Stressed about new job before it has started
July 5, 2015 5:59 AM Subscribe
I'm starting a non tenure-track faculty position. The job is great on paper: well paid, good college, ideal location, low-ish teaching load with (theoretically) enough time for research. Problem is, I think the department is hostile and/or indifferent to me. Is it in my head? What do I do?
I get the general feeling that no one in the department particularly wants me there, and that the department is sort of dysfunctional on the whole.
- Went in last week to get my paperwork done with HR. Not many professors are around for the summer, but I e-mailed the chair and a couple of people saying I'd be on campus and it would be great to catch up. The chair met with me, and was polite but not particularly welcoming. No one else on campus took the time to talk. Everyone keeps their door shut. I come from a department that is very collegial... we pop in to one another's offices, and the new people are always being taken to lunches and drinks, so this disinterest is unnerving.
- I was their second choice for the position. I basically got a "waitlist" e-mail after my interview saying they were going with someone else. I can't shake the feeling that this was a clear sign that they weren't thrilled about me in the first place. My interview itself wasn't the best experience -- I didn't connect with anyone, and a couple of people were downright rude.
- Administratively, things are a mess. The staff are much more understaffed/inefficient than what I'm used to. No one ever reached out to me as a new hire, and I still don't have most of my stuff set up despite spending the whole day on campus running from office to office. This isn't a big deal, but it adds to the frustration.
- There are very few young faculty in the department, and they seem buried to their necks in teaching while keeping up their research. The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
Any way, end of rant -- should I start looking for other options and be ready to leave after a semester or two? Or give them the benefit of doubt and try to settle in -- and if so, what can I proactively do to make the best of the situation?
I get the general feeling that no one in the department particularly wants me there, and that the department is sort of dysfunctional on the whole.
- Went in last week to get my paperwork done with HR. Not many professors are around for the summer, but I e-mailed the chair and a couple of people saying I'd be on campus and it would be great to catch up. The chair met with me, and was polite but not particularly welcoming. No one else on campus took the time to talk. Everyone keeps their door shut. I come from a department that is very collegial... we pop in to one another's offices, and the new people are always being taken to lunches and drinks, so this disinterest is unnerving.
- I was their second choice for the position. I basically got a "waitlist" e-mail after my interview saying they were going with someone else. I can't shake the feeling that this was a clear sign that they weren't thrilled about me in the first place. My interview itself wasn't the best experience -- I didn't connect with anyone, and a couple of people were downright rude.
- Administratively, things are a mess. The staff are much more understaffed/inefficient than what I'm used to. No one ever reached out to me as a new hire, and I still don't have most of my stuff set up despite spending the whole day on campus running from office to office. This isn't a big deal, but it adds to the frustration.
- There are very few young faculty in the department, and they seem buried to their necks in teaching while keeping up their research. The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
Any way, end of rant -- should I start looking for other options and be ready to leave after a semester or two? Or give them the benefit of doubt and try to settle in -- and if so, what can I proactively do to make the best of the situation?
I don't know what the college is like or what field you are in, but if you were talking about where I work, I would tell you that you could judge nothing at all about what fall would be like based on summer. Right now, I'm happily finishing up a week's vacation. I will be back on campus 2-3 days a week next week through August. I do not get paid in the summer, and so that is my own time that I mostly spend on research and prep for fall, but at my own pace and on my own schedule. I have a received a few "X is retiring, come celebrate" and "Y had a baby, come celebrate" emails, and I have completely ignored those. I see my colleagues who I share research space and equipment with, and occasionally bump into people at the dining hall and have lunch with them, but otherwise, we just aren't in touch much. It's not uncollegial, it's just summer.
Regarding hiring, I have served on search committees and I have provided input when I'm not on the search committee. I have 3 colleagues who I specifically voted against, feeling like they were not great fits for our school and there were better candidates. I consider all 3 to be good friends and trusted colleagues now. I don't regret my votes back then, because I went off of the information that I had, but I am not at all sorry that they got the job and I'm delighted by how well they have worked out. I am glad to have been wrong.
Give your colleagues a chance. And for now, be happy that you have a job that sounds overall like a good one.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:21 AM on July 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
Regarding hiring, I have served on search committees and I have provided input when I'm not on the search committee. I have 3 colleagues who I specifically voted against, feeling like they were not great fits for our school and there were better candidates. I consider all 3 to be good friends and trusted colleagues now. I don't regret my votes back then, because I went off of the information that I had, but I am not at all sorry that they got the job and I'm delighted by how well they have worked out. I am glad to have been wrong.
Give your colleagues a chance. And for now, be happy that you have a job that sounds overall like a good one.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:21 AM on July 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
None of this sounds unusual for an economics department (what I have experience with).
posted by deadweightloss at 6:22 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by deadweightloss at 6:22 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!)
It doesn't sound like this department is perfect, but it is really, really not unusual for even very collegial departments to be dead right now through august. Half my department is away now, and I'm about to head for canada for a month myself. Most academics, yourself included I bet, are on a 9-month salary (unless they have grants that pay summer salary) and under no obligation to be physically present for the summer. This has little to do with what anyone is actually accomplishing.
As to being the second choice, I wouldn't worry too much about that, just be polite and professional to people regardless of what you suspect about how they voted. I've been on many search committees and I can tell you that as a judgment of you, that distinction is meaningless. It might be that some of the faculty favored some other candidate and are feeling a bit annoyed that that other candidate turned them down, but that will fade; probably in a few years they'll barely remember the details of this search.
I would definitely give it some time to get settled in. Enjoy the peace and quiet of summer while it lasts.
posted by advil at 6:23 AM on July 5, 2015 [7 favorites]
It doesn't sound like this department is perfect, but it is really, really not unusual for even very collegial departments to be dead right now through august. Half my department is away now, and I'm about to head for canada for a month myself. Most academics, yourself included I bet, are on a 9-month salary (unless they have grants that pay summer salary) and under no obligation to be physically present for the summer. This has little to do with what anyone is actually accomplishing.
As to being the second choice, I wouldn't worry too much about that, just be polite and professional to people regardless of what you suspect about how they voted. I've been on many search committees and I can tell you that as a judgment of you, that distinction is meaningless. It might be that some of the faculty favored some other candidate and are feeling a bit annoyed that that other candidate turned them down, but that will fade; probably in a few years they'll barely remember the details of this search.
I would definitely give it some time to get settled in. Enjoy the peace and quiet of summer while it lasts.
posted by advil at 6:23 AM on July 5, 2015 [7 favorites]
Your description fits my department to a T. Even the full-time staff who don't get summers "off" mentally check out during summer session. But I really like my job and am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things this fall. I wouldn't put much stock in what happened on some random summer day.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:45 AM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:45 AM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Finally, you're moving into a non tenure-track position. At some institutions, you'll be seen as a part of the community; at others, that position will place you on the periphery.
This was my first thought. At a lot of places, adjunct, visiting, and other non-tenture-track faculty are not considered primary parts of the academic community. It will show up in informal interactions, and it may show in things like who gets invited to meetings, who can vote, and whose voice matters.
The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
Again, institutional cultures vary enormously, including how busy people feel the need to appear, and whether or not people feel able to take long vacations.
I don't think there is a way to tell yet if this is legitimately a bad fit, or if it is just a rocky start during the off season. If you are not tenure-track, it is always good to be ready to leave because you don't have job security, but there's no reason to head out the door prematurely. Even if the place isn't great, most academic hiring runs on a yearly cycle and it will be easiest to spend the year there, teaching your classes, while working on job applications and your research.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:59 AM on July 5, 2015 [9 favorites]
This was my first thought. At a lot of places, adjunct, visiting, and other non-tenture-track faculty are not considered primary parts of the academic community. It will show up in informal interactions, and it may show in things like who gets invited to meetings, who can vote, and whose voice matters.
The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
Again, institutional cultures vary enormously, including how busy people feel the need to appear, and whether or not people feel able to take long vacations.
I don't think there is a way to tell yet if this is legitimately a bad fit, or if it is just a rocky start during the off season. If you are not tenure-track, it is always good to be ready to leave because you don't have job security, but there's no reason to head out the door prematurely. Even if the place isn't great, most academic hiring runs on a yearly cycle and it will be easiest to spend the year there, teaching your classes, while working on job applications and your research.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:59 AM on July 5, 2015 [9 favorites]
It's futile to get much done regarding admin/paperwork/meeting staff during the summer at university/college. FUTILE. lol.
You really won't know until you've been there for the fall term. Give them the benefit of the doubt and try to fit in. It takes a while to people to warm up to new faces sometimes. Also takes some time to figure out the politics of the department.
Wishing you the best.
posted by lizbunny at 7:23 AM on July 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
You really won't know until you've been there for the fall term. Give them the benefit of the doubt and try to fit in. It takes a while to people to warm up to new faces sometimes. Also takes some time to figure out the politics of the department.
Wishing you the best.
posted by lizbunny at 7:23 AM on July 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
My guess is related to these things:
- Administratively, things are a mess.
AND
- There are very few young faculty in the department, and they seem buried to their necks in teaching while keeping up their research. The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
So tenured faculty do nothing and are obnoxious about it. Young faculty are stressed and getting zero administrative or institutional support. There is a lot of tension between young and old faculty and the administration. I'd say duck and cover, as a non-tenured faculty this could blow up on you. Be nice and cordial - and look for a few strong allies (particularly in the admin - a good secretary can grease the wheels for you, a bad one can destroy everything! Consider flowers, coffee and candy and many, many thank yous - stat).
Good luck!
posted by Toddles at 9:07 AM on July 5, 2015
- Administratively, things are a mess.
AND
- There are very few young faculty in the department, and they seem buried to their necks in teaching while keeping up their research. The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
So tenured faculty do nothing and are obnoxious about it. Young faculty are stressed and getting zero administrative or institutional support. There is a lot of tension between young and old faculty and the administration. I'd say duck and cover, as a non-tenured faculty this could blow up on you. Be nice and cordial - and look for a few strong allies (particularly in the admin - a good secretary can grease the wheels for you, a bad one can destroy everything! Consider flowers, coffee and candy and many, many thank yous - stat).
Good luck!
posted by Toddles at 9:07 AM on July 5, 2015
Background, my dad's a professor (tenured at a tier 2 with a substantial teaching load in addition to his research), I have a clinical doctorate (Tier 1, most faculty had a lighter but still regular teaching load), and I'm doing a Post-Doc (different Tier 1, my PI almost only does research and will occasionally teach an upper level course). So a lot of summers on campus.
My current institution seems a bit less dead in the summer than the other two, but even here the weeks around the 4th are eerily quiet. My current place is also much more 9am-at least 5pm than other places I've been, so it's easier in general to find people around (when class loads are minimal, there's so much more lab time!). Summers at the other institutions with heavier teaching loads felt like everyone was focused on their own projects, and less likely to socialize compared to the fall.
You may also be viewed as a temporary presence, as you're not tenure-track. It may not really be a bad thing in their minds, just that you won't be guaranteed to be around longer term, so collaboration with you may be considered risky (who knows if you'll be around next summer for X project, because Lord knows with their teaching load that's when they'll have time for research). Even if that's not the mindset, if they have a loaded schedule, you may have to be the proactive one (they'd love to work on Z with you, they just hadn't thought about it because Y is all they're focusing on at the moment).
So quietly observe and get the lay of the land. I don't think you'll get a complete picture of departmental politics until the fall. And unless you're rejecting another opportunity by taking this one, it'll give you some time to work on your research while getting a nice paycheck, which can only strengthen your CV and expand your opportunities down the road.
And "lazy" may not be an accurate and full picture of whats going on: My dad's two month summer "vacation" involves a lot of work at home, with unscheduled visits to the office (both so he could be flexible as he had childcare duties back when we were young and so he could show up and get stuff done as no one knew when he'd be around). The summer flexibility made up for not seeing much of him on weekdays and a lot of Saturdays the rest of the year.
And yes, get in with the admins, be overly understanding if they mess up (even if it actually is their fault, which it probably won't be) and very grateful when they help/try to help. They can grease wheels and let you know when a storm is brewing.
posted by ghost phoneme at 9:39 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
My current institution seems a bit less dead in the summer than the other two, but even here the weeks around the 4th are eerily quiet. My current place is also much more 9am-at least 5pm than other places I've been, so it's easier in general to find people around (when class loads are minimal, there's so much more lab time!). Summers at the other institutions with heavier teaching loads felt like everyone was focused on their own projects, and less likely to socialize compared to the fall.
You may also be viewed as a temporary presence, as you're not tenure-track. It may not really be a bad thing in their minds, just that you won't be guaranteed to be around longer term, so collaboration with you may be considered risky (who knows if you'll be around next summer for X project, because Lord knows with their teaching load that's when they'll have time for research). Even if that's not the mindset, if they have a loaded schedule, you may have to be the proactive one (they'd love to work on Z with you, they just hadn't thought about it because Y is all they're focusing on at the moment).
So quietly observe and get the lay of the land. I don't think you'll get a complete picture of departmental politics until the fall. And unless you're rejecting another opportunity by taking this one, it'll give you some time to work on your research while getting a nice paycheck, which can only strengthen your CV and expand your opportunities down the road.
And "lazy" may not be an accurate and full picture of whats going on: My dad's two month summer "vacation" involves a lot of work at home, with unscheduled visits to the office (both so he could be flexible as he had childcare duties back when we were young and so he could show up and get stuff done as no one knew when he'd be around). The summer flexibility made up for not seeing much of him on weekdays and a lot of Saturdays the rest of the year.
And yes, get in with the admins, be overly understanding if they mess up (even if it actually is their fault, which it probably won't be) and very grateful when they help/try to help. They can grease wheels and let you know when a storm is brewing.
posted by ghost phoneme at 9:39 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Besides the other advice, I'm also wondering what the recent history of the department and the university itself are.
You say it's a non-tenure line, which makes me think there are reasons for the department to be somewhat less emotionally engaged immediately with a new hire.
(I'm thinking things like either intitutional concerns about finances or programs, or that the school is in a category where there's been a lot of concern in recent months - both SLACs on the financial margins or public university systems in states without much support from their respective governors have been in the news a lot in the past few months, but there's other kinds of schools with similar concerns.)
The other thing I'd wonder about is the recent history around faculty. Have they just been through a really long and painful wrangle about contracts? Are particular programs under pressure? Have there been major administrative or focus-of-school changes? All of those are reasons that existing faculty may pull back, focus on their research (and their own CVs) in case they need to aim at the job market again. Or reasons that tenured faculty may be burned out.
Is your role replacing someone else? What do you know about them and/or why the position is open? Someone who was well-loved by other faculty and who's now gone (especially if it was seen as a bad call by the administration) can mean the remaining faculty aren't just going to welcome you with open arms, even though it's not your fault. Or if your position is a result of changes that the other faculty disagree with, again, not your fault, but you can be seen as a symbol of how things are all going wrong now.
I would totally not be concerned about faculty not being there over the summer if their contracts don't require it. You have no idea whether or not they're doing any work: they could well be writing, planning, working in other ways that allow them to focus without distraction, etc.
More to the point, if their contracts don't require them to be there, expecting them to be so they can help you is an exercise in frustration. Without knowing the field and whether it's a teaching-focused or research-focused institution, it's hard to tell what's going on with the tenured faculty not producing formal research.
My advice would be to do your best to get to know the administrative assistant, and make it easy for that person to help you. (I'd call, ask when a good time to come in is, and then come in with a well-organised list of your questions, and get info about who to talk to about what.)
Ask about their usual timeline for specific things like setting up office/computer/whatever. (If you show up in July for stuff where the usual process is they talk to you in mid-August, no one's going to be ready for you yet.)
You might also try reaching out to other offices with 12-month staff (library, faculty technology support, whatever they call their center for excellent in teaching, etc. These are people who can a) help you get the pulse of the campus and give you other useful data and b) may be a source of connection to other people you'd find collegial in other departments.) Don't be demanding, just do a "I'm a new hire in X department, would you be free this summer to tell me more about what you do?"
Be very aware that summer is often a time for big moves (physical, like building renovations or technical, like major upgrades to necessary computer systems) and so people may be very busy with that, even though you don't see any particular evidence of it. Or covering for other people's vacations.
Finally, though - you have the job. Give it a fair shot. All the stuff you describe can be things that make a long-term difference to your happiness there, but they also all have other possible explanations that you don't know about yet. If you decide you don't like it, you can go on the market again.
posted by modernhypatia at 9:49 AM on July 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
You say it's a non-tenure line, which makes me think there are reasons for the department to be somewhat less emotionally engaged immediately with a new hire.
(I'm thinking things like either intitutional concerns about finances or programs, or that the school is in a category where there's been a lot of concern in recent months - both SLACs on the financial margins or public university systems in states without much support from their respective governors have been in the news a lot in the past few months, but there's other kinds of schools with similar concerns.)
The other thing I'd wonder about is the recent history around faculty. Have they just been through a really long and painful wrangle about contracts? Are particular programs under pressure? Have there been major administrative or focus-of-school changes? All of those are reasons that existing faculty may pull back, focus on their research (and their own CVs) in case they need to aim at the job market again. Or reasons that tenured faculty may be burned out.
Is your role replacing someone else? What do you know about them and/or why the position is open? Someone who was well-loved by other faculty and who's now gone (especially if it was seen as a bad call by the administration) can mean the remaining faculty aren't just going to welcome you with open arms, even though it's not your fault. Or if your position is a result of changes that the other faculty disagree with, again, not your fault, but you can be seen as a symbol of how things are all going wrong now.
I would totally not be concerned about faculty not being there over the summer if their contracts don't require it. You have no idea whether or not they're doing any work: they could well be writing, planning, working in other ways that allow them to focus without distraction, etc.
More to the point, if their contracts don't require them to be there, expecting them to be so they can help you is an exercise in frustration. Without knowing the field and whether it's a teaching-focused or research-focused institution, it's hard to tell what's going on with the tenured faculty not producing formal research.
My advice would be to do your best to get to know the administrative assistant, and make it easy for that person to help you. (I'd call, ask when a good time to come in is, and then come in with a well-organised list of your questions, and get info about who to talk to about what.)
Ask about their usual timeline for specific things like setting up office/computer/whatever. (If you show up in July for stuff where the usual process is they talk to you in mid-August, no one's going to be ready for you yet.)
You might also try reaching out to other offices with 12-month staff (library, faculty technology support, whatever they call their center for excellent in teaching, etc. These are people who can a) help you get the pulse of the campus and give you other useful data and b) may be a source of connection to other people you'd find collegial in other departments.) Don't be demanding, just do a "I'm a new hire in X department, would you be free this summer to tell me more about what you do?"
Be very aware that summer is often a time for big moves (physical, like building renovations or technical, like major upgrades to necessary computer systems) and so people may be very busy with that, even though you don't see any particular evidence of it. Or covering for other people's vacations.
Finally, though - you have the job. Give it a fair shot. All the stuff you describe can be things that make a long-term difference to your happiness there, but they also all have other possible explanations that you don't know about yet. If you decide you don't like it, you can go on the market again.
posted by modernhypatia at 9:49 AM on July 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
My thoughts on your experience:
- Went in last week to get my paperwork done with HR. Not many professors are around for the summer, but I e-mailed the chair and a couple of people saying I'd be on campus and it would be great to catch up. The chair met with me, and was polite but not particularly welcoming. No one else on campus took the time to talk. Everyone keeps their door shut. I come from a department that is very collegial... we pop in to one another's offices, and the new people are always being taken to lunches and drinks, so this disinterest is unnerving.
Normal for many not-that-collegial departments. People are busy doing their own thing, they aren't interested in "catching up" with someone they don't know.
- I was their second choice for the position. I basically got a "waitlist" e-mail after my interview saying they were going with someone else. I can't shake the feeling that this was a clear sign that they weren't thrilled about me in the first place. My interview itself wasn't the best experience -- I didn't connect with anyone, and a couple of people were downright rude.
If they hired you at all, then they wanted you. It's common for departments to hire no one (and do another search the following year) rather than hire someone they are not enthusiastic about. Rude academics in interviews are also par for the course.
- Administratively, things are a mess. The staff are much more understaffed/inefficient than what I'm used to. No one ever reached out to me as a new hire, and I still don't have most of my stuff set up despite spending the whole day on campus running from office to office. This isn't a big deal, but it adds to the frustration.
Normal for many universities.
- There are very few young faculty in the department, and they seem buried to their necks in teaching while keeping up their research. The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
Normal for many departments. Those "lazy" professors may be traveling to do research. Young faculty seeming buried is typical.
Any way, end of rant -- should I start looking for other options and be ready to leave after a semester or two? Or give them the benefit of doubt and try to settle in -- and if so, what can I proactively do to make the best of the situation?
Both. You should start looking for other options because you should have a tenure-track job. You should try to settle in to do good work, improve your CV, and find your next job. To make the best of the situation, you should be less judgmental about your new colleagues and less demanding of their attention. Do your work, keep your head down, learn about the institutional culture, plan for your next job.
posted by medusa at 10:21 AM on July 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
- Went in last week to get my paperwork done with HR. Not many professors are around for the summer, but I e-mailed the chair and a couple of people saying I'd be on campus and it would be great to catch up. The chair met with me, and was polite but not particularly welcoming. No one else on campus took the time to talk. Everyone keeps their door shut. I come from a department that is very collegial... we pop in to one another's offices, and the new people are always being taken to lunches and drinks, so this disinterest is unnerving.
Normal for many not-that-collegial departments. People are busy doing their own thing, they aren't interested in "catching up" with someone they don't know.
- I was their second choice for the position. I basically got a "waitlist" e-mail after my interview saying they were going with someone else. I can't shake the feeling that this was a clear sign that they weren't thrilled about me in the first place. My interview itself wasn't the best experience -- I didn't connect with anyone, and a couple of people were downright rude.
If they hired you at all, then they wanted you. It's common for departments to hire no one (and do another search the following year) rather than hire someone they are not enthusiastic about. Rude academics in interviews are also par for the course.
- Administratively, things are a mess. The staff are much more understaffed/inefficient than what I'm used to. No one ever reached out to me as a new hire, and I still don't have most of my stuff set up despite spending the whole day on campus running from office to office. This isn't a big deal, but it adds to the frustration.
Normal for many universities.
- There are very few young faculty in the department, and they seem buried to their necks in teaching while keeping up their research. The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
Normal for many departments. Those "lazy" professors may be traveling to do research. Young faculty seeming buried is typical.
Any way, end of rant -- should I start looking for other options and be ready to leave after a semester or two? Or give them the benefit of doubt and try to settle in -- and if so, what can I proactively do to make the best of the situation?
Both. You should start looking for other options because you should have a tenure-track job. You should try to settle in to do good work, improve your CV, and find your next job. To make the best of the situation, you should be less judgmental about your new colleagues and less demanding of their attention. Do your work, keep your head down, learn about the institutional culture, plan for your next job.
posted by medusa at 10:21 AM on July 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
Your worries have much more to do with you and your unreasonable expectations than anything about the college.
It is rare for faculty to be around in the summer. You should take advantage of the empty campus to take time off yourself and/or get some writing done. In two months, you will be up to your eyeballs in meetings and other "social" events and longing for the summer quiet.
But you also need a bit of an attitude adjustment: you seem put out because people aren't making a big deal about your impending arrival. But why would they? You are not the queen/the president/Derrida. You are a new, non-TT, colleague. This is not to belittle your position; it sounds like a great job, and you should be proud of yourself for landing it. But people are awfully good at picking up on subtle signs of perceived entitlement and dissatisfaction, and you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot before you begin. Part of being a successful new hire is to recognize that each academic institution has its own, very local, climate. How things were done in your graduate program is not necessarily applicable to your new environment. Openly comparing your new campus to your former campus is a good way to make enemies, and running through these comparisons in your head is a good way to make yourself miserable.
posted by girl flaneur at 10:46 AM on July 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
It is rare for faculty to be around in the summer. You should take advantage of the empty campus to take time off yourself and/or get some writing done. In two months, you will be up to your eyeballs in meetings and other "social" events and longing for the summer quiet.
But you also need a bit of an attitude adjustment: you seem put out because people aren't making a big deal about your impending arrival. But why would they? You are not the queen/the president/Derrida. You are a new, non-TT, colleague. This is not to belittle your position; it sounds like a great job, and you should be proud of yourself for landing it. But people are awfully good at picking up on subtle signs of perceived entitlement and dissatisfaction, and you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot before you begin. Part of being a successful new hire is to recognize that each academic institution has its own, very local, climate. How things were done in your graduate program is not necessarily applicable to your new environment. Openly comparing your new campus to your former campus is a good way to make enemies, and running through these comparisons in your head is a good way to make yourself miserable.
posted by girl flaneur at 10:46 AM on July 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
"Not on campus" isn't the same as a two month summer vacation. I work at home in the summer.
posted by kestrel251 at 11:10 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by kestrel251 at 11:10 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
RUN. RUN LIKE THE WIND. I literally just extricated myself from a tenure-track job at my dream institution that started out exactly like this and steadily got worse every day until I quit out of desperation, causing **huge** damage to my career.
If you were offered a job of this type from this institution, you will eventually be offered something like this from another less-hostile place, probably within a year or so.
All I can say is, listen to the signals that your body is sending to you. In the week before I moved to my dream/hell job, I was in the ER with heart palpitations and a wisdom tooth swollen to the size of a baseball.
posted by amy27 at 11:16 AM on July 5, 2015
If you were offered a job of this type from this institution, you will eventually be offered something like this from another less-hostile place, probably within a year or so.
All I can say is, listen to the signals that your body is sending to you. In the week before I moved to my dream/hell job, I was in the ER with heart palpitations and a wisdom tooth swollen to the size of a baseball.
posted by amy27 at 11:16 AM on July 5, 2015
For the record: Summer is when we tenured professors are expected to get a lot of writing done, and to prepare grant applications that are due in the chaos of the fall. During the summer, there are also graduate teaching duties -- we edit dissertations, meet with grad students, attend oral exams and dissertation defenses that always seem to be scheduled in the summer for those graduate students whose schedules demand it -- even though we don't get paid in the summer (while non TT employees do tend to get a 12 month pay schedule).
It is not a two month vacation, even though we're unpaid.
posted by third rail at 11:18 AM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
It is not a two month vacation, even though we're unpaid.
posted by third rail at 11:18 AM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, just fyi: there have been lots of non TT people in my dept. who remain fairly marginal of their own volition; they don't do service, they (legitimately) come and go from teaching without the rest of the investment of time and labor that TT folks have to commit to. However, there also are always non-TT people who integrate into the dept. much more deeply. They take on service, they reach out, they go above and beyond until -- often -- they become completely part of the community. However, it isn't clear, just from the beginning, what kind of citizen the non-TT person will choose to be. If in this role you see yourself as wanting to become central to the dept. you're going to have to demonstrate that by reaching out yourself. Sorry, but it really is on you to show people who you want to be and how you want to interact.
In the fall.
posted by third rail at 11:32 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
In the fall.
posted by third rail at 11:32 AM on July 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm an undergraduate student, at a Tier 1 Public Research University, who was deeply involved in my department - them not being around for the summer seems very par on course, since I believe they work from home. I agree with what everyone says above - our department is dealing with an admin turnover, new hires, and changing course curriculum. Plus, in summer, everyone works from home. I do think our admin is highly responsive though, but she was very special...
posted by yueliang at 11:47 AM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by yueliang at 11:47 AM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
The tenured faculty seem to have a chip on their shoulders about their Ivy degrees, but are completely inactive in research, and frankly, seem lazier than most tenured professors (they're all on a two month summer vacation!).
What kind of administrative load are they under? Some TT/tenured faculty in my department are under a pretty heavy administrative load - lots of sitting on committees, heading other programs that don't have full on departments, being loaned out to the honors people, etc. We had to draft an interim head mid year this year, and they're not getting anything done except being head right now. You can't do that kind of service load and publish on a regular schedule unless you don't sleep.
Also, some of them may be publishing out of academic channels. One of my colleagues looks like he's not producing much until you look at HUD reports...
Just some more food for thought.
posted by joycehealy at 2:35 PM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
What kind of administrative load are they under? Some TT/tenured faculty in my department are under a pretty heavy administrative load - lots of sitting on committees, heading other programs that don't have full on departments, being loaned out to the honors people, etc. We had to draft an interim head mid year this year, and they're not getting anything done except being head right now. You can't do that kind of service load and publish on a regular schedule unless you don't sleep.
Also, some of them may be publishing out of academic channels. One of my colleagues looks like he's not producing much until you look at HUD reports...
Just some more food for thought.
posted by joycehealy at 2:35 PM on July 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
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(a) Trying to meet with faculty in a social way over the summer is a losing proposition. I've been at my institution for over 10 years and when I go into the office these days it's a wasteland. And when I'm there, I'm not hoping to run into people because I'm trying to preserve some sense of summer distance from the usual school year work.
(b) You may have been their second choice, but that's still much much higher than, say, their 50th choice. You were a finalist! They were willing and eager to extend an offer to you! I have watched departments *refuse* to offer a job because they were unhappy with all their final candidates. So let this one go.
(c) This is an institutional issue. You need time to figure it all out, but also remember that during the summer many institutions reduce staff hours. Be proactive, but don't expect things to happen speedily.
(d) And finally, didn't you just get hired? How do you know anything about the faculty and their lives and priorities? Stop judging, until you move into the position and get to know the people.
Finally, you're moving into a non tenure-track position. At some institutions, you'll be seen as a part of the community; at others, that position will place you on the periphery. You'll need to be thoughtful about your expectations for your colleagues but also about how much you're willing to give. But you can't figure any of that out until the school year starts and you understand the situation better.
posted by correcaminos at 6:16 AM on July 5, 2015 [15 favorites]