. And your job sure isn't going to do that.

I'm wishing you good things for your search this year.

And yes, I have departmental colleagues I'd hate to lose, but as an ethical human being, I'd do my best to be supportive of them if they wanted to go on the market. And when I went on the market (from a TT job), my colleagues, up to and including the college president, wished me well and treated me well. And have done again when I've visited. And they were able to replace me with a wonderful colleague, because there ARE wonderful people going on the market every year.

Good luck :)

Thanks, Helenesch. I'm actually amazed at the num...

2007-10-30T22:10:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Helenesch. I'm actually amazed at the number of comments. As you know, as you are a regular reader, a good comment day for me is usually around 20 - and that's even if I comment in between.

But I really appreciate the support that I get from this community, and I also appreciate the insights that I get from the people in it.

And you're welcome for what you said about me providing an opportunity for people to reflect on this stuff. Honestly, I really do care about doing that, and I'm glad that others seem to appreciate that.

In a note you all might enjoy: Medusa couldn't believe that these comments were real either. Her theory was that the commenters were attempting to facilitate some sort of experiment in which they monitored the reactions of bloggers to this sort of crap. I only wish that this were true.

I have to admit that I whe I first read his commen...

2007-10-30T21:41:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that I whe I first read his comment, I actually thought edsmithers was joking--that his comment was a spoof on someone who might say such things! I mean, how can a person really hold such views...? It was so unbelievably over the top! Sadly, such persons do exist. And while few would put it so bluntly, the attitudes underlying his post on not as rare as they should be.

And while you (Crazy) shouldn't have to justify this decision of yours (it's actually quite rational), I'm glad that this forum exists so that others who take crap like this know that they're not alone--49 comments is pretty impressive, and most are understanding and supportive.

The blogosphere (okay, just the corner of it that I read!) is a pretty amazing resource, and I say this as someone who doesn't even have a blog. So thanks again for putting yourself out there like this, and for providing an opportunity for many of us to reflect on this stuff.

Oh dear. Look at the hullabaloo I missed! I woul...

2007-10-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

Oh dear. Look at the hullabaloo I missed! I would just like to point out that Ed was putting us all in the group with Dr. Crazy when he said:

What a lovely assorted group of selfish fucks you all are.

It seems to be extremely difficult for people to remember that as much as many of us really love what we do and really come to departments with a communitarian spirit wanting collegiality and friends, being a professor is just a job. No more, no less. People look for jobs all the time. Period. End of story. Yes, I have a job. Yes, I am looking for a job. Do I feel bad about leaving my department? Yes. Do I feel my personal priorities outweigh those considerations? Yes. We all make decisions all the time. It is important that we make the right ones for us so that we can do our best work as academics and people. Do other people have to understand and support our decisions? No, of course not. But does one need to attack one's loyalty and sense of altruism to some kind of higher purpose? Please. It's a job. Let's not get on our high horses here and feel the need to justify choices that serve our self-interest. The institution is not a child, a god, or a calling. Nor do our institutions give us something for nothing, for which we can be seen as ingrates when we see what else is out there. It's a job. Fee for service and market-driven.

sorry for the typos--blind rage made me careless.

2007-10-30T17:06:00.000-04:00

sorry for the typos--blind rage made me careless.

like others, i can't stop stewing over these comme...

2007-10-30T17:05:00.000-04:00

like others, i can't stop stewing over these comments, they produce so much rage. perhaps, as sis and dr. c and other have highlighted, the most egregious aspect of ed and webmaster is the nasty, self-righteous, oh-so-hurt tone of their critiques--that there is a clear comfort zone to publicly and personally attack dr. c bears some serious discussion.

who are these people? i'm shocked to hear that a) somebody actually feels there is a war between jr./sr. faculty; b) that we shirk our duty to students and colleagues by looking around; c) that this is a sign of our gigantic egos (WTF: have either of them read any of our blogs EVER? how about sense of self and intellectual grown IN SPITE OF nasty, undermining, demoralizing, conditions that require our love and devotion, not to mention acceptance of utterly inappropriate behavior from some (ahem) male colleagues) --as you can see, there are not enough words to express my serious disgust over the tenor of these comments.

i can only say wow. other things will involve my own nasty slinging....

wow, i can hardly believe i missed all of this ins...

2007-10-30T15:43:00.000-04:00

wow, i can hardly believe i missed all of this insanity, and i'm a daily reader!

not much more need be said--i love to read going to bat comments, new kid, curmudgeon, maggie, but i would add to snarky seniors that everyone i know at R1 institutions goes on the market every year until they are tenured, at least every year that there is an improvement in there file/profile, and it is EXPECTED by all, administrators, colleagues, friends, that this is the case. it is the one teeny wheeny bit of power academics in the humanities have.

also in my experience: those people who self-righteously oppose such practices, especially when they speak for all "senior" faculty, are the very same pieces of dead weight departments wish would go on the market: they don't publish, they give graduate students shameful advice, they sabotage terrific hires and terrific junior faculty--in short, they really ARE assholes.

luckily, most of the senior faculty i know do not do this and are openly ashamed of those wankers that do.

thanks for letting us all know where you stand. any chance of self-revelation so none of us apply to your institution??

haha. okay, that cracked me up. I will totally d...

2007-10-30T14:44:00.000-04:00

haha. okay, that cracked me up. I will totally do backflips. anybody want me to do a backflip? Just say the word. :)

Also, Ed -- since you have been in the business 20...

2007-10-30T14:43:00.000-04:00

Also, Ed -- since you have been in the business 20 years, you probably have no idea how hard it is for new faculty today. How many applicants were in the pool the year you applied? How many publications did you need to have to get your first job? How many tenure lines existed before they were whittled to bare bones and filled with adjuncts?

Cut us some slack - we're working our asses off.