tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post5843288869442041457..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Big Thirsty on Minty FreshnessUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49601788574025120882011-02-25T21:54:44.466-05:002011-02-25T21:54:44.466-05:00I'm thinking about our assistant-level hires i...I'm thinking about our assistant-level hires in the past 5-8 years. Five minty-fresh, three in TT jobs elsewhere, and one lecturer who was a spouse. <br /><br />I think adjunct or lecturer positions do carry a taint with an R1, and that's quite unfair. We do hire the underemployed, but it seems to have to be tenure-track. I hope that changes as more and more people have to patch alongFrog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-4870133751004064072011-02-25T08:53:51.755-05:002011-02-25T08:53:51.755-05:00@Cassandra and Cass: You should finish the book if...@Cassandra and Cass: You should finish the book if you can manage it. A different way of saying "potential associate" is "guaranteed tenurable." That's one of the main reasons we favor the experienced over the minty fresh. We have stringent tenure standards, but we do hire with the intention to tenure. Choosing people with some experience and a book in the pipeline means Angry Archiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348431132289025339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-75246520794296115142011-02-24T21:56:21.937-05:002011-02-24T21:56:21.937-05:00My experience here in the physics department at mi...My experience here in the physics department at middlin'-state-U-that-aspires-to-be-an-R2-but-still-has-a-4/4-teaching-load is somewhat similar to Ben's. The last time we had an open t-t assistant professor position was four years ago, just before the economy crashed, but every time we did for the past ten years, we got a stack of 100 applications. We never hire anyone straight out of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11881895961242891042011-02-24T21:39:58.167-05:002011-02-24T21:39:58.167-05:00At community college, it's generally the oppos...At community college, it's generally the opposite. We want people with teaching experience because that's our #1 priority. Adjuncts often have the inside track because they've proven themselves at that particular institution. I bore the brunt of suspicion when I first came because I was one of the few who was hired from outside the adjunct pool (though I had plenty of adjuncting EnglishDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12046114978214062491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81955903475310166782011-02-24T21:25:15.326-05:002011-02-24T21:25:15.326-05:00Our college's reward system used to tilt heavi...Our college's reward system used to tilt heavily toward "potential", which seems to come from the same line of thinking as preferring the minty fresh over experienced. My favorite example was the large raise handed out to one untenured assistant in the hopes of motivating them to finally publish some research. Suffice to say, this person never published squat and didn't even Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-43100538846279702102011-02-24T21:08:24.918-05:002011-02-24T21:08:24.918-05:00Ah. Hm. Not sure if I should say this, because I k...Ah. Hm. Not sure if I should say this, because I know several great people who've ended up with fabulous jobs after several years of adjuncting, but there's something I think Archie's not saying: the non-minty-fresh favored by his prestigious department aren't currently adjuncts. They're coming out of another TT position or a hot-shit humanities post-doc. (Please do correct meCasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14265867663355826045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55358893102174776472011-02-24T20:39:55.508-05:002011-02-24T20:39:55.508-05:00My experience is a little different because I'...My experience is a little different because I'm in a science department. We only hire people with previous funded research experience. This excludes all new Ph.D.s and postdocs. In our eyes, it's worth the higher start up costs to lure them here because there's a high chance of getting money back through overhead of research grants and increasing the reputation of our school. <br Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-78355378746450174152011-02-24T19:24:56.954-05:002011-02-24T19:24:56.954-05:00On the other hand, reading Merely's post (whic...On the other hand, reading Merely's post (which went up while I was writing), I wonder whether I *should* aim for a book, since then I might fall into that potential-Associate category. Not that there's any major danger of my facing that problem in the near future.Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-85584064040046155622011-02-24T19:19:32.183-05:002011-02-24T19:19:32.183-05:00I was finding this thread very, very depressing un...I was finding this thread very, very depressing until Archie chimed in. Now I'm just hoping he's right (and wondering how in the world I can produce a book while teaching 4/4 plus summer). <br /><br />My own department seems to hire mostly people with a few years of experience past the Ph.D., and at least one article in a fairly selective journal covering our field as a whole, or the Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-10071298765551059172011-02-24T18:50:30.768-05:002011-02-24T18:50:30.768-05:00@Sawyer - in my experience that only matters at al...@Sawyer - in my experience that only matters at all once you jump to the next rank. We've been told point-blank not to bother to look at someone who could credibly be at Associate level, or is at Associate level, because they'll cost too much. But as long as they don't have enough published to get tenure tomorrow, they're still assistant-rank, and hireable.<br /><br />Money Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55290223941984589282011-02-24T18:17:52.546-05:002011-02-24T18:17:52.546-05:00I just left a Faculty Senate meeting where a simil...I just left a Faculty Senate meeting where a similar situation has been hashed and rehashed over the last year.<br /><br />Not to put too fine a point on it, but it comes down to money. Even a modicum of "teaching experience" moves a potential faculty member further to the right (and sometimes down the page) on the pay chart. The closer to the upper left-hand corner of the page you Sawyer in Student Serviceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16463333151790071057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-20498086549818208632011-02-24T18:00:25.338-05:002011-02-24T18:00:25.338-05:00Hastily Generalize much?
It is no doubt true that...Hastily Generalize much?<br /><br />It is no doubt true that hiring departments can and do project all kinds of future greatness onto the minty fresh in ways that they cannot do with people whose CVs are longer. In the latter case, they are what they are, and you can't imagine that they'll ever be something different.<br /><br />But there are also departments that don't favor the Angry Archiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348431132289025339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19145560725756020982011-02-24T17:36:00.577-05:002011-02-24T17:36:00.577-05:00There's a misconception that mentos are 'c...There's a misconception that mentos are 'cutting edge' learning 'new and exciting' things that silverbacks and people like me (six years out of grad school) have *missed* in the past few years (b/c grad schools are producing bright new minds with new ideas about old literature; at least in my area). Unless Ned teaches in some technological field (like quantum iPhone Ack-ademichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07662600560663571219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13102506956520416812011-02-24T17:03:13.862-05:002011-02-24T17:03:13.862-05:00I think Clarissa is right - to a point - but there...I think Clarissa is right - to a point - but there are a fair number who DO manage to keep reasonably-active scholarly agendas, and still get shut out when it's time to hand out the jobs. Like they're used goods, or tainted, or clearly inferior because they didn't get a job when *they* were ABD, or they remind someone on the search committee of his grandmother who used to make him eatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5316188759100025072011-02-24T16:23:03.845-05:002011-02-24T16:23:03.845-05:00Working conditions in adjunct, instructor and lect...Working conditions in adjunct, instructor and lecturer positions are extremely bad. teaching loads are huge and the pay is very low. As a result, people who are forced to have such jobs for several years, don't have either time or energy to be very active in research. We all know how unforgiving research is. You do little of it for a few years and you get hopelessly behind. This is why Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83237902800957604532011-02-24T16:07:16.355-05:002011-02-24T16:07:16.355-05:00The newbie might be the "next great thing&quo...The newbie might be the "next great thing". Often Depts hire some hot new person out of grad school in the belief that this person will be winning the Nobel in a couple years. My experience is either this is a mistake, and the newbie is like the rest of us only untested, or the newbie is the next great thing, and will quickly be moving on beyond your 2nd tier school.<br /><br />Many abysshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07262945566870649768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8246157180898769762011-02-24T15:51:20.505-05:002011-02-24T15:51:20.505-05:00I am unsure about this issue. But I think it migh...I am unsure about this issue. But I think it might have something to do with "molding" a newbie to fit our organization rather than finding someone who already has been formed and comes in with their own way of doing things. Just an idea.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com