Community colleges tend to hire late, and this ad just got posted a few days ago. It's a very good school in a desirable area, and I know from my own experience that tenure track jobs in English are drawing more than 100 (sometimes WAY more) applicants.
So my friend is working her way through the application process when she finds this hurdle:
Applicants must submit the following materials to be considered:
- Completed academic/administrative application form
- Letter of interest which addresses the Desirable Qualifications. In this letter we invite applicants to expand on strengths not covered in other parts of the application Diversity Statement (included in the application packet)
- Curriculum Vitae or Resume
- The attached student essay with your marks and comments. [This composition was written by a student in a course one level below freshman composition. Please respond to it as you would normally, assuming the student will revise before final submission for a grade.] A response in 1,000 or fewer total words to the following two questions: a. How would you work with the writer of the essay above in an individual conference? b. Assuming this writing is representative of the class, which concerns would you address first in the class and how would you do so?
- Unofficial copies of transcripts of college/university work. Official transcripts are required for employment. Three recent letters of recommendation.
Now, I'm all for a thorough process, but to ask for a 4 page review of a sample essay at the first stage seems wasteful in so many ways. Who is going to review the (possibly) hundreds of applications, the marked essays, the marginal comments, and the 4 page answers to their questions?
Of course it'll be good information for the committee, and perhaps it's just a weeding out step, but my friend thinks it's overkill, and I agree.
That does seem like a second stage question. Wow. Maybe it's to weed out some of the less serious first stage candidates?
ReplyDeleteI think it's weeding out. If I were on the job market with a bunch of cc jobs staring at me, I MIGHT bypass one that asked for such a detailed first step. Of course it all depends on how desirable the location is.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible they already have a candidate they want? I hate to be such a cynic about the job market, but how can one not be?
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the reasons I'm *not* on the market (though at some point I probably need to be). I teach a 4/4/2 load (and occasionally do some freelance work to make ends meet). On top of that, I manage to do a smidgen of research/writing/publishing in my field (which isn't required for my job, and doesn't count at all toward retention/raises (if they ever exist again)/promotion). If I were to apply to even a few places that wanted that sort of detailed application, the time would have to come straight out of the research/writing time. 'Tis a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteAlso -- any half-decent comp teacher can provide useful feedback on *one* essay. The question is whether (s)he can cope with grading dozens of the darn things, week in and week out. And no, that isn't a suggestion for the next search.
Actually, I'd argue that it would be a far smarter tactic to put a candidate (presumably from a narrowed list) in a room, give hir the essay to look at for 15-20 minutes, then have hir conduct a mock conference, and answer questions from the committee about how (s)he'd structure a syllabus that would work for this population. Thinking on your feet is a valuable skill in this world.
DeleteAlso, unless this is an unusually homogeneous department, I'd guess that the committee (assuming they read the responses) won't agree on the "right" answers.
I love that idea, Cassandra!
DeleteWe hired someone last year who gave the most dreadful teaching exhibition. I was not a voting member on the committee but I could not believe we hired someone so good on paper but so bad in the actual room!
DeleteI was going to suggest something like Cassandra's idea. It's also more fair to the candidate, since it's more like the real job than writing 1,000 words about the class.
DeleteThis is a great tactic to get job applicants to do your grading for you.
ReplyDeleteOMG. Send a different one to each candidate, with a short due date. In this market you could cover five mid-sized sections.
DeletePurchase one from a paper-mill!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it potentially be a FERPA violation to use a real student's draft? Pity the search committee member who had to write a mediocre freshman paper from scratch . . .
ReplyDeleteWas wondering the same thing myself. But, I imagine it's fine as long as the name is removed.
Deleteor the student has signed a release (we get them so that we can use papers as samples in future classes, and perhaps quote from them in presentations/publications, but the wording is comprehensive enough that unless the student had specified fairly narrow uses -- the release I use, at least, allows them to cross out some of the possible uses -- the release would probably cover this situation).
DeleteOn the other hand, we don't need releases for papers used for assessment/accreditation purposes. This strikes me as going beyond that, but someone could probably argue it's similar (I don't think it is -- if a student who hadn't signed a release found a paper of hirs that had been distributed in this way on a term paper site, I think (s)he'd have cause for complaint -- but I can see someone making the argument).
Now I know how I'm going to get my final exams graded. Thank you!
ReplyDelete