Chronicle Carreers in Academe 2011D DL

supplement to the ChroniCle of higher eduCation
Winter/Spring 2011
Careers in Academe
D3
Moving abroad:
Factors to consider
if you want to pursue
your academic
career at a university
overseas.
D8
An academic author
gains redemption
from her ignorance
about sales fgures,
marketing, and other
aspects of book
publishing.
D17
Have no illusions:
Its hard work for two
academics to fnd
tenure-track positions
at the same university.
A bit of luck can help,
too.
D26
Making the most
of your postdoc:
Practical tips
on how best
to take advantage
of a postgraduate
fellowship.
D28
Academe should
encourage the growing
cadre of Ph.D.s who
become campus
administrators without
ever having been
on the faculty.
PLUS
D10 An underclass of adjuncts
D13 Trying out life at a public university
D15 I didnt slow down when I got tenure
D18 Ms. Mentor on micromanaging
D22 Giving birth to two babies in one year
D25 Can I teach at a community college?
D32 Secrets of successful administrators
D33 Getting a start in student affairs
D2 The Chronicle of Higher Education CAREERS I N ACADEME WI NTER/SPRI NG 2011
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theme parks to forward-thinkinQ research parks, OrIando has made
its mark on the worId's staQe. Home to the nation's 2nd-IarQest
university, this dynamic area has the abiIity to attract, deveIop and
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WI NTER/SPRI NG 2011 CAREERS I N ACADEME The Chronicle of Higher Education D3
By Christopher phelps
A
year ago, I moved to England to accept a
teaching position at the University of Notting-
ham. I came as an American historian at midca-
reer with a family in tow. Those in other academic felds,
or who are single, or looking at a position in, say, China,
will very likely face circumstances quite different from
my own. Nevertheless, I will try to share what general
pearls of advice I have for American academics contem-
plating relocation abroad.
As any scholar of immigration can tell you, both
push and pull factors explain transnational migra-
tion. In my case, institution, not country, was decisive.
The push was that I had been teaching on a small re-
gional campus for 10 years and had lost my two best
friends on the faculty, one to cancer, the other to transfer.
The pull was that I was excited by the chance to teach
graduate students in a top-tier program at a world-class
research university. When I made my move, Nottingham
was ranked 86th in the world by Times Higher Educa-
tion (the rank has fallen since then after the ratings cri-
teria were changed), and the universitys faculty mem-
bers in American and Canadian studies had received the
highest possible distinction in a British research assess-
ment.
Given my political leanings, it did not hurt that Not-
tinghams local folk hero took from the rich to give to
the poor. But intellectual exchange was the chief draw.
On my former campus, I was the only full-time scholar
of American history. In my new program, there are four
other scholars in my intellectual-history subfeld alone,
and other Americanists at work on such topics as slav-
ery, civil rights, literature, and foreign policy.
Moving abroad has proven intellectually justifed, but
it has not been without challengessome more severe
than anticipated. My family and I were not strangers
to life abroad, since I had had previous teaching stints
in Canada, Hungary, and Poland (the latter two on Ful-
brights). But permanent relocation is a more decisive
process. Here are some working notes:
The transition will be complex logistically. In any
long-distance move, you can expect many headaches.
When moving abroad, expect a multiplication of hassles,
large and small.
The visa process was surprisingly daunting. Even for
a professional with a job offer in hand, the British gov-
ernment has made the process exceptionally unwieldy.
After I flled out countless forms and supplied endless
documentation, the process stalled. A few days before
we were to depart, I sent a desperate e-mail, and a Brit-
ish consulate staffer in Chicago worked miracles. We
now hold three-year, renewable visas. I would take re-
newal for granted except that debates over immigration
have intensifed since we arrived.
Once we got here, we had to decide where to live. We
would have preferred to live in Nottingham, a bustling
city, so I could walk to work, but a check with other fac-
ulty members with children indicated that the best pri-
mary and secondary schools were overflled. Our three
children would almost surely be bumped into weak
schools.
So we settled in a village 18 miles away from the city,
renting a converted carriage house behind a large Ed-
wardian house where our landlords live. Directly across
the street is an immense stone cathedral, built in the
12th century. The village is picturesque, with butcher
shops, bakeries, cafes, and a secondhand bookstore.
It is a storybook setting, but getting our children (ages
9, 10, and 12) into the schools did prove taxing, particu-
larly in the case of our oldest daughter. Residency does
not guarantee school enrollment, and our daughters case
dragged out on appeal for four months, during which
time she was in our daily care. Now all three children
are ensconced in the schools, which we fnd excellent.
What would be a short commute in the United States
takes longer in Britain,
given lower speed limits
and circular roundabouts.
The university is on the
other side of the city, so the
journey to work is 90 min-
utes by bus or 50 minutes
by car. That practically ob-
ligates driving, so we have
taken tests, written and
practical, to obtain driv-
ers licenses, a process that
requires more time and en-
ergy than one would have
thought.
Such transitional is-
sueshousing, schools,
transportationdiminish
with each one ticked off.
But for the frst year, at
least, arrangement-making
combined with unpacking
can seem all-consuming.
Your fnances will transpire in two currencies. I
did not move for money. Based upon currency conver-
sion, I anticipated a near-identical level of salary, but that
turned out to be meaningless because the cost of living
in Britain is, in many respects, higher. We therefore took
a hit to our income.
In the spring, my wife, a credentialed university ref-
erence librarian, managed to obtain a one-year position
in the main humanities library at Nottingham. She did
so on her own, since British universities do not practice
spousal hiring. Her extra income has made all the differ-
ence, and we hope the job will lead to something perma-
nent.
Living abroad adds layers of fnancial complexity to
life. We have been unable to use our American savings
to put a down payment on a house in England, because
to transfer the money here would result in its being taxed
at a very high rate. Whats more, despite an excellent
credit rating in the United States, I was unable to get a
line of credit for more than 300 pounds on any British
cardincluding ones branded American Express, Visa,
or MasterCard, companies that know my track record.
Above all, know this: American citizens living abroad
must fle income taxes in both the host country and the
A Move Abroad: travels and travails
Some factors to bear in mind if you consider
switching your academic career overseas
faculty careers & hiring
Continued on Following Page
Black-and-white illustrations by Brian Taylor
Cover illustration by Joyce Hesselberth
United States. Naturally, the accoun-
tants who specialize in expatriate issues
charge prime rates.
There will be ups and downs. We
have had glimpses of the sublime, as
when scaling a mountain in Wales at
Christmastime, discovering hot lamb-
and-mint pasties at the bakery, happen-
ing upon remote castle ruins in Northum-
berland, or listening to the choir sing
Thomas Tallis in the cathedral across the
way.
But we have also had days of gloom,
wondering whether we will ever belong
in this culture, with all of its inscruta-
ble differences. For me the moments of
greatest doubt have come when I have
held one daughter or the other on my lap
as she cries. (Fortunately, that has not
happened very often, or Id have packed
it in long ago.)
Technology makes communication
easier than ever before, but being at
trans-Atlantic distance can still make
one feel remote from family, friends, and
country, especially at holidays orI ad-
mit, this may just be meelections.
Kind colleagues have gone out of their
way to welcome us. One took me to a
professional cricket game. Another, an
American, invited us over for Thanksgiv-
ing. Still, you fnd yourself missing home
in the strangest moments, as when you
need drain-clog remover at 8 p.m. and re-
alize that because you are no longer in a
24/7 society, all the shops are closed.
Words will differ. Living in a non-
English speaking country presents chal-
lenges, of course, but diffculties arise
even when you supposedly share a lan-
guage with your adopted country. Few
people in England talk in the polished
tones of the BBC, but the British do have
a vocabulary of their own. A variant lexi-
con of academic life must be learned.
Prepare to experience moments of infan-
tilization as you ask for explanations of
things that everyone else considers obvi-
ous.
Fortunately, you will absorb much of
the terminology by osmosis. What we
call a dissertation, they call a thesis, and
vice versa. A course to us is a module
here; a course here is what we would call
a major. When we say class, we mean
a single teaching session; they mean pri-
marily a grade cohort, as in the sec-
ond-year class. Service duties become
admin tasks. And so on, into the more
technical.
The vocabulary can suggest different
cultural norms. Staff, for example, ap-
plies to faculty members here, unlike in
the United States, where the word tends
to be shorthand for administrative em-
ployees. That would seem to indicate an
egalitarian sensibility: We are all staff.
In other ways, however, British ter-
minology refects a more pronounced
sense of hierarchy. I, for example, hold
two titles: senior lecturer and associate
professor, British and American ways of
expressing an equivalent rank. At frst
I thought that in granting both designa-
tions to me, the university had extended
to me a remarkable courtesy. But when,
without giving it thought, I selected
Prof. on a human-resources form as the
designation I prefer before my surname, I
learned that I was not to do so, since that
designation is appropriate only for those
with full professorships. Curiouser and
curiouser.
One completely unexpected and de-
lightful advantage of a considerate cul-
ture is that, for the frst time in my life,
almost everyone is calling me by my ac-
tual name rather than truncating it in as-
sumed familiarity, as if every Elizabeth
must be a Betsy and every Robert a Bob.
I had given up on that entirely in the
United States.
Higher education will be structured
differently. Rather than being compelled
to master a broad spectrum of knowl-
edge, the British-university student spe-
cializes intensively, taking but a single
subject areasuch as American and
Canadian history and culturefor three
years (not four, as in America). Some of
my students choose joint honors de-
grees, or double majors, hence complete
additional work in politics or English lit-
erature. But thats itno math, science,
psychology, or French.
In our program, the performance of
incoming students in the frst year does
not count toward their cumulative grade-
point average. The marks count in the
second year for 20 percent and in the
third and fnal year for 80 percent of the
fnal grade. At the end of every year,
there is an exam review board, where for
several days the entire faculty assembles,
with outside observers on hand, to re-
view every single students performance.
Yearly marks that fall just shy of a given
grade may be rounded up.
Instructors here act as personal tu-
tors to a number of students. That may
bring to mind visions of sherry-sipping
sessions discussing Montesquieu in oak-
paneled offces, but it is more mundane.
You hand them their marks at the end of
term and chat about how things are go-
ing. Once in a while, a student comes
and sees you out of the blue, and it is
very nice.
Nottinghams expansive green lawns
set it apart from many European uni-
versities, attracting not only locals but
also students from all over Britain, espe-
cially wealthy southern England, as well
as from Europe and Asia. Apart from
a generally higher level of fashion sen-
sibilityskinny-legged jeans, scarves,
and other accoutrements aboundand
a generally greater degree of politeness,
students here seem to me to occupy the
same range as Americans, from apathetic
to brilliant, although the best here are
among the best Ive ever taught. The ac-
tual hours spent in the classroom here are
fewer (two hours a week, typically) than
stateside, so the reading you can assign
is less. More emphasis is placed upon
lengthy independent research papers as
opposed to small, assigned-topic essays.
The Ph.D. is purely a research degree
here. Writing the thesis is the rub. Doc-
toral students dont have seminars, except
when candidates present their research to
one another. In our program, each Ph.D.
candidate has two advisers, not one.
National policy intrudes upon aca-
demic life more directly when higher
education is state-provided. A severe
budgetary restructuring by the British
government, with outsized tuition hikes
forthcoming, has introduced major un-
knowns and righteous student rebel-
lions this year. The Research Excellence
Frameworka tool that measures faculty
performance, and by which budgets are
setis defned at the national level, with
goalposts sometimes moved in the midst
of a given cycle.
Despite the myriad differences, how-
ever, the elemental life of a university
scholar remains largely the same under
the British and American systems: domi-
nated by teaching and research.
It may change your scholarship. Be-
ing in a more research-driven setting has
prodded me to submit more articles to
topmost journals. I also fnd myself writ-
ing more for British publications, such as
Times Higher Education and the Journal
of American Studies.
But the main effect on my scholarship
of living abroad has been that in explain-
ing the American past to an international
audience across the Atlantic and reading
more British history, I am thinking more
consistently about transnational and
comparative themes in American stud-
ies. There is nothing like a move to put
things in perspectiveparticularly if it
takes you far away from the country you
study.
Christopher Phelps is an associate pro-
fessor of intellectual and cultural history
in the School of American and Canadian
Studies at the University of Nottingham.
A Move Abroad: Travels and Travails
Continued From Preceding Page
Weve had glimpses of the sublime,
as when discovering hot lamb-and-mint
pasties. But weve also had days of gloom.
By AsTrid WAlker
i
haveexperiencedacademic life
at seven institutions on three conti-
nents, as a student, a faculty mem-
ber, and an administrator. If Ive learned
anything from my international experi-
ences, it is how little we academics know
about one another, even in the English-
speaking world.
We read one anothers work and
meet at conferences, but there is often
a much greater gulf between our sys-
tems of higher education and our ex-
pectations than we assume. As a British
friend asked me in surprise recently, In
America, a bachelors degree takes four
years?
Insularism seems to be expected, or
even encouraged in some spheres. Surely
academics, with our levels of education,
curiosity, and research abilities, couldnt
help but pick up something about our
colleagues abroad? But the ignorance
seems in some cases willful. I once
mentioned the annual convention of the
American Historical Association to a
colleague in London, who said, in a dis-
missive tone, Oh, thats that jamboree
they have over there, isnt it? She had
never attended the meeting, had no idea
what took place there, and had little in-
terest in fnding out.
There is also the casual dismissal of
entire regions. A professor from another
institution was serving on a search com-
mittee when he commented to me: We
had applicants with Australian Ph.D.s.
I mean, are there any good historians in
Australia? I am still stunned by such
America-centric or Eurocentric com-
ments, no matter how frequently I hear
them.
The sciences seem to have done a bet-
ter job of internationalizing than many
sections of the humanities. It is among
humanists that Im more likely to en-
internationalizing the Academic Career
Continued on Page D6
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counter scholars who are teaching at the
same institution where they completed
their degrees. They have no experience
of academic life anywhere else and are
in no position to offer good advice to stu-
dents applying for jobs more broadly.
Cultural pressures in many places have
maintained academic insularity. In much
of continental Europe, the structure of
higher education requires a second Ph.D.
(or habilitation) to begin applying for as-
sistant-professor jobs. Candidates hit the
job market only in their mid-to-late 30s,
and that prolonged adolescence un-
derstandably has its own attrition rate. A
high number of people working in aca-
demic administration in Europe have
Ph.D.s but would not be considered qual-
ifed for faculty jobs, because they lack
the second qualifcation.
That requirement (added to language
barriers) is a major obstacle for outsiders
who want to be considered for teaching
jobs in Europe. Although the habilitation
has been abandoned recently in Spain,
and offcially this second Ph.D. is not
needed to apply for a job in Germany or
Austria, in practice it tends to be. Some
employers state they will accept a second
book instead of the extra degree, but few
applicants from outside Europe who have
two books will be interested in applying
for an entry-level assistant professorship.
Perhaps because the Carnegie clas-
sifcations created compatible catego-
ries of universities and colleges across
the United States (and facilitated student
transfers between institutions), American
academics dont realize how programs
and institutions are far from streamlined
elsewhere, even within a single country.
Americans sometimes make the paro-
chial assumption that other people know
the Carnegie system. They dont. I have
seen European colleagues look blankly
at American applicants references to
things like GPA and graduate credits.
The European Unions Bologna Pro-
cess has introduced three-year bachelors
degrees across the continent (to match
Britains). In the past, there were no
bachelors degrees; the frst degree you
could earn was a fve-year masters. The
change led to student strikes and riots
in several countries. The system is sup-
posed to streamline the transfer of stu-
dents within the EU, but generally be-
tween their frst and subsequent degrees,
not during the frst one.
The level of dependence on the state is
another difference: In much of the world,
universities are all public institutions.
Students are accustomed to paying trivi-
ally low fees (even at elite institutions
like the Sorbonne) and receiving a gov-
ernment stipend while they study. That
helps explain the extended
time to degree in some coun-
tries and the difference in
student attitudes in Europe
compared with the United
States.
Depending on how large
their stipends are, students
attend the nearest univer-
sity to their homes and com-
mute, or they move out of
their parents houses into
shared apartments and live
on the student dole. But the
idea that going to a univer-
sity should cost a student (or
a students family) a signif-
cant amount of money faces
entrenched resistance in Eu-
rope.
Conversely, in much of
continental Europe, being a
Ph.D. student is considered
a job, in a way that it is
not in the English-speaking
world.
In the current economy, more people
are looking to apply internationally for
academic jobs. The era in which people
could look for jobs only in the United
States and still call their search geo-
graphically unrestricted has passed.
Any faculty members who are advising
graduate students and dont know about
universities outside their own region are
doing those students a serious disservice.
So what steps should you take if you
are seeking employment in a country
outside your own?
If you have no previous experience in
a country to which you are applying, you
face many potential pitfalls. Do not as-
sume anyone in the hiring department
is familiar with the type of degree you
have or the institutions in which you have
taught. Explain.
And dont assume that the university
you are applying to teaches in the same
way as the ones you have studied or
worked at before.
For instance, some American ap-
plicants stumble when they talk about
their ability to teach survey courses:
Such courses exist in Australia and some
Asian universities, but are not a big
thing in Europe. Applicants also falter
when they use numeric codes to describe
courses (Ive taught 200-level courses)
as if those numbers mean the same thing
worldwide.
Be ready to learnfastabout what
the standards are in your newly adopted
country. That may include things that
would have lawyers swooning in Austra-
lia, Britain, or the United States. I have
had to complete forms asking for both
my parents names and religions, Ive
been asked about my marital status, Ive
had to provide a photo with some appli-
cations and to list my age.
To universities in many parts of the
world, the North American approach
to an academic searcha months-long
process punctuated by conference inter-
views, phone interviews, and 48-hour
campus visitsseems long-winded and
bizarre.
Nor am I convinced that such a ba-
roque system yields better results than
searches that take six weeks from adver-
tisement to appointment, culminating in
the interview of all fnalists on the same
day and an offer the next morning.
It cuts both ways.
North American search committees
often ask applicants for their transcripts
and student evaluations of their teaching:
two things that dont exist in a lot of the
world, including some English-speaking
countries.
If institutions want to be open to the
best talent in the world, they need to
demonstrate some fexibility in what they
will considerand that includes mak-
ing sure that HR doesnt simply reject
an application from France or New Zea-
land because the applicant didnt send
American-style documentation. Online
application forms that only have space
for a North American phone number or a
fve-digit zip code are an example of the
knee-jerk insularity.
Even some articles giving advice about
how to deal with foreign job applica-
tions give in to the attitude that regards
American hiring practices as normative.
Nobody wants to feel condescended to,
and the geographic subordination is often
part of the same thought process.
Academics need to change in two
ways: to recognize, frst, that interna-
tional applicants to U.S. institutions are
not necessarily inferior, and second, that
taking a job overseas is not a sign of me-
diocrity for an American Ph.D.
Ive seen many scholars from Western
countries who have cursed the day they
accepted a job in Asia, not realizing that
it would limit their chances of ever re-
turning to their home country because
of the common assumption on faculty
search committees that anyone who was
any good wouldnt have been working
outside Europe or North America in the
frst place.
Having an international career has
brought me many opportunities for ad-
vancement that I would not have seen
had I stayed in one place. As more uni-
versities everywhere attempt to recruit
students worldwide, an understanding of
different educational systems becomes
an asset for any faculty members or ad-
ministrators who seek to broaden their
own possibilities.
Astrid Walker is the pseudonym of a
Ph.D. in the humanities who is a re-
search fellow at a major university in
Europe. She has held faculty and admin-
istrative positions in Europe and Asia.
Internationalizing the Academic Career
Continued From Page D4
To universities in many parts of the world,
the North American approach to a faculty
search seems long-winded and bizarre.
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By BarBara J. King
a
sacollegeprofessor who is
also an aspiring-to-midlist au-
thor, I fnd three questions about
book publishing keep colliding in my
head:
n
What in Gods name do BookScan
numbers really mean?
n
How can we as writers begin to
fathom the M word? (Yes, I mean mar-
keting.)
n
Why do authors get the big chill
when we seek to learn about those, and
assorted other, mysteries of publishing?
After years of publishing with aca-
demic presses ranging from the relatively
obscure to the venerable, I brought out
a book in 2007 with a major New York
house. Last year I published with the
same company againthis time, to my
delight, with the help of agents who
had invited me to sign with them.
Certainly, from the outside, my pub-
lishing experience looks like a soaring
trajectory. And in many ways, its been
exhilarating. Five years ago, even my
wildest dreams did not include being
interviewed by Diane Rehm or profled
on the pages of Salon.com. In other
ways, its been a startling lesson in how
much sweat and skill it takes to code-
switch successfully. Peeking out at the
publishing world from ivied walls, Ive
often felt lost.
My frst proposal for a book aimed
at general readers was, I felt sure, not
only well crafted but also scrubbed
free of technical language. Internally,
I celebrated my ability to jettison the
jargonwhat fun I was having! That
mood lasted until my editor calmly
noted that, yes, Id made a good start;
now could I please lose the heavily aca-
demic tone?
Ouch. It reminded me of the time I
joined a pack of anthropologists in Mex-
ico for a conference. In the weeks before
the trip, Id boned up on my rudimentary
Spanish, and I offered it confdently at
the hotel. Shooting me a puzzled look,
the porter mumbled something that
sounded like, I speak only Spanish.
That was defating, and not unlike my
initial experience in mainstream publish-
ing, when I had the sense that I wasnt
speaking orjust as importanthearing
comprehensible words.
My editor was right, of course. So I re-
entered the starting gate and revised my
pages. Next I unfurled the equivalent of
octopus suction cups and attached myself
to anyone in publishing who was willing
to clue me in on this new terrain. It was,
however, a process marked by missteps. I
still have unanswered questions.
Lets start with BookScan, the pub-
lishing worlds equivalent of televisions
Neilsen ratings. BookScan, my publisher
says, tends to capture about 70 percent of
retail sales for any given title. No, coun-
tered my agents, its more like 60 per-
cent. And there was the tip-off: Theres
no easy metric for correlating BookScan
fgures with numbers of books actually
sold.
Lets say a book shows up on Book-
Scan as having sold 7,000 copies. Theres
no way to determine if it has actually
sold 10,000 copies (meaning that only
70 percent of its sales were captured and
reported by Bookscan), perhaps 11,500
copies (with only about 60 percent of its
sales reported), or some higher fgure.
Is that difference trivial? Maybe,
but Andrew Zack, a California literary
agent, argues that no calculation from
BookScan reports will lead you to reli-
able predictions of sales. In a 2009 blog
post, The Lie That Is BookScan, he
cites a convincing instance in support of
his point: One of his authors books sold
just under 14,000 copies, but BookScan
reported only 7,200.
Thats one example, but it matches
my own experience. BookScan fgures
for my book Evolving God come in at
47 percent of sales as reported to me by
the publisher. The discrepancy is all the
more noteworthy because, more than
three years after publication, returns of
the book are a thing of the past. (Re-
turns: another jaw-dropping concept. See
below).
How can BookScan veer off track like
that for some titles and not others? While
its true that books sold at Wal-Mart or
most airport kiosks are not included in
BookScan fgures, thats likely to matter
little in my case. Megastores or fy zones
dont feature my work. More relevant,
indie numberssales from independent
bookstoresare usually absent from
BookScan. The why, then, of its fuzzy
numbers may differ from title to title.
And oh, those returns. Now theres
a harsh lesson. Its enthralling to know
that, shortly before a books on-sale date,
thousands upon thousands of copies are
shipped out to stores. Yet its close to
certain that a lacerating percentage will
come back unsold. In a trickle (if youre
lucky) or a food (if youre not), books fy
home to (in my case) Manhattan, as if at-
tached to some wayward literary boom-
erang.
That state of affairs means that in the
early months, neither BookScan nor the
publisher can pinpoint sales. As of last
June, for example, I lacked any precise
notion of how my latest book, Being With
Animals, was doing, as it was published
only in January. There lies one root cause
of the furtive compulsion to check Ama-
zon every day (OK, more than once a
day) to see your sales rank. As most of us
know by now, a sales rank can shoot up
by tens of thousands of places when only
a single copy is sold. Addictive as it is,
theneven seductive at times, as after a
national interview like the one I did with
Diane Rehmits a pretty meaningless
measure.
I write books not primarily for the
money, but because I adore writing. Con-
necting with the reading public about
anthropology and animals is a privilege.
Yet Andrew Zacks point is that, how-
ever many books you sell, the elusive na-
ture of sales fgures does matter: When
BookScan isnt tracking sales accurately,
an author may suffer when she pitches a
new proposal to a publisher. Were only
as good as our last set of sales fgures,
were told, and its true.
All of that is harrowing enough, but
the skies only darken when it comes to
discerning why books are (or arent) sell-
ing. Here we enter the arena of market-
ing.
A few years ago, a kind publicist
spelled out for me the distinctions be-
tween publicity and marketing. Publicity
costs amount to review copies of books
and a publicists hard work, and noth-
ing more. (I do not undervalue that hard
work: An enthused, skilled publicist is
like gold.) Copies are fung by the hun-
dreds into the mediasphere in the hopes
of print, online, and on-air reviews and
interviews.
Marketing, though, costs money. And
the conundrum is this: If your book isnt
selling, or if your last book didnt sell,
the money for ads dries up. Without ads,
the new book wont move, unless its ve-
locity derives from the slow swell of
book-club buzz or the ripple effect of ra-
dio publicity, and those cases are rare.
Marketing is excited about this one!
is music to any writers ears. But disap-
pointment may follow, as when the
notion of ads translates into a few
ephemeral mentions in cyberspace,
come-ons that are extinguished quickly
and with no visible trace. Each time a
new book comes out, I go round and
round, dizzied, like a child on a speedy
carousel. Next-to-no marketing means
weak sales, weak sales means next-
to-no marketing. How do I get off this
ride?
I dont mean to duck responsibility.
No marketing campaign guarantees a
books budging off the shelf. If sales
fag, my writing may be at fault. Or
maybe I will have misjudged the keen-
ness of readers desire to explore why
we humans are so moved by our rela-
tionships with animals.
On the other hand, in the frst three
months after my new books publica-
tion, I had done more than 10 radio
interviews, a signifcant percentage of
them national broadcasts. I offered ani-
mal stories to audiences in Denver, Phoe-
nix, Chicago, Santa Fe, and Richmond,
and appeared on my local NPR stations
fund-raising Pet Pledge Friday. In that
case, my anthropological observations
were wedged between call-in queries to
my fellow guest, a veterinarian. The calls
focused largely on the litterbox traumas
of house cats.
But hey, you wont catch me com-
plaining. For one thing, I cant write for
a broad public and expect to chat away
about Donna Haraways latest species
manifesto or new thoughts on posthu-
manism or whatever else is hot in ani-
mal studies. Indeed, I participated in one
book-signing at a local Barnes & Noble
that involved dogs as my co-stars.
For another thing, I learned a lot from
that on-air litterbox Q&A. I am half of
a team of cat rescuers (abandoned cats
drape our furniture and the spacious pen
in our backyard), and animals populate
my life, not just my books.
an authors redemption From Publishing ignorance
Drug Discovery and Delivery
Bioanalytical chemistry and engineering
Biopolymer chemistry and drug delivery
Drug delivery
Pharmaceutical practice
Pharmaceutical science
and chemical engineering
Health Policy
Accountinghealth-care management
Environmental health policy and law
Environmental health science
Health-care economics
Health-care systems
Health informatics
Health-services administration
Public health in the urban environment
Health Sciences and Professions
Behavioral neuroscience
Counseling and educational
psychology
Nursing
Physical therapy
Security
Criminal justice
Information assurance
Sustainability
Infrastructure engineering
Landscape architecture
Marine sciencesheries
Power systems engineering
Sustainability management
Sustainable development and law
We invite ambitious scholars to join us in discovering solutions to some of the grand
challenges of our time in health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern University seeks
faculty candidates at all ranks to collaborate with distinguished colleagues in interdisciplinary
research groups of national and international stature. Northeastern oers outstanding
opportunities for joint appointments and cluster hires across college and disciplinary boundaries.
We invite applications and inquiries in the following areas:
To learn more about these and other tenured and tenure-track faculty positions at
Northeastern, please visit www.northeastern.edu/provost/faculty/positions.
These are the grand challenges.
Here are the grand opportunities.
Health Security Sustainability
Boston, Massachusetts northeastern.edu
Admittedly, Ive not hit the TV circuit.
(Even now I struggle not to end that sen-
tence with a yetthats just a last gasp
of hope). Early on, for a fevered week or
so, my thoughts had run crazy: Jon Stew-
art is a William & Mary alumnus; hell
invite me on his show! Ellen DeGeneres
is an animal activist; shell grab my book!
Im riffng on myself, yes, but to a
purpose: Some authors do have infated
hopes. But those arent born from ego
so much as from taking too literally our
publishers and agents strategizing ses-
sions. When were told of the marketing
departments enthusiasm, reality does not
inevitably prevail. Reality is, of course,
that most authors dont appear on TV. I
am sincerely happy for those who do; all
boats will rise, as my former department
chair was fond of saying.
Publishers: We authors, some of us
anyway, expend far too much energy
seeking to understand this new land-
scape. We need an authors boot camp.
Or better yet, freshman orientation, the
kind where no question is dumb, theres
a little hand-holding to be had, and we
all, mentors and apprentices together, eat
pizza at the end of the day.
So help us out when we ask questions.
Dont assume we know the lingo. Do as-
sume we dont grasp the ins and outs of
BookScan, returns, marketing decisions,
and other aspects of the craft that are as
obvious to you as breathing.
Better yet, publishers, dont wait for us
to ask questions. Unconfuse us spontane-
ously.
Because instead of peering at shift-
ing sales equations or daydreaming about
even the tiniest print ad, wed really
rather be writing.
Barbara J. King is a professor of an-
thropology at the College of William &
Mary. Her latest book is Being With An-
imals (Doubleday, 2010).
An Authors Redemption From Publishing Ignorance
By RoB FAunce
L
etmetestify,in case this isnt
blatantly obvious already: The
life of the adjunct does not re-
semble a Carnival cruise. The life is of-
ten exhausting, underpaid, undernour-
ished, and rife with logistical challenges.
I think weve all heard that refrain be-
fore, but perhaps its time to hear it again,
and to think about the conditions of our
younger peers as we move on into mythi-
cal jobs and mythical tenure. I fnished
my Ph.D. at a major public university in
New York and taught at a campus with a
panoply of class, race, ethnic, and sexual
diversity. Fortunately, I had savings to
fall back on, but some of my peers relied
on Medicare and food stamps to supple-
ment their adjunct incomes.
An adjunct lifestyle is not just about
the low pay and the large class sizes,
of course. Preparing for a semester of-
ten begins four months before the frst
day of classselecting texts, gathering
ISBNs for submission to the campus
bookstore (on an onerous form that must
be flled out for each course section you
will teach, regardless of whether you use
the same books across sections), sepa-
rately requesting desk copies of books
from publishers, beginning to upload
documents to Blackboard or to e-reserves
(available through the campus library,
and convenient for using journal articles,
but needing at least six weeks advance
notice to the librarian who works with
the materials).
Then youve got to generate a sylla-
bus that contains all the salient informa-
tion, not just offce numbers and e-mail
addresses. A good syllabus has learn-
ing objectives, book titles and ISBNs, a
plagiarism policy, a clearly defned at-
tendance policy, and a full chronology
of the course, including any homework
expected of them. Any papers being as-
signed with specifc thematic concerns
should best be explicated as well. Find-
ing time to makes copies of the sylla-
buswhich means delivering paper cop-
ies to the universitys copy center with a
weeks noticemeans coming in to the
offce a week or two before the semester
starts.
Of course, if your offce has been
moved (often not for the frst time, and
usually to accommodate a new, tenure-
track hire), you might have to come in
even earlier to fnd your new space. You
might get a desk, and maybe a shelf on
a bookcase. But dont leave any antholo-
gies there unlocked, since someone
will sell them to a used-book buyer, and
youll fnd yourself without the text on
the day youre supposed to teach Dante.
Your offce might house three other
adjunctsor 10, or 30. You might never
see your offce mates, or you might sit
with four of them, all potentially with
students or on the phone. There are no
posted rules, but the standing principle
seems to be to ignore the conversations
between your peers and their students,
and to take your cellphone calls outside.
(Your offce might have a land line, but
you probably dont know the extension,
and anyone who calls is looking for a
professor who is no longer employed or
alive.)
You try not to mention that you are a
graduate student when you are with ad-
juncts who have already graduated. They
are trying to make ends meet in different
ways than you are, often by teaching on
two or three campuses, sometimes com-
muting two hours to do so. When your
offce mates tell one another to go to hell
(because of a loud phone call, or because
someone monopolizes the one computer
that 12 of you share), you try to keep
your head down and stay out of it. When
three of your offce mates are let go, and
complain about how corrupt your depart-
ment is, you (try to) keep out of it.
And did I mention that the offce has
no window, and no airfow (other than
a generic table fan, with three settings),
and that your hallway averages 80 de-
grees, year-round?
Picture yourself dealing with all of
that drama as a second-year graduate stu-
dent at a public university, with research
interests and obligations. Picture it, and
remember what it was like before you
took a teaching practicum. Picture it on a
salary of $2,400 a course, and picture
it in New York City.
Its not a distorted picture; its the life-
style of many urban graduate students, who
forgo food, health insurance, sanity, and
vacations so that they can dedicate them-
selves to learning to teach, and then to ac-
tually teaching many of the courses offered
in departments across our universities.
My frst of year of adjuncting, as a
second-year graduate student, was a trial
by fre. Thanks to taking a concomitant
teaching practicum, I was thinking about
the mechanics of the classroom while
I was learning on the job. The courses
I taught were 75 minutes long, and I
learned to organize the time into fve
segments of 15 minutes each.
When I taught a composition course,
class business and free-writing time
came frst, followed by discussion of the
free writing, segueing into refection on
that days reading, which kicked off a
two-segment sequence of group work, all
of which was meant to scaffold that days
discussion onto prior class work.
In a literature course, there was no
free-writing period, so more time was
spent on group work and Q&As on the
reading assignment for that day. When
we were reading Sophocles Oedipus
Rex, Genets Querelle, or Bret Easton
Elliss American Psycho, for instance,
questions of sanity, chronology, and psy-
chology emerged that demanded discus-
sion time. Group work might emanate
An underclass of Adjuncts Is educating Your children
This page has been approved by: section editor:___________ ng: ___________ TW: ___________ps: ___________ page ft by: _________ editorial: ________
Folio oK Cut Letters oK Jumps Checked Corrections Checked by: ___________ version #_____
COLLABORATION. To Ron Chesser, Carleton
Phillips and Brenda Rodgers, its not just a
word. Its a strategy theyve employed for
five years to help dismantle former nuclear
facilities in Iraq that were destroyed during
Desert Storm. Thanks to $2.3 million in
grants from the U.S. Department of State
and the United Kingdom, the team and their
students work to understand the public
health impact of the contamination while
training Iraqi scientists to safely continue
the dismantling process. Their science is
stimulating safer policies and helping to
stabilize a new democratic government in
Iraq two key ingredients of nation-building.
DIPLOMACY
t h r o u g h
SCIENCE.
All in a days work at
TEXAS TECH.
PROVOST.TTU.EDU
from discussion questions in the text.
For Oedipus, I divided students into fve
groups and assigned each a study ques-
tion from our textbook/anthology, which
they were to craft into a short paper and
present to the class. We followed that up
with discussion on Blackboard.
In addition to constantly responding to
online-discussion postings, I also needed
to track participation, to make sure that
each student was making multiple posts
and to fag those who were not, so they
could bolster their participation grades.
(Students always seem to question a low
grade for class participation unless you
point out to them that they are not par-
ticipating, no matter how obvious that
should seem.)
To see my pay rate, you would have
thought I was richmaking more than
$50 for every hour of actual teaching.
Of course, that rate applied only to time
spent inside a classroom, so the average
literature class that semester paid a bit
over $2,400. A writing course involved
an extra hour, bringing up the salary to
roughly $3,200.
It was not uncommon to hear adjuncts
discuss Medicaid benefts, or to hear
that a colleague had quit to become a
waiter or a temp. As an adjunct, you are
not guaranteed employment from year
to year. But if you are offered reappoint-
ment for the next year, you are not neces-
sarily eligible for unemployment benefts
over the summer. To get health insurance
through the union at my university, you
needed to teach at least two courses each
semesterevery semesterand then
wait a year to be eligible. You were not
paid for all the time you spent preparing
a course. Nor were you reimbursed for
extended offce hours, registration fees
at conferences (let alone transportation
costs), or time spent e-mailing students
or responding to their messages.
There are magazines designed to help
ease the burden of the adjunct, with tips
on dealing with high maintenance stu-
dents, indifferent administrators, and
union bargaining skills, among other
suggestions that promise to alleviate ad-
juncts stress levels. Reading such period-
icals did inspire me in one way: to strive
not to become a permanent adjunct.
A love of teaching is one thing, but suf-
fering at the hands of (and often railing
against) universities, which are increas-
ingly run as businesses, make no sense to
me. We teach for many reasons, but if we
are unable to fnd employment that can
support us, we shouldnt teach. Perhaps if
many adjuncts left the industry, withhold-
ing the labor supply that keeps demand
low, and wages even lower, the goal of a
living wage would be achieved by the res-
olute union reps in perpetual negotiations
for the next contract.
I feel lucky: I have a job now, as
a full-time lecturer at another univer-
sity, outside the city. The wage puts me
on par with a For-
tune 500 reception-
ist, but I have health
benefts and can af-
ford to visit my family
more than once a year.
I dont know what
else I can do, person-
ally, to help friends
who still participate in
the economic horror
show that is graduate school, other than
to speak up, and remember. Perhaps if
enough of us do that, we can effect some
kind of change the next time were asked
to sacrifce living wages and fair labor
practices in order to satisfy a bureaucrat.
Rob Faunce is a full-time lecturer in the
Program for Writing and Rhetoric at
Stony Brook University.
An Underclass of Adjuncts Is Educating Your Children
It was not uncommon
to hear adjuncts discuss
Medicaid benefts.
By Paula M. KreBs
a
fter 18 years as a faculty
member in a small liberal-arts
college, I am spending this aca-
demic year learning, as fast as I can, how
public higher education works.
I am in the enviable position of being
an ACE Fellow for 2010-11. Every year
the American Council on Education of-
fers a group of faculty members and ad-
ministrators who have been nominated
by their home institutions the chance to
learn how leadership works on
another campus. We get to spend
three weeks in hard-working re-
treats with our class of fellows,
studying fnance, strategic plan-
ning, positioning, and lots of
other things they never taught us
in graduate school.
But the real gift, the part that
the fellows all talk about when
we get together at our working
retreats, is our placements. We
spend the year (or a few months,
depending on our home institu-
tions needs) in the offce of a
president or provost of a differ-
ent institution. At my host insti-
tution, I can be a fy on the wall
in high-level meetings, debrief
afterward with a mentor to fnd
out what really happened, accom-
pany the president to a football
game or a chancellor to a cocktail
party, and meet with anyone and
everyone on the campus to fnd
out what goes into each job. I get
to work on a project at the host
institution, following it through
over the course of the placement,
and I get to feel like a real part of
another institution, making a real
contribution.
My own undergraduate expe-
rience was at a Roman Catholic
college, and I teach at a private
liberal-arts college, so I thought it
would be a good idea to broaden
my understanding to include the
world of public higher education.
I was lucky enough to be offered
a dual placement in the presi-
dents offce of a state university
system and in the chancellors of-
fce at one of the systems cam-
puses. That way, I get the state-
wide picture as well as the single-
campus perspective.
In the frst two months of my new gig,
I learned many, many things about the
differences between private and public
higher education, as well as a few things
about myself. Here are some:
In public higher education, rules ac-
tually apply. As a faculty member at a
small private college, I am used to ask-
ing, and being granted, favors. A reim-
bursement form was late? A friendly ad-
ministrator could get it through quickly
so I could get my check. Not enough stu-
dents in this section of my course? Well,
we can make an exception just this once.
My computer acting up? Friendly, ef-
fcient tech support comes to my offce,
same-day service.
But public higher education, not least
because the institutions and systems are
so much bigger, has strict procedures and
bureaucracies. No judgment intended
hereI imagine nothing at all would get
done if a large state university operated
the way a small private college does. But
it does take some getting used to.
Everyone in public higher education
is tied up with everyone else in public
higher education. At my small private
college, I go to conferences and meet
people from other institutions; occasion-
ally I see folks from other private col-
leges at more than one event. But for the
most part, we in the private-college sec-
tor operate independently of one another,
choosing what we do based on the partic-
ular needs of our own institutions.
In the frst week and a half of my fel-
lowship placement at a state university,
Trying Out life at a Public university
For more information, visit
scranton.edu/facultyresearch
SPOTLIGHTONSCRANTON
National Recognition
U.S. News & World Reports
Americas Best Colleges
s Among the 10 top masters universities
in the North for the past 17 years
s Among just 86 schools in the nation hailed
for a Strong Commitment to Teaching
s Among just 15 schools in the North
listed as Great Schools at a Great Price
The Princeton Review
s Among the Best 373 Colleges
for the past nine years
The Princeton Review & Entrepreneur
s Among the top 15 colleges in the nation
for general management
Presidents Higher Education Community
Service Honor Roll with Distinction
s Among just 115 colleges in the nation
recognized in 2009
Carnegie Classication
for Community Engagement
s Among just 119 colleges in the nation
recognized in 2008
An Accomplished Faculty
In the past ve years, our faculty have been prodigious in their scholarly
works: 94 books, 668 articles, 231 book articles and chapters, 1,435
conference presentations and 1,057 other creative and scholarly
activities. Eighty-three percent of our full-time faculty hold
doctorates or terminal degrees, and 65% are tenured.
In the News
Our faculty members share their expertise and knowledge on a national
level and are referenced in prominent news outlets throughout the nation
including The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.
George Gomez, Ph.D.
B
i
o
l
o
g
y John
Norcross, Ph.D.
C
r
i
m
i
n
a
l

J
u
s
t
i
c
e
James
Roberts, Ph.D.
Carole Slotterback, Ph.D.
Jessica Nolan, Ph.D.
Joe Vinson, Ph.D.
Chemistry
P
s
y
c
h
o
l
o
g
y
In this giant
state system,
I am voiceless.
Second Century
Initiative
Georgia State University, located in vibrant downtown Atlanta, is a university on the rise.
As we begin our second century, we are bringing together the brightest minds to work
on the most challenging issues of the 21st century.
We are hiring 100 additional faculty over the next ve years around interdisciplinary
research areas.
Our Second Century Initiative is well underway as we continue to recruit and hire fac-
ulty in the eight topics identied in the programs rst year: bioinformatics; neuroimaging;
evidence-based policy; Chinese language and culture; law, media and ethics; health justice;
new media; and diagnostics. Additional areas for interdisciplinary recruitment will be
announced in March 2011.
To learn more, go to www.gsu.edu/secondcentury.
Building Momentum and Advancing Boundaries.
I attended four major conferences in the
state, all of which featured issues that ap-
plied to all of the sectors of public higher
education, from community colleges to
research universities (and some applied
to grade schools as well). Different sec-
tors and different institutions have dif-
ferent stakes in each issue, of course,
but all sectors understand that they are
tied to one another.
Everything happens at 30,000
feet. At the system level, you get to
see how the university interacts with
the state legislature and state depart-
ment of education. You learn how
business groups understand the role of
public higher education and their role
in relation to it. The work that hap-
pens on behalf of the university as a
whole affects more than one campus,
and it often affects more than one sec-
tor of the public system. Sometimes
the work at the system level even af-
fects more than one generation. The
decisions are that big.
Nothing happens at 30,000 feet. For
all that happens at the system level, the
real work of higher education in the state
happens on the campuses. The teach-
ing, the learning, the actual impact on
the communityit all goes on with very
little reference, on a day-to-day level, to
the work that happens at the statehouse,
the education department, or the system
presidents offce.
Of course, ultimately, many aspects
of teaching, advising, and job placement
depend on things that happen at the sys-
tem level. But you wouldnt necessar-
ily know it on the campuses, where the
foot soldiers never watch the generals at
work.
I am not, in fact, the center of the
universe. This was a tough one to learn.
At my home campus, I am a big fsh in a
small pond, elected to lots of important
committees. I have had what I saw as an
important voice: People consulted me,
argued with me, or at least recognized
me.
In this giant state system, I am a ci-
pher. In my role as an ACE Fellow, I am
voiceless, except to a very small group of
folks whose role it is to explain things to
me. Because I know nothing. Really. Not
a damn thing. Talk about humbling.
Perhaps the most important part of the
fellowshipand at the same time, the
most elusiveis the opportunity for re-
fection it offers. Meetings, conferences,
seminars, football games, receptions, and
luncheons are part of the daily work of
administrators, and they are great learn-
ing opportunities. Im taking tons of
notes and having terrifc conversations.
But the ACE stresses that fellows need to
build time into our schedules to process
what were learning. That, of course,
is easier said than done.
Im trying to schedule in the time to
do the background reading I need to
do in order understand whats happen-
ing in my meetings. On the train or
bus Im indexing the notes Ive taken.
But I need to schedule some time to
try to make sense of what Im learn-
ing, to look at the bigger picture, and
to fgure out how to apply what Im
learning at the state university to the
work back home at my small liberal-
arts college.
Like most people who indulge in the
personal essay, I process what I learn by
writing about it. So I suppose this is a
start.
Paula M. Krebs is normally a professor
of English at Wheaton College, in Mas-
sachusetts, but this year she is an ACE
fellow at the University of Massachu-
setts.
Trying Out Life at a Public University
By Female Science ProFeSSor
i
ve always enjoyed novels set
in academe. Even though many of
them contain somewhat unfattering
parodies of academic life, they can be
very entertaining.
Lately, when I read news articles about
American universities, what I read re-
minds me of the fctional settings, char-
acters, and plot lines of some of those
novels. I dont, however, enjoy reading
the nonfctional accounts, because their
descriptions of academe are dis-
turbing, not entertaining, and
truly remote from my experi-
ence.
Is my life as a professor so
different from the norm? Is my
university unusual? I could be
wrong, but from what Ive seen,
my experience is fairly typical
of that of a science professor at
a major research university. So
why is there such a disconnect
between apparently factual de-
pictions of academe in newspa-
pers and magazines, and my ex-
periences as a professor? There
are several possible explanations.
Some news accounts of aca-
demic issues are intended to
be infammatory. Especially in
these diffcult economic times,
who wants to read about why pro-
fessors need the lifetime job secu-
rity that comes with tenure? Per-
haps it is much more satisfying to
read articles claiming that profes-
sors might, in fact, be harmed by
tenure. A prime example was an
August 11 article in Slate called
Finishing School: The case for
getting rid of tenure.
When I read such articles, I
cant relate to the claims that are
made about how much most pro-
fessors are paid (and from what
sources), the role of academic
freedom in our professional
lives, the responsibility of pro-
fessors for the publish-or-perish
ethos, and the opinion that ten-
ure incentivizes faculty mem-
bers to maintain the status quo.
Like the vast majority of my
colleagues, I am not freezing up
tens of millions of otherwise-
liquid endowment money for a
generation, as the Slate article
suggests. I do the work I am
supposed to do (teaching, re-
search, advising, and service) in
exchange for my salary. I bring
money to the university in the
form of grants that pay the sala-
ries of students and other re-
searchers. I did not slow down
once I got tenure.
Teaching and research are
not mutually exclusive. Undergraduates
are not harmed if their professors also do
research, even if research is of equal or
greater priority compared with teaching.
Certainly you could fnd spectacular ex-
amples of star researchers who are hor-
rifc teachers, and I feel great sympathy
for students subjected to them. But the
vast majority of professors I know who
do research are also dedicated teachers.
The question of whether being a re-
searcher makes someone a better teacher
has been much debated. I am sure that
the answer varies from person to per-
son, but I know that being a researcher
makes me a better teacher because doing
research gives me new ideas and insights
for teaching, even for courses I have
taught many times before. I know many
talented teachers who are intellectually
engaged without being active research-
ers, but what works for me is to rejuve-
nate my courses via my research. Fur-
thermore, being an effective researcher
requires some of the same skills that
we need to be effective teachers: To get
grants and publish our results, we need to
be able to communicate what we did in
a clear and compelling way, and explain
to nonspecialists why our work is impor-
tant. So, too, do we need to do that with
the concepts, facts, and ideas we want to
teach our students.
In addition, I typically advise under-
graduates who are active members of my
research group. I request money in my
grant proposals to pay the students sti-
pends and research expenses, and I help
i Did not Slow Down once i Got Tenure
What does jazz have to do with running an enterprise? More than meets the ear. In a jazz
ensemble, every member makes an individual contribution to collective creation. And jazz
musicians improvise within a framework, essential skills in business today. At San Francisco
State University, management and music faculty have joined forces to teach organizations
beter team collaboration based on the principles of jazz.
Learning when to get hot and when to stay cool: thats the San Francisco State of Mind.
S M
T H E S A N F R A N C I S C O S T A T E O F M I N D
www.sfsu.edu
A
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them write their own proposals.
My colleagues all do the same.
Some of those students decide
that they want to continue on to
graduate school and pursue more
research; others decide that that is
the last thing they want to do. Ei-
ther way, we all learn something.
Research is valuable to a uni-
versity in some ways that can be
quantifed, and in many ways
that cant, such as the creation
of a stimulating intellectual en-
vironment (presumably a good
thing at a university) and the
involvement of students (un-
dergraduate and graduate) in
research. We are training the
next generation of researchers
who are going to invent things,
cure diseases, and/or provide
new insights about the world
(past, present, future). Despite
the claims made by Andrew
Hacker and Claudia Dreifus in
their book, Higher Education?
How Colleges Are Wasting Our
Money and Failing Our Kids,
and What We Can Do About It,
research activities are not re-
sponsible for the inadequate em-
phasis on undergraduate educa-
tion at some universities.
The effect of tenure on pro-
fessorial productivity is misun-
derstood and misrepresented.
Deadwood professors do ex-
ist, and I think many professors
would agree that some sort of
constructive post-tenure review,
with real consequences, would
help with those few problem
cases. Nevertheless, most of us
do not kick back and spend our
days on the golf course or pol-
ishing the fxtures on our yachts.
Most of us continue to care about
teaching and research after we
get tenure.
It can take years to build a re-
search group, attract a good co-
hort of graduate students and
postdocs, and keep everything
up and running well. By the time
some of us get tenure, our re-
search group is rolling and things
are getting interesting. Tenure
gives us the freedom to spend
more time delving into problems,
to try riskier ideas that may or
may not pay off as quickly with
an interesting discovery, and to
organize larger-scale collabora-
tive projects than we could pre-
tenurejust as tenure is sup-
posed to do.
After tenure, our service com-
mitments ramp up, and we serve
on committees at our own univer-
sity and beyond. Some of us edit
journals and hold other positions
in professional organizations. And
we spend a lot of time advising
students and other researchers.
Most of us are busier after tenure
than we were before. Universities
get what they pay for: hard-work-
ing faculty members.
When I look at my colleagues
in my own department, else-
where at my university, and at
other universities, I see a large
group of dedicated, highly active
people. The problem cases are
vastly outnumbered by faculty
members who care about both
teaching and research.
Some of the disconnect be-
tween what I read and what I live
as a science professor may be re-
lated to the fact that the debate is
dominated by writers immersed in
the humanities. But I dont see this
as a humanities-versus-science
issue. I see the same care for re-
search and teaching when I serve
on interdisciplinary committees
and interact with faculty members
from the humanities. It therefore
puzzles me that the image of the
overpaid, tenured, deadbeat pro-
fessor is so pervasive.
Of course universities need re-
form. Of course we should im-
prove how we integrate research
and teaching. But we dont need to
start by pointing fngers at hard-
working professors who earn aver-
age-to-high fve-fgure salaries. I
would also suggest that the actual
time we spend on teaching-related
activities (not just the scheduled
class time) should be considered
in discussions of how much pro-
fessors work. And, fnally, reports
on any crises in higher education
should include serious consider-
ation of the benefts that research
brings to universities, including to
undergraduate education.
Female Science Professor is the
pseudonym of a professor in
the physical sciences at a large
research university who blogs
under that moniker and writes
monthly for our Catalyst col-
umn. Her blog is http://science-
professor.blogspot.com.
V
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io
n
.
Explore Our Difference
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Most of us are busier after tenure
than before. Universities get what
they pay for: hard-working faculty.
I Did Not Slow Down
Once I Got Tenure
By Naomi GraNville
i
am part of a two-career academic
couple. We share the same disci-
pline and are fortunate enough to
teach at the same university. From our
present midcareer positionsboth ten-
ured, both productive scholars, with chil-
dren in collegeit may look like we hold
special answers on how to negotiate two
careers.
Young academics, not yet fnished
with their Ph.D.s, or newly on the job
market, have expressed surprise,
anger, and deep frustration that it
takes so long to fnd a job, and
seems next to impossible to fnd
two at one university. They look
at us and think it somehow must
have been easier two decades
ago. But our path is not easily
replicated. In retrospect, we were
nave and very lucky.
We began our dual job search
by rejecting a bicoastal or com-
muter relationship. We decided
we would both go on the job mar-
ket, take the best job in the best
location, and trust that things
would eventually work out for us
both.
That frst year, several jobs ft
my area of expertise, and none
specifed his. We both applied for
many positions. I landed three in-
terviews, two at large universities
in locations where it would be
diffcult to fnd a second teaching
job, and one at a small college
with several nearby institutions
that could offer him opportuni-
ties.
My frst job interview, at a
large Southern university, re-
sulted in an offer. Meanwhile, I
had a second interview at a uni-
versity in the Midwest that was
more appealing because of a
lighter teaching load. The South-
ern university gave me two weeks
to decide, just short of the time
needed to learn whether the Mid-
western university would also
make me an offer.
In those days, before contracts
were easily sent via e-mail, my
adviser cleverly suggested that I
buy more time by asking to see
the offer in writing. It worked: I
received an offer from the Mid-
western university in time, and I
turned down the Southern one.
With that offer in hand, I in-
terviewed at a third institution,
a small college. And the cycle
repeated itself: The Midwest-
ern university had given me two
weeks to make a decision, just
enough time for me to know
whether I would be offered the
college position. However, on the fnal
day of the deadline, the college chair
said it had narrowed the feld to two can-
didates. I was one, but the committee
would need another meeting to make its
fnal choice.
The college job was the one I most
wanted because it offered the best oppor-
tunities for my husband. I asked the Mid-
western university for three more days,
the chair said no, and I turned down the
position.
Three days later, the college chair
called to say she had offered the position
to the other candidate.
Swallowing my pride, I called the
Midwestern university and left a message
that if the position was still available, I
was interested. The secretary told me it
had been offered to a visiting lecturer. I
hung up with a sense of relief. I wasnt
very enthusiastic about the job or the lo-
cation. I reassured myself that three in-
terviews and two offers was good, and
that I should have no trouble doing well
on the market again the next year, maybe
at better places. (How did I know there
would be no jobs for which I clearly ft
the bill for the next three years?)
After a short vacation, I returned to
fnd a message from the Midwestern uni-
versity. It turned out its president would
not approve the offer to the visiting lec-
turer because he did not ft the job de-
scription. The department offered me the
position again and, with mixed feelings,
I accepted.
That summer we packed a small mov-
Have No illusions: Dual academic Careers require luck
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The rst in his family to go to college, Dr. Peter Vigil sees himself in many Metro
State students. I can be a role model for them, he says, and at the same time
have an inuence on the larger educational issues. As a former elementary school
teacher in the Denver Public Schools system, Peter combines his unique perspective
with his extensive academic experience to prepare his students to teach in todays
diverse urban classrooms. Were proud to be a teaching institution that offers
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is an important aspect of Metro State, and our commitment to diversity fosters
success for all students.

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ing van, towed our old Datsun behind it,
and drove to the Midwest. The depart-
ment chair asked if my partner might be
interested in a two-year replacement po-
sition at a small college 60 miles away.
(Coincidentally, the same visiting lec-
turer had accepted that replacement po-
sition but then dropped it for something
else.) My partner eagerly accepted, even
though the winter commute was a night-
mare, and despite the four-four teaching
load that required he prepare brand-new
courses on subjects beyond his areas of
expertise.
We felt very lucky. Our combined sal-
aries were low, but we felt richer than we
had ever been.
Over the next four years, we had two
children. My teaching load was reduced
in accordance with my research pro-
ductivity. My partner landed a closer re-
placement teaching position for a semes-
ter, followed by miscellaneous courses
here and there. We continued to scan the
job ads and to apply for positions in bet-
ter locations and at better institutions.
We both published our dissertations as
books with a prestigious academic press.
That fueled our ambition, reassuring us
that our hard work would pay off. I felt
the pressure as the full-time breadwin-
ner; he did the bulk of the child care and
woke up early to work on publications.
Our dream of fnding two tenure-track
jobs was fading, but we told ourselves
that our best hope was to publish our way
out.
During our fourth year in the Mid-
west, I landed two interviews, both at
better universities in more cosmopoli-
tan areas. I received an offer. My part-
ner was more eager to move than I was. I
had become accustomed to the slow pace
and low pressure of the Midwestern uni-
versity. I was over my initial shock at the
poor academic skills of the students, and
I was well appreciated and productive.
The new university initially offered
my partner nothing. When the depart-
ment chair informed me that no job was
available for my partner, I remember say-
ing, Check with the university press,
check with the librarythere must be
something! At least give us a toehold.
He phoned back within an hour and of-
fered my partner a two-year, half-time,
visiting position for $20,000 a year.
We also negotiated for a year of re-
search leave without pay. We sold our
house at a $10,000 proft, added that
amount to two small research grants, and
spent the next year overseas doing re-
search and writing for six months in each
of our research locations.
The transition to the new university
was not without problems. That August,
en route to the new city, one of our chil-
dren had a medical emergency requir-
ing eight hours at the hospital. Our old
insurance had expired in July, and even
though the new positions began that
month, the new insurance did not cover
us until September. Luckily our an-
nual income was so low that the hospital
waived most of the charges. The doctors
fees were not discounted, and the pro-
ceeds from our house, plus more, were
used to pay the medical bills.
My partners salary and some of my
pay was spent on part-time day care
(three mornings a week plus lunch) for
our two preschool-aged children. We
took turns looking after the kids so the
other could work. My workload was
much heavier than before, mostly be-
cause I inherited a number of graduate
students from my predecessor. Had we
not taken the previous year off for re-
search and writing, it would have been
diffcult to maintain our research produc-
tivity.
While we were abroad, our new uni-
versity listed a tenure-track position for
which my partner was marginally quali-
fed. He applied, but early in the process
the position was cut because of budget
constraints. The following year the posi-
tion was listed again. By then my partner
had shaped some publications to ft the
job description. He made it to the long
shortlist, but again the position was cut.
By then we both had two books, and
he had published in all of the top jour-
nals in his feld. Still, our hopes for dual
tenure-track employment were fading.
The next year, his fnal year in the vis-
iting position, we agreed would be his
last season on the academic market. If it
didnt work out, he would seriously con-
sider other options.
Our university listed the same tenure-
track job again. My partner reapplied
and the search progressed. He made it
to the shortlist of four candidates. We
joked that the job interview had lasted
two years.
Knowing I could jeopardize his
chances, I bit my tongue at department
meetings and accepted more service
than I should have. I was not allowed to
meet the job candidates or to attend their
job talks, but one candidate insisted on
meeting me. In my offce she demanded
to know whether this was a legitimate
search and whether my husband was, in
fact, the inside candidate.
The long wait for a decision was punc-
tuated by colleagues who avoided eye
contact or pretended nothing unusual
was going on, while our futures lay in
the balance. Ultimately, my partner was
offered the job. Had we known over the
intervening seven years that it would
eventually work out, it would have saved
us an inordinate amount of stress and
heartache.
In retrospect, we were nave and un-
realistic about the prospect of fnding
two jobs in one place. Neither of us fully
comprehended or admitted to ourselves
the increased stress we experienced as a
result. Nor did we admit that we envied
each other.
I envied his freedom from the pres-
sures of a tenure-track job and the time
he could spend with the kids. He envied
my tenure-track job and the validation it
lent to my career. Neither one of us was
comfortable with the asymmetry in our
roles or the apparent gender reversal.
At the same time, we were also dog-
gedly persistent, almost to the point of
obsession, in our search for jobs and our
endless work on publications. My part-
ners persistence took the form of ob-
sessive writing, carving out ever-earlier
morning hours to work before the chil-
dren woke. His persistence was fueled by
a desperate sense that he was suited for
only an academic career.
My point is not that dogged persis-
tence and obsessive research productivity
eventually pay off. Its that we were in-
credibly lucky.
Would we do it over again if we knew
how long it would take and the stress it
would entail? I doubt it.
Naomi Granville is the pseudonym
of a professor in the social sciences
at a university in the East.
Have No Illusions: Dual Academic Careers Require Luck
Question (from Bettina): It was
8 a.m., I had the morning paper, and the
phone rang. Have you gotten the course-
designation forms in yet?
I was still head-fuffy and reading about
Afghanistan, and I asked, What?
It was my department chair, about to
chew me out for some nomenclatural/
numerical change in some department
courses. The forms werent due until Sep-
tember, it was summertime, and it re-
ally was not urgentexcept to Dr. Boss,
who, at the time, was waiting for his dying
mother to come out of intensive care, so
he thought hed grab his cellphone and ha-
rangue a few colleagues.
He drives us batty.
Any department event is sure to gener-
ate 10 to 20 e-mails flled with remind-
ers, exhortations, threats, and other trivia.
Hes the only chair Ive ever had who
takes attendance at department meetings,
publishes the results, and makes snippy
remarks to anyone who didnt attend.
(Surely you couldnt have had anything
more important. Your colonoscopy could
wait.)
He patrols the halls to see if were in
our offces. (We dont have to be. We dont
do lab work, and can easily do our class
planning and research at the library or at
home.) He calls us into his offce, or writes
hordes of memorandums about any par-
ticular problem. If there are old cardboard
boxes piled outside our offces, Memo No.
1 says unsightly, No. 2 says fre hazard,
and No. 3 says let me know the time when
youve removed it.
Well, he is effcient, and departmental
odds and ends do get done. But why cant
he see were adults, who dont need poking,
pushing, and nagging?
Answer: Ms. Mentor once had a col-
league like thatwhod rearrange every-
ones paper clips and dust off Ms. Mentors
keyboard with a tiny brush (See how easy
it is to be tidy?). At department potlucks,
Prof. Neatnik would start picking up dishes
while people were still eating.
The weak and untenured would moan.
The full professors would hide their des-
serts on their laps and nibble at them fur-
tively.
Ms. Mentor supposes the Neatniks of
the world do keep others busy, alive, hun-
gry, fuming. Perhaps, she says wanly, your
Ms. Mentor: My Boss Is a Micromanager
boss gives you extra energy through making
you angry and whiny.
Ms. Mentor doubts it.
She could, of course, give a standard pro-
fle of the boss and the Neatnik. Maybe they
grew up in orphanages, where they were
kept to an excruciating standard of neatness;
if they erred, they were beaten and denied
their porridge. Maybe they loathed having
14 siblings and rebelled against the constant
chaos and disorder.
But why doesnt really matter. He had
a terrible childhood does not mean that
other people must tolerate unpleasant behav-
ior. You, the victim of a micromanager, do
have options.
You can, of course, be the perfect toady.
You can turn in reports early, full of charts,
jargon, and impressive fonts. You
can plead for more service assign-
ments (Shouldnt I also check on
and report back next week?).
You can sing the praises of our
brilliant leader. You can bring
goodies (once again, your favorite
scones).
You can sit at the right-hand of
the chair at meetings, prepared to
record each priceless pearl. All that
may gain you some favor, for only
a few people will mutter, What
a tool. But youll get no respite.
There will be more assignments
and more phone calls (Isnt the re-
vised report done yet?). Youll be
appointed to every committee.
That could propel you into ad-
ministration, especially if youre
willing to handle assessment, the
current boondoggle to end all
boondoggles. But if youre ex-
pected to publish, being the power-
house of departmental paperwork
will take all of your time. It will
kill your career.
There are other strategies. You
can tell your boss, Ill do it, and
then do it late, or badly. Mention
loudly a teaching obligation, a re-
search project, or a grant applica-
tion with frm deadlines. Ask for
an extension on the bosss paper-
work, even if you dont need it.
If youre seen as unreliable, or as
Above It All, you wont be the frst
speed-dialed person the boss ha-
rasses when hes anxious or needs
a target for his wrath.
You can also try to retrain your
boss. You can nag him a little
(Whats the exact deadline?) or
pepper him with petty questions
(Really, what font should I use?).
You can try redelegating (Priscilla
really knows more about this)
unless Priscilla is your best friend.
You can try joining with Pris-
cilla and others to reform, resist,
or overthrow your leader, but most
academics havent the heart or the
time to do that. They got into aca-
deme because they loved school
and learning, not because they
yearned to engage in brutal power
struggles over not very much.
In the business world, victims of
a micromanager will fee for other
jobs. According to studies reported
by Robert Sutton, a business pro-
fessor at Stanford University, the
average yearly turnover in business
personnel is 5 percent. But when
the boss is, in Suttons term, an
asshole, the turnover jumps to 25 percent
or more. Those who stay, as most academics
must in todays tight job market, are demor-
alized.
They hide, except for offce hours. They
get together with colleagues to grumble, not
to celebrate or to share. They finch at the
sight of an administrator, and they put up
grim signs: The foggings will continue un-
til morale improves. Desperate staffers at
one university even started a prayer group,
hoping that a higher power would hear them
and remove their dean.
The best bravely put their energies where
they can do best, in teaching and in re-
search. While theyre engaging students in
exciting subjects, they can forget for a while
the bullying boss whos sending scolding
e-mails. Their show will go on.
And so it will, even if your boss is At-
tila the Hun. Few martinets stay in place, as
they used to, for 30 or 40 years. Underlings
can sometimes fnd a candidate, one who
doesnt need constant ego strokes, to run
against the micromanager. A thousand fow-
ers can bloom again.
But if Ms. Mentor were in charge, she
would also give more creditmore esteem,
more money, more tangible rewardsto the
lower-level administrators, such as depart-
ment and committee heads. As Michelle
A. Mass and Katie J. Hogans contributors
point out in the recently published Over Ten
Million Served: Gendered Service in Lan-
guage and Literature Workplaces (SUNY
Press, 2010), even vital committee service is
mostly thankless, and too often routinely ex-
pected of women. Everyone gets burned out.
Yet your thoughts are still your own, and
Ms. Mentor recommends Walt Whitmans
advice to re-examine all you have been
told and dismiss whatever insults your
own soul. And do not answer your phone.
Ms. Mentor, who never leaves her ivory
tower, channels her mail via Emily Toth in
the English department of Louisiana State
University at Baton Rouge. She is the au-
thor of the recently published Ms. Mentors
New and Ever More Impeccable Advice for
Women and Men in Academia (University
of Pennsylvania Press). Her e-mail address
is ms.mentor@chronicle.com.
Our city is only as strong as the
partnerships we build to support it.
www.loyno.edu
Commitment to our community makes
Loyolas service learning programs distinct.
Loyola and its community partners are
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Working Smarter for Our
Students and Community
NOVA won top honors for using technology to provide exceptional services to students
and increase educator efectivenessthe fth time the College has been recognized for
use of technology.
Conducted by e.Republics Center for Digital Education and Converge Online, the Digital
Community Colleges Survey looked at technological tools used to increase convenience
and ofer alternative learning options, including online registration, distance learning,
tutoring, advisory services, training, and Web 2.0 social and collaborative capabilities.
When the results were tallied, NOVA achieved the highest possible grade.
Congratulations to all the hard-working staf and faculty for earning this recognition!
Learn more at www.nvcc.edu or 7033233000.
A+
NOVA Earns
for Digital
Technology
By Jerald Walker
M
yliteratureclasshad
ended, but six students re-
mained. They arranged their
chairs in a semicircle in front of my desk,
and then, with a great sense of purpose
and candor, denounced my tapered-leg
jeans. They really are awful, one stu-
dent said, while another countered with,
You mean, hideous. The others agreed.
I was undergoing, it occurred to me, an
intervention.
Your shirt and tie are tolerable,
someone continued, but those shoes! I
mean, come on!
I glanced at my shoes. Other than be-
ing ft for a clown (literally: I wear a 12),
my white Adidas seemed fne to me. I
said as much when the laughter subsided.
I noted I did not wear them often. I usu-
ally donned my high-top Doc Martens,
classic footwear whose coolness was un-
assailable. I referenced them now. The
Docs are awesome, I was told, if its
1985. I gathered my things. As I put on
my sunglasses and headed for the door,
someone called after me: And lose the
mirrored shades!
I came to realize, during my walk
home, that those six students were not
necessarily evil. They were just trying to
be helpful. But I did not need their help.
At least not as much as some of my col-
leagues, like the one whose idea of haute
couture was Looney Tunes neckties. Or
the one with the matching suede jacket
and fedora, la Indiana Jones. Or the one
who always wore weight-lifting gloves,
a clear fashion no-no. I had told him so
myself. Theyre not an accessory, you
moron, he responded. If its any of your
business, I wear them because of a rare
medical condition. I wondered if that
also explained his ponytail and fshing
vest. I decided not to ask.
I also decided not to ask about a col-
leagues plunging neckline, even though
it seemed a curious thing for an aca-
demic to wear, especially a male. He had
walked into the conference room where a
committee was about to convene and sat
at the table, directly across from me. The
meeting lasted an hour, but I heard little
of what was said. Instead, I spent much
of the time imagining him strapped to a
plank, being sheared. You know, to re-
ally make that look work, I wanted to
tell him, you might consider incorporat-
ing a codpiece.
Instead, and curious to have other
opinions on the matter, I went to my of-
fce when the meeting adjourned and re-
searched him on RateMyProfessors.com.
The results were irrefutable: Exposed
hairy torso, in the context of the liberal
arts, was frightening. That view crossed
the gender divide.
By contrast, I saw that female profes-
sors with plunging necklines met with
strong approval from their male stu-
dents. That approval was generally ac-
companied by approval of the course,
suggesting, at least with this sample, a
correlation between cleavage and mas-
tery of subject matter.
The broader pointthat students re-
spond favorably to attractive profes-
Make It Work: a Professors Style Makeover
sorshas been well documented in the
literature. Back when I was a frst-time
teacher, and at little risk of being con-
fused for a model, I had given a great
deal of thought to my wardrobe choices,
going so far as to poll my new colleagues
at orientation events. The consensus
was for intellectual casual, which was
explained as slacks and a blouse for
women, and khakis or jeans and a dress
shirt for men. The more conservative
respondents called for long skirts and
sports jackets.
One professor, however, insisted on for-
mal attire. It commands respect, he in-
sisted. A week later I saw him command-
ing respect as he walked across
the campus. It was 94 degrees. His
face was wet and pinkish, the un-
derarms of his tan suit ringed in
sweat. I fell in step with him, ex-
changed a few pleasantries, and
then offered an observation.
You look near death, I said.
He did not deny that he was.
I suggested he remove his jacket
and vest. Your students will
still respect you, I assured him.
Mine seem to respect me, and
look what Im wearing.
He gave me the once-over, his
gaze lingering on my tapered
jeans. Doubtful, he said.
I identifed with his skepticism.
It was what I felt toward our col-
leagues who wore fip-fops, T-
shirts, baseball caps, cowboy
boots, nose rings, ponchos, and
Crocs. Were I their student, I
would have spent the class draw-
ing them in caricature. I still have
some of the sketches from my
college years, including one of a
guest lecturer whose all-black en-
semble consisted of a turtleneck,
beret, combat boots, and leather
jacket. I gave him a shotgun and
a caption that read, Up the Rev-
olution.
That image came back to me
as I walked home after my stu-
dents intervention, and I shud-
dered thinking there were cari-
catures of me out there, perhaps
saying U Cant Touch This or
singing Purple Rain. I glanced
at my jeans, noted how they bal-
looned at my thighs before nar-
rowing to grip my shins and
ankles. Then I surveyed pass-
ers-by and saw only jeans that
were narrow from thigh to knee
and progressively loose until they
reached the shoe.
My students want me to dress
like a mermaid, I told my wife
that evening.
I hope you refused, she said.
And they want me to stop
wearing white sneakers.
I hope you agreed, she said.
Whats wrong with my white
sneakers?
Well, theyre white, to begin with,
and theyre sneakers.
I rose from the couch and stepped to
the center of the living room. And my
jeans?
Out of style, she replied.
What?
Ive told you that before.
When?
Probably when I told you to stop buy-
ing white sneakers. And Docs.
I asked her to stand. Her jeans were
neither tapered nor mermaidian, but
rather somewhere in between. She
had found a happy medium and made
it work. The next day I bought sev-
eral pairs similar in style to hers. I also
picked up some designer ankle boots
that a sales clerk explained were all the
rage with young professionals, even
though I saw no direct application for
the steel toe.
When I entered my classroom, the stu-
dents who had confronted me applauded
and cheered. But that soon gave way to
ribbing as they lampooned my previ-
ous attire. What did you do with all
that stuff? someone asked. Gave it to
Goodwill, I hope, or to a vintage store!
They burst into laughter, of course.
I let them have their fun. After all, I
understood that such things were cycli-
cal. By 2015, I fgured, 2020 at the lat-
est, my old wardrobe would be back in
style. And while everyone was going to
the mall, scrambling to respond to the
whims of New York and Milan, I would
simply have to reach into a large card-
board box, tucked away, for now, in the
back of my closet.
Jerald Walker is the author of Street
Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion,
and Redemption (Bantam Books, 2010).
He was recently hired as an associate
professor of creative writing at Emerson
College, where, he notes, all of his new
colleagues dress splendidly.

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career issues for graduate students
By VERNA KALE
I
hadtwobabiesin the same year, nine months
apart. We named the frst baby Betty, after my
husbands grandmother. The name I gave to my
second baby is quite a bit longer and has more punctua-
tion. Baby No. 2 is my dissertation.
Fellow graduate students often ask me whether I
would recommend starting a family while still in gradu-
ate school. Already overworked and underpaid, my com-
patriots seem incredulous when I tell them that it was, in
fact, the perfect time, that dissertation writing and preg-
nancy are harmoniousand even analogousexperi-
ences.
After the initial fun of conception (of the baby and the
research idea) is over, and the test results (of the home-
pregnancy kit and comps/the proposal defense) come
back positive, the frst trimester (of pregnancy and writ-
ing) is the worst. Like many women, I experienced unre-
lenting nausea and fatigue starting at around six weeks
and lasting a little under two months. I found myself
performing bizarre ritualslike eating Fudgsicles for
breakfastjust to make it through the day. Likewise, I
found the earliest stages of drafting Chapter 1 of my dis-
sertation to be the worst: nausea inducing, exhausting,
and helped only by yet another series of bizarre rituals.
Choosing the right coffee mug (for my woefully under-
caffeinated hot tea) was crucial to a productive morning.
When youre pregnant, at frst you dont feel pregnant.
You just feel sick. From the depths of the nausea and fa-
tigue you wonder if your due date will ever arrive and
if there will really be a baby there at the end of it. Same
goes for the dissertation when youre sitting there, a
blank Word document fading to black as your computer
times out and goes to sleep. And even though you know
plenty of people have done it beforepeople who are
your friends and who assure you
that youre going to be fneyou
cant believe that what youre go-
ing through now will ever be a
baby. Or a dissertation.
I started a pregnancy jour-
nal. At frst I mainly wrote down
what I ate. When the green haze
of nausea bogged me down and I
could barely think about my dis-
sertation topic, I could at least write down that Id eaten
a Fudgsicle. My word count went up. Soon, I realized,
Giving Birth to 2 Babies
Is graduate school a good time to start a family?
What was I afraid of? Being a good
scholar but a bad mother? Being
a bad mother but a good scholar?
I could write down that I had read three
articles and taken notes on my chapter.
The illusion of progress inspired real
progress, and the desire to record an im-
pressive word count was often all the mo-
tivation I needed to push through a case
of writers block. The pregnancy journal
began to serve a dual purpose as a dis-
sertation journal, and soon I was typing
away on my chapter as well. I went from
writing about Fudgsicles to documenting
my fears. What was I afraid of? Not fn-
ishing on time? Never fnishing? Being a
good scholar but a bad mother? Being a
bad mother but a good scholar? Could I
be good at both?
Having heard horror stories
of women whose careers had de-
railed on the mommy track, I
was determined to turn in a chap-
ter before I announced my mater-
nity news to my dissertation com-
mittee. When I met with my co-
chairs, they offered heartfelt con-
gratulations, but I know that they
wondered, as I did, if I would
actually fnish. My waistline was
growing faster than the stack of
pages on my desk.
The second trimester of preg-
nancy is, by all accounts, the
best. The nausea goes away for
most women, youre flled with
energy, your skin glows, and an
adorable belly pokes out, show-
ing the world that youre pregnant
and not, as evidence might have
suggested, just retaining water.
Its also likely now that the preg-
nancy is going to carry to term,
and people feel a little more con-
fdent telling friends and strang-
ers the good news.
I had a similar boost of con-
fdence with my diss. The frst
chapter painfully behind me, I
was now a fully-fedged ABD,
and, full of energy, I cranked out
the next two chapters in quick
succession.
Everyone knows an ABD who
has drifted away. Dissertation due
dates can be entirely too fexible.
If you are a perfectionist in love
with your topic, a chapter is never
truly fnished, and, if it is, you
cant start the next one until you
read one more book, apply for a
fellowship to visit that one crucial
archive, or grade that Sisyphean
stack of student papers.
The babys due date, however,
was frm. Sometime on or around
May 28, 2009, the baby was com-
ing. I couldnt apply for an ex-
tension, and whether Id fnished
the reading or not, I was about to
face the ultimate comprehensive
exam.
Having a frm due date on my
pregnancy helped me to work
steadily on my dissertation, to
push through writers block when
a nonpregnant graduate student might
turn to piles of reading or, worse, go play
endless rounds of bar trivia until inspira-
tion returned. I didnt have time to wait
to be inspired or to chase down every
lead. Instead, I just sat down every day
and wrote the thing. Dissertation writing
was as much a part of our baby prepa-
ration as putting together the crib and
choosing a name.
Despite the physical toll of pregnancy,
despite giving up fellowships and pres-
tigious postdocs in faraway places that
my singleton friends were able to pursue,
andthis was the hardest partdespite
partaking in neither the stimulating ef-
fects of caffeine nor the analgesic effects
of alcohol, I worked relentlessly. Hav-
ing a responsibility greater than the dis-
sertation put things in perspective. The
dissertation was just one part of my life.
It wasnt my whole life. I think that if I
didnt have that perspective, Id still be
troubling over Chapter 1.
If writing the dissertation is like car-
rying a baby (and in this extended meta-
phor, the slightly embarrassing commit-
tee meetings are those biweekly visits
with the OB in which he speculates how
many inches some part of your anatomy
has grown since he saw you last), then
the defense is labor and delivery.
You worry about it. You overprepare.
Everyone you know whos been there be-
fore has a horror story to tell and noth-
ing can prevent them from sharing that
tale of woe. And then the day comes and
nothing goes as planned, but its over be-
fore youve even fully realized that its
begun. And suddenly, youre a doctor of
philosophyor a motherand youre
excited and happy and exhausted and a
little bit afraid that someones made a
terrible mistake because you just arent
ready yet.
What your mentors dont tell you is
that the defense is not the culmination of
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news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of
admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es
and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker
de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news.
1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers
who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n
aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda
durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng
dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and
ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and
reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features
oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas,
ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh
researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from
a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores
deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts
breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|op-
ments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus
oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege
2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and
oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the
news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotv-
ty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and
amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts
& Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news
about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons
and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe
from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps,
tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed
nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who
montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n
aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda
durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng
dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and
ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and
reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features
oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas,
ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh
researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from
a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores
deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts
breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|op-
ments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus
oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege
2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and
oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the
news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotv-
ty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and
amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve. Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts
& Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news
about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred o|assrooms and hgh-teoh researoh |abs n 5ngapore, Uhna, 5outh Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons
and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of
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Korea, and Inda durng 5eptember. Pead Uount exp|ores the wor|d of admssons and enro||ment. Innovatons features nsght and oommentary on hgher-eduoaton researoh and po|oy from a team of soho|ars and experts n the
e|d. 0n Prng dsousses the ns and outs of oo||ege hrng, wth arto|es and advoe from around the Web. Pagevew hgh|ghts the news and notes on soho|ar|y pub|shng. Peroo|ator exp|ores deas and how they happen. P|ayers
features news and ana|yss from the wor|d of oo||ege sports. ProfPaoker de|vers tps, tutora|s, and oommentary on pedagogy, produotvty, and teohno|ogy n hgher eduoaton. 1he 1oker posts breakng news, wth frequent updates
from edtors and reporters who soour the wor|d for hgher-eduoaton news. 1weed nvestgates hgher eduoaton's odd oharaoters and amusng nooks. Wred Uampus hgh|ghts key I1 deve|opments and puts them n perspeotve.
Wor|dWse features oommentary from g|obetrottng hgher-eduoaton thnkers who montor the growng oonneotons aoross borders. Arts & Aoademe dsousses news and features on oampus oreatvty. Branstorm, 1he Uhrono|e
Pevew's b|og on deas, ou|ture, and the arts features some of the best mnds n aoademo and po|oy oro|es. Bu|dngs & Urounds offers news about oampus arohteoture and fao|tes. Uo||ege 2.0 |ed dspatohes from wred
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some big project. Its the beginning of an
even bigger project, one that is lifelong.
You look at those hundreds of pages and
you know that now the real work begins:
Youve got to publish some bits of that
work as articles, youve got to get a job,
youve got to revise the whole thing and
publish it as a book. Somewhere in be-
tween all of that, you have to teach, go
to meetings, and advise undergraduates.
Oh, and you have to get that life youve
been putting off for fve, six, seven, or
more years.
Its an even bigger shock when you be-
hold a tiny baby in your arms. The preg-
nancy book ends with the chapter on la-
bor and delivery, but youve got to take
this baby home, feed her, change her,
comfort her when she cries, and care for
her when shes sick. It might not happen
the frst night, or even the second, but
soon after you bring that baby home, and
you look at her sleeping (or, more likely,
not sleeping), and youre a little goofy
from painkillers and lack of sleep, and
parts of you that you didnt even know
existed are sorethats when you real-
ize that this project is forever. You are a
mother, and the hardest work is
yet to come.
In the end, I didnt fnish the
entire dissertation before the baby
came. I gave myself six weeks off
after her birth, during which time
I didnt even think about thinking
about my work, and I considered
it an especially productive day if I
managed to take a shower.
But as the baby settled into a
routine, I turned back to the proj-
ect. And I found, once again, that
being a mother inspires productiv-
ity. Any moment spent away from
the baby was a moment I was not
going to waste, and in six months,
during which time I also taught
two new courses and went on the
job market, I fnished two more
chapters, an introduction, a con-
clusion, and revisions.
With the job market in shambles, Im
glad I didnt wait to be settled to start
a family. I know that the feasibility of
starting a family in graduate school de-
pends greatly on the details of your situa-
tion, and I was fortunate. I had good stu-
dent health insurance, a devoted partner,
a supportive committee, and a network of
fellow graduate-student parents.
After the long labor that brought Betty
into the world, I couldnt imagine ever
wanting to put myself through that ordeal
ever again. And when I uploaded my dis-
sertation, I had a similar feeling of utter
exhaustion.
But now I fnd myself tossing around
ideas for the next bookand wondering
if maybe Betty would like to have a little
brother.
Verna Kale is a Ph.D. in English and
a lecturer in the rhetoric program at
Hampden-Sydney College.
Giving Birth to 2 Babies
By RoB Jenkins
Question: I have a quandary that I
hope you can help me with. I hold a mas-
ters degree in information science, tradi-
tionally known as library school. In the
new digital age, however, library schools
have emerged as iSchools, or schools
of information science. I have 21 credit
hours in my area of specialization: in-
formation economics, management, and
policy. I graduated with 49 credit hours,
48 at the masters level. I consider myself
an information expert, having
taught computer-training courses
and worked in the feld for sev-
eral years before graduate school.
The iSchool movement is in-
terdisciplinary, spanning felds
such as computer science, cogni-
tive science/psychology, manage-
ment, policy, engineering, and
information technology. People
from my program are informa-
tion architects who design and
build Web sites; policy experts at
the Library of Congress; records-
management folks who work at
law frms; and usability engi-
neers at marketing companies.
The list goes on. Of course, we
also have our fair share of tradi-
tional librarians who are media
specialists, archivists, and preser-
vationists.
I had never thought about
working as an instructor again,
but in todays economic climate,
I might consider teaching at a
community college. I just won-
der: How will my credentials be
viewed?
Answer: A few weeks after
receiving that e-mailed question
from Alina, I was visited in
my offce by Kathryn, a gradu-
ate student at a nearby research
university who has decided she
wants to teach at a community
college but whose professors
cant tell her how to do that (not
surprising, given that research-
oriented professors dont consider
teaching at a community college
to be a viable career option for
their doctoral students, but thats
a topic for another day). Kath-
ryn is working on a masters of
education degree in educational
psychology and wondered if that
degree would qualify her to teach
psychology at a two-year college.
The short answer, in Kathryns
case, is Probably not. Similarly,
the short answer to Alinas ques-
tionHow will my credentials
be viewed?is, Not too favor-
ably.
In both cases, of course, the
long answer involves numerous ifs and
buts. However, both Alina and Kath-
ryn face the same fundamental problem:
They have pursued graduate degrees that
might not actually qualify them to teach
anything, at least at a community college.
Consider Alinas case. What can she
teach? I dont know of many two-year
colleges that offer programs in informa-
tion science, so thats probably out. Her
e-mail mentions economics and manage-
ment; might she be able to teach in one
of those disciplines?
That depends on the number of gradu-
ate credit hours she completed in each.
Generally, accrediting bodies across the
country stipulate that instructors at com-
munity colleges should hold at least a
masters degree with 18 graduate hours
in the teaching feld. Most accreditation
guidelines allow for exceptions, but, in
my experience, they are rare. Exceptions
require administrators who are willing to
do the necessary paperwork and perhaps
risk running afoul of their superiors.
Alina has a masters degree, but does
she have 18 graduate hours specifcally
in economics? Or in management? If not,
she probably wont be considered quali-
fed to teach either of those subjects at a
community college, unless she encoun-
ters an unusually accommodating de-
partment chair or dean. Her only realistic
option, if shes truly intent on becom-
ing a community-college instructor, is
to go back and take additional graduate
courses in the area in which she wants to
teach.
Can i Teach at a Community College?
Kevin J. Manning, Ph.D., President Paul D. Lack, Ph.D., Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean
1525 Greenspring Valley Road, Stevenson, Maryland 21153 100 Campus Circle, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
School of Business and
Leadership
School of Design
School of Education
School of Graduate and
Professional Studies
School of Humanities and
Social Sciences
School of the Sciences
The
Evolving
University
Stevenson
University
At Stevenson University, we continue our progressive
growth following a 2008 name change along with university status.
This years freshman class was our largest and most diverse yet, with an
increasing male-to-female ratio and the growth of graduate education,
minority, and out-of-state student enrollment. Continuing with a
strong career focus, Stevenson remains in the forefront of helping
students assess and develop their careers in a values-based system that
we call Career Architecture
SM
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students pursuing bachelors, masters, and adult accelerated degrees.
We are divided into six colleges with dedicated deans for each.
Adding to our excitement, we anticipate the completion of our
residential campus and sports complex by fall 2011, along with the
first season of our DIII football team and marching band. Our faculty
has increased global business education, online and distance nursing
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most importantly, inspire our students to dream about their future
and create their own journey.
The faculty and staff of Stevenson University
invite you to arrange a campus visit or
visit us online at stevenson.edu.
Kathryns situation is slightly better.
For one thing, shes only a couple of se-
mesters into her program, so she still has
time to change majors if thats what she
decides to do. In fact, she and I talked
about that very thing. She wondered if
transferring into the M.A. program in
educational psychologywhich would
mean she wouldnt lose many credit
hourswould put her in a better position
than sticking with the M.Ed.
Here, the answer is, Possibly. If
she completes the M.Ed. program,
whether or not she can teach at a com-
munity college may hinge on how
many of her graduate hours are actu-
ally in psychology and how many are
in education.
As chair of a humanities department,
I often saw similar cases involving ap-
plicants who had English-education de-
grees. The question was always: How
many of their graduate-credit hours were
in English and how many were in edu-
cation? To teach English, they needed at
least 18 graduate hours with ENGL or
similar prefxes in front of the courses,
and many candidates didnt have that.
Fortunately, they usually werent far off
(most had 12 or 15 hours), so they were
able to go back and complete the courses
they needed to be credentialed.
Even if Kathryn transfers to the
M.A. program in educational psychol-
ogy, shell still take many of the same
courses as she would have in the M.Ed.
programand therein could lie another
problem. While we were talking, I pulled
up Web sites describing both programs
on my laptop and saw that all of the edu-
cational psychology courses had EPSY
prefxes. Traditional psychology courses
begin with PSY or PSYCH. Would some-
one evaluating her transcripta dean, a
department chair, or an accreditation re-
viewerconsider those EPSY courses to
be equivalent to PSYCH courses?
Once again, the answer is: Maybe,
and maybe not. To some extent, it might
depend on the dean or the chair, and
how far he or she is willing to go out on
a limb. Institutional climate may also be
a factor: Some two-year colleges inter-
pret degree and course guidelines more
broadly than others.
Or the decision might simply come
down to catalog-course descriptions.
As chair, I once hired an adjunct in-
structor with a theater degree to teach
speech (imagine that). The dean who
reviewed her transcript declared her un-
qualifed, insisting that she had to have
18 hours of graduate courses with SPCH
prefxes. Fortunately, I was able to show
the dean a transcript from one of our ten-
ured professors whose courses all had
SPCH prefxes but were exactly the same
as the courses the new hire had taken in
her theater program: performance and,
elocution, for example.
Ultimately, though, to get back to
Kathryn, I doubt that most hiring com-
mittees at community colleges will
give as much weight to a masters in
educational psychology as they will to
a traditional M.A. in psychology. My
advice, then, was that she needed to
transfer to the psychology department,
even if that meant losing some credit
hours.
Speaking more broadly, my advice to
undergraduates is this: If you want to be
a high-school counselor or a librarian,
then a degree in educational psychology
or information science might be just the
thing. But if you want to teach at a com-
munity college, you should probably earn
your graduate degree in one of the core
disciplines.
If youre a graduate student in an in-
terdisciplinary program, or already hold
such a degree, and you decide that what
you really want to do in life is become a
community-college instructor, then you
must next decide whether its worth tak-
ing additional courses in a specifc disci-
pline to qualify. If you conclude that it is,
well look forward to seeing your appli-
cation in a few years.
Rob Jenkins is an associate professor of
English. He blogs at www.academic-
leaders.org and writes for our commu-
nity-college column. His book, Build
ing a Career in Americas Community
Colleges, has just been published by the
American Association of Community
Colleges and the Community College
Press. If you would like to write about
career issues at two-year colleges, send
your ideas to careers@chronicle.com.
Can I Teach at a Community College?
By Zoe SmITh
and ArIAnA SuTTon-GrIer
P
ostdoctoralpositionsare a
common, and often necessary, in-
terlude between graduate study
and tenure-track life. The experiences
and training gained from a postdoc can
shape the rest of your career. Yet it can
be challenging to fnd out even the most
basic information about such opportuni-
ties.
As recent postdoctoral fellows in a
federal research center, we would like
to share some of the resources we have
found useful as well as offer advice that
may help you make the most of your
postdoctoral experience.
Not just a research job. No two post-
docs are alike since they vary by time
frame, scientifc feld, location, goals,
and expectations, among other fac-
tors. However, one aspect common to
all felds is that a postdoc is not just a
research position; its an opportunity
to develop and enhance your technical
skills and your career prospects. Know-
ing what you want to achieve during your
postdocand clarifying your advisers
expectations as well as your ownis a
key frst step.
Make a plan. Early in your post-
doc, discuss, prioritize, and write down
the goals that both you and your ad-
viser hope you will accomplish. That in-
cludes research goals, such as the num-
ber of publications you hope to write or
co-write, and other professional goals,
such as teaching experience, organiz-
ing a symposium or workshop, writing a
review paper, or improving your grant-
writing skills. Make sure your plan takes
into account your personal and family re-
sponsibilities.
Get a head start. The key to a pro-
ductive postdoc is often a quick start. Us-
ing available data sets and collaborating
on existing research can be a good way
to boost your publication record while
waiting for your own new data. That can
also be a good time to write meta-analy-
ses and literature reviews. Your adviser
is likely to have valuable advice on those
processes. You might also consider de-
veloping side projects that are extensions
of your research and that capitalize on
resources available at your institution.
Preliminary data are essential to at-
tract money for your research proposals,
and we recommend writing your own
grant proposals. Tailor them to the spe-
cifc goals of the grant agency. If you can
obtain a grant that would travel with you
to your next job, then you are well on
your way to landing that job.
Take advantage of professional-de-
velopment opportunities. University
and government institutions often pro-
vide subsidized workshops and seminars
for improving technical and communica-
tion skills. But other programs are avail-
able, too. Make yourself known to your
grants offces and library. Networks like
the National Postdoctoral Association
hold meetings that offer both information
and contacts. Travel grants are available
to help you attend the NPA conference
(see www.nationalpostdoc.org).
You can improve your teaching skills
through programs such as the Faculty In-
stitutes for Reforming Science Teaching,
which focuses on improving undergradu-
ate biology education. Direct teaching
experience in a local college, university,
or community college is also valuable.
Many adjunct positions are available that
allow you to organize and teach a com-
plete course, not just a lab section or a
guest lecture. Often those positions are
advertised in e-mail discussion groups;
for example, a major group for people
in environmental science and ecology is
making the most of Your Postdoc
Before you accept a postdoc, ask questions
about benefts included in the position
and policies related to parental leave.
Named as one of the Most Admired CEOs in the
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Congratulations to Dan Angel
President, Golden Gate University
Ecolog-L. Ask colleagues in your depart-
ment or laboratory which online groups
you should participate in to hear about
potential training opportunities.
Find a mentor. It should be someone
you respect, regardless of their feld or
position, and someone with whom you
meet on a semiregular basis for advice
and support. It doesnt have to be a for-
mal arrangement, although you may re-
ceive more attention if you request your
mentors active involvement. Voicing your
ideas, achievements, and worries with
someone else can provide valuable insight
about your career progress and can help
you alleviate self-doubt, which is not un-
common among postdocs. If you dont
have a mentor in mind, try using a na-
tional program called MentorNet (www.
mentornet.net), which helps link graduate
students, postdocs, and professionals. You
might also consider becoming a mentor
for a rising graduate student.
Two brains are better than one. Dur-
ing your postdoc, you may begin collabo-
rations that will last a lifetime. Talk to
people around you, including peers and
other principal investigators, and not just
those in your lab. Find areas of common
interest that could develop into proposals
and projects.
Attend conferences as much as possi-
ble. Besides giving you a chance to show
off your research, the social opportuni-
ties are key to building your network.
Those connections could lead to research
collaborations, job openings, or valu-
able friendships that you will treasure
throughout your career. After all, nobody
knows what youre going through better
than other postdocs.
Go international. Overseas experi-
ence will teach you how science works in
other countries and cultures, and help you
appreciate how the focus of science may
vary depending on the issues that different
countries face. Since moving overseas can
be challenging, it is worth investigating
whether fellowships offer assistance with
relocation expenses and visa troubles. Peo-
ple at your host institution may be willing
to help you settle in.
Network online as much as possible.
Hiring committees usually search the Web
for information about potential candidates.
Its imperative that you take time to create
a professional-looking Web site with infor-
mation about your research, teaching, and
publications. While most universities will
offer you space for a Web site, you may ac-
quire one on your own.
Check frst with your institutions IT
offce. Most will have software and other
resources to assist in the creation of a
Web site. In addition, there are many
free templates released under the Cre-
ative Commons license (see, for example,
freeCSStemplates.org) to help you design
an appropriate Web site.
You might also consider opportunities
for making your research available to the
public, such as setting up your own blog
and taking advantage of online networks
such as LinkedIn that may help you lo-
cate a job or collaborator.
Think carefully, however, about how
you use social-networking media (Face-
book and the like), where the information
you post may be more public than you
realize.
Learn how the hiring game works.
If your goal is to obtain a tenure-track
position, you need to know the basics:
how to fnd those positions, how to be a
competitive candidate, how to prepare a
CV, and how to conduct yourself in an
interview. Start by asking other postdocs
and your adviser for advice.
Personalize your application for each
institution you apply to. That takes time
but is necessary for a successful search.
Subscribe to job networks and forums
to keep an eye on the market throughout
your postdoc.
Alternately, you may decide that aca-
deme is not for you, in which case you
will need to broaden your job search.
During your postdoc, be on the lookout
for other nonacademic opportunities that
interest you in government or the private
sector. Consider applying for fellowships
that allow you to explore nonacademic
career options.
Timing is also important, since there
may be seasonal employment periods,
and some positions (such as government
graduate and fellowship positions) can
take months to secure.
Balancing work and life. Postdoc-
toral positions are often undertaken by
people in the process of starting families
and planning their futures after years of
study. Before you accept a postdoc, we
recommend you ask questions about ben-
efts included in the position and about
any policies related to parental leave. The
National Postdoctoral Association Web
site provides suggested policies as a use-
ful starting point.
Postdocs typically involve long hours.
Set boundaries between your profes-
sional and personal life (as hard as that
can be to do), and develop habits to im-
prove your effciency, enabling you to
spend quality time with family and
friends.
Have a Life! Its important to have at
least one hobby or outside pursuit that
you do just for yourself, to keep you mo-
tivated and refreshed. Particularly as the
length of time spent in postdoctoral posi-
tions increases, it is important to keep a
healthy work-life balance.
Good luck and enjoy the journey.
Zoe Smith is a postdoctoral fellow at the
Smithsonian Environmental Research
Center in Maryland. Ariana Sutton-
Grier is a fellow at the American Associ-
ation for the Advancement of Science.
administrative careers & hiring
By Donna M. BickforD
and anne Mitchell Whisnant
l
ikemanyPh.D.sin the humanities, we started
out hoping to become tenure-track faculty mem-
bers and instead found ourselves carving out ca-
reers as professional staff members. We became friends
in 2006, when the University of North Carolina at Cha-
pel Hill hired both of us to work in different campus-
wide offces.
In our administrative roles, we both work closely with
faculty colleagues. Both of us teach and hold adjunct
faculty appointments. Both of us do research, participate
in scholarly groups, and present or publish our work.
And both of us fnd our research to be relevant to our ad-
ministrative jobs.
We are defnitely not alone.
Especially at large universities, a growing cadre of
administrators is being hired with Ph.D.s. or other ter-
minal degrees in their felds. An informal count on
our own campus fnds at least 40 such administrators,
roughly three-quarters of them women. Many of us con-
tinue to pursue our scholarly research, writing, publica-
tion, public speaking, public engagement, and teaching
while fulflling our administrative duties. But this cadre
of Ph.D.s did not follow the traditional path, moving up
into administration from the faculty. And for that reason,
academe has no system to recognize and encourage our
unique contributions.
So were hoping to start a conversation about that on
our own campus, where a committee is devising a new
fve-year academic plan. Weve presented a proposal to
design a system of options and policies that would bet-
ter support and recognize the contributions of nonfaculty
administrators with Ph.D.s who occupy an often awk-
ward in-between space in the academic hierarchy.
Already in academe, people are talking about alter-
nate academic careers for Ph.D.s. But the promise of
those careers wont be fulflled without systemic change.
Universities must create formal structures to assist our
growing cohort in pursuing scholarly research and teach-
ing while continuing to develop administrative skills and
talents.
The problems with the current system. In several
respects, then, our work is a blend of administration and
scholarshipjust like that of our faculty-administrator
colleagues who rose to administration through the fac-
ulty ranks. But the structures supporting each groups
work, however, are markedly unequal.
Faculty-administrators usually have an established
faculty position and a departmental home that provides
a base, legitimacy, money, and other support for their
teaching and research. The university rewards and val-
ues faculty-administrators who continue to do research
and teach.
We administrator-scholars, however, generally carry
on our teaching and scholarship under the radar, as an
overload on top of our regular jobs. We are often only
minimally rewarded or recognized for that work by the
university or our offces. Our jobs often are not struc-
tured to take full advantage of the ways that our schol-
arly work could enhance both administrative effective-
ness and the universitys academic mission. And those
academic departments and administrative offces in-
clined to make more generous or fexible arrangements
for us lack precedents, policies, structures, and money
for doing so.
Another complicating factor: Faculty work is built
upon long periods of focused scholarship punctuated
with limited, episodic forays into administration, while
administrators necessarily weave their scholarship, as
time permits, within a long-term commitment to admin-
istration.
The benefts of an administrator-scholar corps. We
see an unparalleled opportunity for universities to capi-
talize on a rich resource already in place and to create
attractive career options for Ph.D.s. Among the potential
benefts:
n
We could do so much more
good for students. Although
some administrators already
teach, more of us could be in-
vited to do so. Our long-term
commitments to our institu-
tions means we are available to
respond to students requests
for letters of recommendation
and other forms of support in ways not always possible
for adjunct faculty members. If compensated, we could
also help departments by serving on thesis and disser-
tation committees. And because our jobs require us to
circulate widely on the campus, we can advise students
on programs and opportunities of which their professors
might be unaware.
n
We can mentor graduate students. At a time when
Building a corps of administrator-scholars
Its time to formalize the growing cadre of Ph.D.s who enter
campus administration without ever having been on the faculty
the promise of alternate academic
careers for Ph.D.s wont be fulflled
without systemic change.
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The college has remained true to its original mission to educate individuals for careers in the fashion industry, while simultaneously
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far too many Ph.D.s compete for far too
few faculty jobs, we provide models of
scholars following nontraditional career
paths while contributing to our disci-
plines, institutions, and scholarly organi-
zations.
n
We can foster interdisciplinary col-
laboration. Our administrative positions
routinely require working across depart-
mental lines and across the divides be-
tween professional schools and the core
liberal arts. We are in a better position
than many on the campus to spot oppor-
tunities for partnerships, and make them
happen.
n
We can connect scholarship to prac-
tical problems. Our decision to work as
administrators shows that we recognized,
early in our careers, the applicability of
our knowledge and skills to realms be-
yond scholarly publication and teaching.
Additionally, the research weve done
outside the pressures of the tenure track
has allowed many of us to develop schol-
arly portfolios that are innovative, entre-
preneurial, and engaged with many dif-
ferent audiences. That expertise can help
our universities grow and develop pro-
grams that put scholarship to work in the
world in new ways.
n
We can counter the accusations about
top-heavy administration. In our state
and others, critics assert that universities
have too many administrators who con-
tribute too little to the academic mission.
Both the fact and the perception derive,
in part, from the fairly rigid boundary be-
tween the roles and functions of admin-
istrators and professors. Nurturing the
scholarly work of Ph.D. administrators
could help bridge the divide and blunt the
criticism. Even within academe, there is
misunderstanding about the ways that ad-
ministrators contribute to the academic
mission. The system we propose could
help to ease such tensions.
n
A formal system recognizing admin-
istrator-scholars would help institutions
recruit and retain highly qualifed ad-
ministrators who could also fll faculty
roles, as appropriate. As the job market
for Ph.D.s continues to shift, universi-
ties that nurture administrator-scholars
could become the employers of choice
for smart, creative people with a deep
commitment to the culture and mission
of academe.
n
Finally, an administrative-scholar
corps would be an incubator for female
administrators, since a majority of us
with Ph.D.s in nonfaculty positions seem
to be women. A formal system to sup-
port administrator-scholars would build
a pool of female leaders who could move
up the ranks across academe, and would
help institutions recruit and retain highly
qualifed administrators.
Working out the details. A compli-
cated set of questions would need to be
answered before universities could cre-
ate this new corps. We dont have all the
answers, but if the university approves
our proposal, we hope to pursue them.
Among the questions we face are how to:
n
Design a program fexible enough
to accommodate administrator-schol-
ars varying levels of desire and ability
to continue their scholarship and teach-
ing. The system would have to account
for the demands of each persons primary
administrative appointment. Such fex-
ibility has long been available to faculty
members who may want some, much, or
no involvement in administration.
n
Develop workload-management,
compensation, reward, and advancement
structures that account for administrator-
scholars research and teaching.
n
Arrange appropriate, stable, and mu-
tually agreeable faculty appointments for
this group of administrators in academic
departments.
n
Create regular opportunities for ad-
ministrators to teach in areas where de-
partments have needs.
n
Give administrator-scholars access to
teaching and research assistants.
n
Provide research support (research
leaves, ability to accept external research
awards, travel grants).
n
Offer access to professional-devel-
opment support (e.g., internal fellowship
and leadership development programs).
n
Incorporate administrator-scholars
into faculty governance structures.
By intentionally nurturing administra-
tor-scholars, visionary universities could
make better use of the Ph.D.s they al-
ready have on the payroll.
Taking the steps we suggest would
serve students, advance knowledge, re-
spond to calls for greater accountability,
offer creative solutions to the Ph.D. career
crisis, and build a cadre of professional
female leaders for academe.
We dont see a downside.
Donna M. Bickford is director of the
Carolina Womens Center and an ad-
junct faculty member in English and
comparative literature and womens
studies at the University of North Caro-
lina at Chapel Hill. Anne Mitchell Whis-
nant is director of research, communica-
tions, and programs for the UNC Offce
of Faculty Governance and an adjunct
faculty member in history and American
studies.
By DonalD S. lopez
I
tsnotjustyour rela-
tionships with colleagues
that change when you be-
come a department head. Lots
of other relationships, both real
and conceptual, change, too, as
Ive discovered after X years as
a department chair.
Your relationship to e-mail.
As a chair, you will spend far
more time on e-mail than you
ever have in the past. Your
words will become offcial pro-
nouncements that can come
back to haunt you.
You can avoid problems by
following some simple tips: Re-
read every message twice be-
fore sending it. Double-check
the address of intended recipi-
ents. Pause, and think, before
you hit reply, forward, or
reply to all. Never respond to
affect, only respond to content.
If you cannot resist making a
clever retort to a moronic mes-
sage, write it, and then delete
it. And in order not to be over-
whelmed by e-mail messages,
try to answer them immedi-
ately.
Your relationship to col-
leagues. It is important that you
be regarded as a fair and im-
partial chair. For that reason, it
may be necessary to place some
symbolic distance between
yourself and those who have
been your closest colleagues
and to narrow the gaps between
yourself and those with whom
you have been more distant.
That can be diffcult but will ul-
timately beneft you and the de-
partment.
Delegate responsibilities
among the departments fac-
ulty members, both to save your
own sanity and to prevent the
appearance of autocracy. Al-
though it will prove very time-
consuming, if your department
is not too large, you might con-
sider taking each faculty mem-
ber out for coffee or lunch. That
will allow you to get a sense of
both individual and collective
concerns and may help faculty
members feel like they have a
stake in the health of the de-
partment. It will also signal
your willingness to listen,
and will extend the length
of your honeymoon period
(which will inevitably end).
Your relationship to de-
partment staff members.
This is, by far, the most im-
portant relationship you will
have as chair. If you develop
a sense of esprit de corps
with your staff, your term
can be a relatively pleasant
experience. If you dont, it
can be extremely trying.
Every effort you make to
improve the working con-
ditions of staff members
who, unlike faculty mem-
bers, spend at least 40 hours
a week in their offces all
year longwill be richly re-
warded. Rely on staff mem-
bers to solve problems that
are within their purview.
Publicly acknowledge their
contributions and protect
them from petulant profes-
sors.
Your relationship to
students. It is easy to lose
track of your students dur-
ing your stint as chair un-
less you make a special ef-
fort to keep in touch with
them. It is important to
maintain offce hours for
your undergraduate courses
and to give your graduate
students priority in mak-
ing appointments with you.
To the extent that you can
maintain contact outside of
the offce with your gradu-
ate students (for example,
by taking them to lunch),
you should do so, letting
them know that you still
care, even when you cannot
give them as much of your
time as you used to.
Your relationship with the
deans offce. Faculty mem-
bers tend to have limited re-
lations with the deans offce
until they become department
heads. As chair, you will fnd
yourself in a new place. Are
you the advocate for your de-
partment to the dean, or the
agent of the deans agenda to
your department? Ideally you
will fnd those two roles rarely
in contradiction.
You should fnd your dean
and associate deans to be a
source of good advice in the
face of all manner of crises,
even going so far as to sug-
gest appropriate wording for
a diffcult conversation with
a faculty member. The deans
offce can be particularly help-
ful in providing cover. For
example, you may receive an
incredibly ridiculous request
from a faculty membera re-
quest that you would prefer,
for good reason, not to have
to refuse directly. You there-
fore send a message to one of
the associate deans and say,
So and so wants money for
such and such. I should say no,
right? The dean will respond
shortly with a message that
says, Right. At that point,
you tell the faculty member
that you took the request to
the dean and it was refused.
At the same time, you should
resist the temptation to blame
the dean for problems that lie
within the department.
Your relationship to money.
Im talking both about the de-
partments and your own. As
chair, you will be responsible
for the largest sum of money
that you have ever had to deal
with. (If you have dealt with
sums larger than your depart-
ments annual budget, you
should ask yourself why you be-
came an academic.)
In tough economic times,
chairs have a natural tendency to
be conservative with their bud-
gets. I would encourage you to
spendbut, of course, not over-
Youve Changed: Becoming a Department Head
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YOUR FUTURE.
MAKE A
DIFFERENCE.
as chair, are you the advocate
for your department, or are you
the agent for the deans agenda?
spendthe money available to
you, using it to improve the quality
of life in your department. When
faculty members feel that most rea-
sonable requests will be approved,
an important level of confdence is
created. It is, thus, crucial that you
understand your budget.
You will probably fnd the
most diffcult part of your job to
happen not during the academic
year but in the summer when it is
time to make your salary recom-
mendations. Some departments
have highly developed formulas
for assigning merit increases;
some have more fuid systems.
Regardless, you will always have
less money to disperse than you
would like.
And it is inevitable that every
year, some faculty members will
be upset by their raises. Some
will say nothing, some will come
in to complain, some will com-
plain directly to the dean. No
matter how generous some in-
creases are, you should not an-
ticipate a word of thanks. It has
been my experience that almost
all faculty members think they
are paid less than what they re-
ally deserve.
Now for a word about your
own money. The college com-
pensates chairs well (although it
does not give us what we really
deserve). Even after taxes, you
will note a signifcant increase
in your paycheck. If I can offer
one piece of advice, it is this:
Use the extra money to take
a vacation outside the United
States (preferably to Italy), and
do not take your laptop. The
only activity that I have found
truly restorative in my years as
chair has been going to a place
where my sensory experience
was radically changed. Only
by getting away can you forget
about all the things that seemed
so important just a few days
earlier and a few time zones
away. This is important to your
sanity.
Your relationship to your
body. There is a standard joke
(that I have forgotten) on the ef-
fect of administrative duties on
hairline and waistline. Running a
department leads to a sedentary
lifestyle; one is not called chair
for nothing. You will be tired by
the end of the day, and you will
have little energy for exercise.
But as chair you will need those
endorphins more than ever, and
you should try to structure your
day to allow for exercise.
Also as chair, you will have
many more lunch and dinner
meetings than you had as a fac-
ulty member. Try to limit those,
to reduce both the consumption of
empty minutes and empty calo-
ries. This problem becomes par-
ticularly acute during the recruit-
ing season when you will need to
meet with job candidates. I make
sure that I do not attend any candi-
date dinners, instead taking each
applicant out to breakfast alone,
where I provide basic information
and engage in informal conversa-
tion over a limited period of time.
I always order oatmeal.
Your relationship to your
scholarship. Some years ago,
when I was sitting at an orienta-
tion for new department heads,
I wanted to raise my hand and
ask, What about my own re-
search? But I was afraid to ask,
thinking that it would suggest
something less than a full com-
mitment to the mission of the
university.
Being chair requires a mark-
edly different mentality from
that of a professor. In my case,
my area of research is Bud-
dhism, so that prior to becoming
chair I spent most of my waking
hours contemplating the tran-
scendent. I now spend my wak-
ing hours contemplating the quo-
tidian.
As a member of the faculty,
you are master of your own time.
As chair, you are at the beck and
call of others. The image that
comes to mind is that of a fre-
fghter, waiting for the alarm to
ring, at which point you put on
your frefghters suit, slide down
the pole, and go put out the fre.
As chair, you will fnd yourself
innocently answering the e-mail,
when something utterly unex-
pected comes up that you must
fx. The fre may take a minute to
put out just by throwing a bucket
of water on it, or you may have to
call in the helicopters to put out
a forest fre that lasts for weeks.
This obviously wreaks havoc
with your research.
In my frst year as chair, I got
nothing done on my own re-
search. There was just so much
to learn and do, so many acro-
nyms to memorize. In the second
year, I learned one of the max-
ims of time management, Every
task will take all the time allot-
ted to it. I learned that if I came
in frst thing every morning, I
would be in the offce all day.
But if I came in at noon one day,
and sometimes even two days
a week, I got the same amount
done even when I went home at
the same time in the evening.
You should therefore make some
time for yourself.
But even when you do, you
have to accept that as chair,
something happens to your brain,
making it diffcult to read more
than fve pages of a scholarly ar-
ticle without falling asleep or
getting up to check e-mail. One
thing that I have found useful
is turning my limited attention
to projects that can be done in
spare moments. For example, I
was asked by the Encyclopae-
dia Britannica to review all of its
entries on Buddhism and mark
each in one of four ways, as
is, revise, replace, or kill.
That was the kind of tedious
work I would never have consid-
ered before I became a chair, yet
as a chair, I found writing kill
deeply satisfying.
I took to writing all manner of
prologues, forewords, and pref-
acesthe kinds of things that I
can compose without having to
use my Sanskrit dictionary.
During your tenure, in the
hours of administration and the
minutes of scholarship, I hope
you will fnd the time to delight
in what the job is all about: solv-
ing problems, getting things
done, and helping others get
things doneall in service to the
greater good of allowing your
faculty, staff, and students to do
their best work.
Donald S. Lopez is chairman
of the department of Asian lan-
guages and cultures at the Uni-
versity of Michigan at Ann Arbor
and an endowed professor
of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.
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Located just minutes from Washington, D.C., Montgomery College
is one of the most culturally diverse colleges in Maryland,
representing approximately 170 different countries
New Year, New Opportunities
Coming Soon...
Endless possibilities
for students, faculty, and staff
By Michael c. Munger
T
woqualitiescharac-
terizean academic ad-
ministrator. The frst is
a capacity to take responsibility.
The second is a need for con-
trol. Your position on those two
dimensions determines how ef-
fective you can be as a manager,
and for how long.
The most successful admin-
istratorsthe ones who accom-
plish the most and dont burn
outhave an enormous sense of
responsibility but a very small
need for control. And they know
just when to do the right kind of
nothing. Let me tell a story to il-
lustrate, and then explain what I
mean.
In which I try to steal a
euro. In the summer of 2009,
I lived in Bavaria, in south-
ern Germany, for four months.
I dont speak German, and
was reduced to watching how
people did things. The biggest
problems were situations that
seemed like cultural cognates,
where the proper behavior
seemed predictable. Like going
to a grocery store.
In Europe, grocery stores re-
quire cart deposits. You put a
euro in a slot to (paraphrasing
Ray Charles) unchain your cart.
Return the cart, get your euro
back. Its a fne system.
But I knew nothing of it. And
I didnt know that I didnt know.
Well, an elderly woman was
pushing her cart back toward
the rack. I couldnt speak to her,
but I pantomimed that I would
save her the trouble of returning
it. Her reaction surprised me:
She scowled, and then dodged
left and right. I had the angle
on her, though, and cut her off,
grabbing at the cart.
She surprised me even more
by screaming. And then a large
policeman ran up and started
yelling at me. I tried to explain
that I didnt speak German. He
shouted, What are you doin?
The uber-Oma (she was fve feet
tall, in heels) rammed the cart
into the rack, chained it, got her
euro, and held it aloft, a gleam-
ing talisman of victory.
I explained to the policeman
that I didnt know about the
deposit and that in the United
States, carts are loose. He was
still giving me the stink eye
and asked for my identifcation.
All I had were my U.S. drivers
license and my Duke Univer-
sity faculty ID. The cop said,
You are at Duke? Really? My
nephew went there for business
school, the executive program.
Turns out the offcer had been
in the German military before
retiring to police work and had
lived near U.S. bases for years. I
was lucky.
Half-smiling, but not looking
around, the cop said: Shes still
watching, isnt she? I glanced
over and saw uber-Oma, peering
at us from behind a post. I nod-
ded.
And the policeman said,
OK, heres what we are go-
ing to do. And then he started
yelling, shaking his head an-
grily, and thumping my chest
with his fnger: IM PRETTY
SURE SHE DOESNT SPEAK
ENGLISH. SO IF YOU JUST
LOOK SCARED, I THINK
THIS WILL END OUR BUSI-
NESS TOGETHER HERE TO-
DAY. I nodded, much abashed.
The cop walked away. Uber-
Oma gave me a fnal frosty nod
and marched back to her car.
I went shopping, putting gro-
ceries in my pack. Then I went
home to hide in my bathtub.
Responsibility and control.
After a while, I recovered a bit,
though of course I still felt like
an idiot. Then it struck me that
the policeman had illustrated
the two main principles of ef-
fective public service. And ad-
ministration in a university or
college setting defnitely should
be thought of as public service.
It is certainly not why most of
us went to graduate school.
So lets return to those two
fundamental principles of good
academic administrators:
n
Have an expansive capacity
to take responsibility. If some-
thing is bad, or even just not
very good, try to make it better.
Dont even think about whether
it is your fault; just ask yourself,
Could this be done better? Do
it with a roving eye, nothing too
big, and nothing too small.
n
Have a sharply circum-
scribed need for control. There
are many things you wont be
able to fx. And of the things
that can be fxed, other people
may have to do the fxing. Giv-
ing orders and taking personal
control of everything are likely
to make your administrative ca-
reer frustrating and short.
Thats all there is to it. Ev-
ery minute of every day, ask
yourself, and those around you,
Could this be done better? Are
we doing this the right way, and
getting the most done for our ex-
penditures of time and money?
Whether you are designing a new
science quad or picking up trash
in an old quad, try to look at ev-
erything around you as if it were
new. Forget things you know, and
learn something.
And then, let it go. If it turns
out that you dont need to take
action, and that things are mov-
ing in the right direction, move
to something else. Sure, it will
be hard for you to take personal
credit for the improvement.
Worse, things may not turn out
the way you would have done
them. But letting go of the need
for control acts as an enormous
force multiplier: You can be in
many places at once because
others have taken ownership
through your leadership.
The German policeman
could easily have just decided
that I was trying to steal a euro
from an old lady. In fact, that is
just what I was doing, albeit un-
knowingly. But he asked a few
questions, learned more about
the situation, and then realized
that he could fx all this simply
and neatly by doing a particular
kind of nothing, the right kind
of nothing. He was immedi-
ately responsible for solving the
problem, but recognized that he
need not take control and de-
cide who was right, who won
and who lost.
If at the end of your day as an
administrator, you do the right
kind of nothing, and everyone
around you is happier and more
productive, thats a good day.
Michael C. Munger is director
of the Philosophy-Politics-
Economics Program at Duke
University.
Successful administrators Do the right Kind of nothing
By Chris Fauske
a
bout a year ago, I traded in a
spacious, comfortable admin-
istrators offce for a faculty cu-
bicle that is, at best, 6 feet by 6 feet. I
was ready to be a professor again, so it
was an ideal trade. But its left me with a
problem.
Now I know things. I possess insider
knowledge almost unique on the faculty.
That should be good for something given
that knowledge is the fundamental pur-
pose of existence in higher education. In-
stead, most days I fnd myself wondering
if theres a manual for how to unknow
what I know.
I am an associate professor at Salem
State College, one of Massachusetts nine
state colleges. I was a dean before that,
and previously an associate dean. In an
institution that has no tradition of admin-
istrators joining the faculty, I now sit
in department meetings and on faculty
committees and wonder what I am sup-
posed to admit to knowing.
I fnd it diffcult to think of my erst-
while administrative colleagues as just
thaterstwhileas if somehow they
have a different agenda from that of fac-
ulty members. Yet my faculty colleagues
tend to ask me things like how we might
best approach them, or the adminis-
tration, or him (my lucky successor as
dean of arts and sciences).
Was I so faceless and anonymous an
entity myself until September 1, when
my job description changed so abruptly?
I struggle, too, with my newfound
freedom to think and teach without wor-
rying about anything that goes on out-
side my classroom walls. It is a relief
to discover after so many years out of
the classroom that teaching is still both
a reward and the most challenging of
opportunities. It is with something ap-
proaching wonder that I start my days
before the morning paper has landed on
the stoop, reading e-mail messages from
my students, answering those that can
be answered, and pondering how what I
am reading might redirect the manner in
which well arrive together at the prom-
ised endpoint of the semester.
I check in with my advisees. I wonder
how to make sure they know they are not
alone in juggling work, family, and col-
lege commitments. How do I reassure
young men and women for whom each
day is a puzzle of balancing personal ex-
pectations with confusing exhortations to
study harder, take responsibility, and try
more and different extracurricular activi-
ties? Should I let my students know I can
pick up the phone or send an e-mail mes-
sage and get an answer to a question that
their other professors couldnt come by
so quickly? Should I encourage my stu-
dents to learn to navigate fnancial, aca-
demic, and administrative processes on
their own, or should I introduce them to
the shortcuts that will work, but only if
not many people take advantage of them?
Which is the better life lesson? Does it
matter?
And what of my colleagues? In our
small corner of recession-afficted higher
education, the deans are engaged in an
increasingly implausible attempt to rec-
oncile expectations with diminishing re-
sources. And there are plenty of expecta-
tions, not least from legislators and citi-
zens (speaking in harmony on that topic,
by and large) who would like to know
how our pronouncements of poverty
square with rising enrollments, steadily
increasing fees, and a seemingly endless
rise in the number of programs available
for study.
Interestingly, such questions tend to be
the exact ones posed by faculty members
on the campus. Because I was a dean, I
can speak to how state bonding author-
ity works (well build you a building,
but its for you to pay for its upkeep and
operation), why more students and a
consequent increase in student fees dont
begin to cover increased costs, why
well, you get the drift.
But this really isnt my parish any lon-
ger. Its not for me to make the case.
In my new parish, were interested
in how our academic programs should
grow, why they should grow, and how
much additional support we deserve.
We are, after all, the appropriate people
to determine how best we can serve the
cause of our feld. Who better than us?
The task of the communications de-
partment, or any department, is to edu-
cate wella task that changes with each
shift in technological possibility, each
increase in information, and each redef-
nition of appropriate practice. And be-
cause my fellow professors in the com-
munications department are honest about
the limits of our claims to knowledge, we
wouldnt begin to speak for any other de-
partment or program. We wouldnt begin
to suggest where it might be possible to
adjust the budget in order to support our
own needs and expectations.
But in administrative circles, the talk
is about how we need a better sense of
focus and purpose collegewide. The
challenge facing us collectively is that we
dont have a tidy, identifable core mis-
sion.
As faculty members, we recognize the
occasional narrowness of our vision. And
I could tell you from recent experience
that administrators recognize that, too.
As faculty members, we tend to argue
that discussion and care are needed to
make sure that all the disparate parts that
make up the academic whole get a voice.
As administrators, we tendor should
I say we tended?to appreciate that
sooner or later some decisions have to be
made and others deferred.
I listen now to conversations about
decisions I helped make and why they
didnt turn out as we faculty members
might have hoped or would have envi-
sioned. Would it help if I told them that
those same complaints were raised and
discussed at administrative meetings, but
that the decision was made to go ahead?
Dirty laundry should not be aired in pub-
lic; other peoples dirty laundry, in par-
ticular, should remain out of sight. I have
changed how and where it is appropriate
to air my laundry, and I am left wonder-
ing what to do with all those old ham-
pers.
I remain, in many ways, on both sides
of the conversation. I often wonder which
way to look, and to whom I should ad-
dress any remarks I might care to make.
So I have come to a decision. At least
for now, Im quite happy with a dont
ask, dont tell policy. Dont ask me what
I think should be done, and I wont tell
you what I would do.
Chris Fauske is an associate professor of
communications and a former dean of arts
and sciences at Salem State University.
My Own Personal Dont ask, Dont Tell Policy
By GeOrGe s. MCClellan
i
would have called the job mar-
ket in student affairs robust a year
or two ago. Positions in the feld
were readily available to interested and
qualifed candidates. But the same eco-
nomic pressures that have hit the faculty
market have dampened opportunities in
student services as well.
Until the recession began, academe
saw both steady growth in the number of
positions in the feld and signifcant attri-
tion among newcomers. Now, however,
newcomers who have joined our feld
until something better came along are
hanging onto their jobs because they see
few options elsewhere. Despite growing
enrollments and increasing demands for
student services, the number of positions
in the feld seems fairly fat, and move-
ment within the profession, relatively
stagnant.
In short, the job market is tight, and
likely to stay that way for the next few
years.
Many people who are serious about
the student-affairs feld come to it for
two reasons: to continue a day-to-day as-
sociation with a campus and to support
the success of students outside the class-
room. In the past, if you were pursuing
a doctorate in the feld, you didnt have
to worry much about the cost of gradu-
ate school; entry-level jobs were readily
available in student affairs, particularly
in the areas of residential life or student
activities. You just had to make sure you
spread out your practicum experiences
so that you could try out a variety of spe-
cialties and fnd your niche.
But with those entry-level positions no
longer readily available, if you are still
interested in a position in student affairs,
here is what I would suggest.
It is more important than ever to be fa-
miliar with the fnancial circumstances of
the colleges and universities to which you
are applying. Knowing which states or
private institutions are experiencing bud-
get problems can be important in avoid-
ing exposure to furloughs or staff reduc-
tions while you are a relatively vulnerable
new professional. And knowing which
states or private institutions have stable,
Getting a start in student affairs
or even robust, budgets can be important
in knowing where to fnd openings.
At many institutions, a masters de-
greepreferably in higher education,
student affairs, or a related feldcontin-
ues to be the minimum required creden-
tial for entry-level positions. But the po-
tential is all too real for graduating from
a masters program with a degree, debt,
and no immediate job prospects.
Nonetheless, if pursuing that tradi-
tional pathway makes the most sense to
you, be prepared to be fexible in your
job search. You might be interested in
positions in leadership, service learning,
or honors education, but your search may
need to be extended to include student
activities and academic support. You
may have to be similarly fexible about
location, given state and regional varia-
tions in economic condition. You may
fnd that a part-time positionor more
than onebecomes the path of entry
into student affairs.
While youre in a graduate program,
consider whether it would be wiser to
seek diverse experiences in a variety of
offces than to specialize in a particular
area. The pool of candidates for entry-
level positions is likelier than ever to in-
clude people with previous professional
experience, and it may help your chances
to have a varied background rather than a
narrow one.
Graduate school is not the only
launching pad into student affairs. Alter-
native pathways are accessible to those
coming straight from a bachelors degree
or wishing to enter student affairs from
another career track. While many institu-
tions require candidates to have a mas-
ters, others (including many community
colleges, small colleges, and rural col-
leges) do not. Taking a job at one of them
will give you valuable experienceand
you may fnd that you like it there. It may
also be the kind of position that provides
support for you to pursue graduate study.
Postbaccalaureate certifcate programs
are a small but growing phenomenon in
student affairs. Increasingly, we are see-
ing that some formal education in the
areas of budget and fnance, theory, and
law are important in the performance of
student-affairs functions. Certifcate pro-
grams can provide that training short of
a masters.
If you scan job announcements on-
line, you wont see many that specifcally
require applicants to have certain cer-
tifcates. However, just as more-focused
practical experiences or work as a volun-
teer might help distinguish one candidate
from another, having completed a certif-
cate program may make you more attrac-
tive to potential employers.
If your search for an entry-level posi-
tion goes on at length without success,
you may need to fnd work elsewhere to
pay the bills. For those taking on tempo-
rary employment outside the feld, there
are a few things you need to do.
First, stay in touch with the profession
by maintaining your network of profes-
sional contacts. They can help you learn
about new job openings.
Second, maintain membership in at
least one student-affairs professional as-
sociation. As a consequence of the reces-
sion, a number of associations in our feld
now offer discounted membership rates
to unemployed student-affairs profession-
als or to those just out of graduate school
but not yet working.
Third, keep up on with whats happen-
ing in academe and in our feld through
publications like this one, journals, and
other publications. Staying mentally en-
gaged in the feld will be helpful when it
comes time to interview.
Finally, consider volunteering with a
local colleges student-affairs division.
Any added experience you can demon-
strate, even if its volunteer work, can im-
prove your prospects on the job market.
George S. McClellan is vice chancellor
for student affairs at Indiana University-
Purdue University at Fort Wayne.
Getting a Start in Student Affairs
By RuSSell S. Powell
o
neof the most vexing prob-
lems confronting campus pub-
lic-relations offcers is how to
measure our productivity and impact.
Try as we might to be accountable to
our institutions, our presidents, our im-
mediate supervisors, and even ourselves,
much of what we do is diffcult to quan-
tify.
Can we quantify our work by, say,
counting the number of news releases we
send out? That wont tell us if they were
worthwhile, well written, and tailored
to their intended audience of journalists.
Even adding the number of reporters and
editors to which each press release was
sent doesnt tell us if they went to the
right people in the right places.
How about counting the number of
news outlets that actually use the re-
leases, then? That, too, can be deceptive
as a true measure of our worth. If we
work in a small media market, for ex-
ample, we may have a captive audience.
Getting the hometown news media to
print our press releases is good, but no
big accomplishment. On the other hand,
we could be doing a terrifc job in a more
competitive environment, but a shrinking
news hole and the superior resources of a
nearby university may limit our opportu-
nities to make it on the air or into print.
Finally, does the coverage reach key
constituents, such as potential students
and donors? Its great to be in the local
Pennysaver every week, but is that really
advancing the institutions mission?
What about evaluating the quality of
our media placements? But while it is
nice to think that the article mention-
ing your college in The New York Times
was responsible for the increase in ap-
plications the following fall, how do you
know? There are too many other factors
to considerfrom the economy to the
colleges direct-mail campaign, from the
new admissions-staff members to the re-
furbished dormitoriesto be able to say
with certainty that the increase resulted
from our PR efforts.
So were back to quantifying our pro-
ductivity: the number of news releases
we distribute, publications we edit,
speeches we write, events we plan, pro-
motions we conduct, committees on
which we serve. Flawed as that approach
is, at least those things are nominally
measurable. Their impact, on the other
hand, is more diffcult to assess.
You might prevent or minimize just
one PR crisis, for example. It wouldnt
look like much on your list of activities
for the year, but the way you handled
it might have saved the college enough
money to pay your salary several times
over.
Our work generally falls into three
main types: proactive, reactive, and
maintenance. Proactive work, it can be
argued, is the most critical but the most
elusive when it comes to determining
impact and productivity. Time taken to
avert or minimize a potential crisis is
defnitely well spent. But besides crisis
management, proactive work includes
things like developing innovative promo-
tional strategies, ferreting out news that
otherwise might take weeks or months
to cross our desks, doing research on
communications technology, and mak-
ing connections between people and pro-
grams. Those things take time and may
show little return, at least initially.
Reactive work takes up major chunks
of our time. It includes things like an
off-campus request for a high-resolution
photo of a faculty member for a confer-
ence brochure, running clearance for
a local camera crew getting footage to
accompany an interview with the new
president, and posting a calendar notice
for a lecture scheduled for the day after
tomorrow, which the organizer forgot to
mention until now. Those are projects
with deadlines, which require our imme-
diate response, are impossible to plan for,
and are equally impossible to measure.
Maintenance work is the routine
stuffwriting for college publications,
sending out news releases, meeting with
reporters, and posting news on the Web.
Some of it can be measured, some not,
and usually it feels like it blends together
like one big soup.
Essential as those tasks are to the in-
stitution, they are hard to quantify, and
they dont always look like work accord-
ing to traditional measures, as defned
by offce culture. Peer pressure can push
a timid PR person away from important
work and into the trap of sitting behind a
desk. Dont let that happen to you.
What does all of this add up to? A
sometimes uneasy tension between the
objective performance criteria favored by
the human-resources offce, the sincere
desire by PR staffers to be accountable,
and the realities of our sprawling, amor-
phous, and evolving jobs.
Thats why in preparing for your an-
nual performance review and establish-
ing goals for the coming year, its good to
use a variety of approaches and tools:
Use traditional measures, but know
their limitations. By all means, tally
your news releases, trumpet your media
placements, cite your articles in the col-
lege publication, and list your committee
assignments. Just remember, they dont
tell the whole story.
Set realistic goals. Dont set yourself
up for failure by agreeing to vague or
unrealistic goals like get more national
media attention. Develop a short list
of, say, six media outlets that are a good
match for your institution.
Engage your supervisor. This is no
time to put on a false front or to assume
that your supervisor is familiar with your
accomplishments. Your supervisor can
and should be your best ally, but only if
you are forthcoming.
Maintain higher standards than
your boss. Take the initiative and make
accountability a high priority. Especially
in a work environment in which that is
challenging to do, you are the person
best qualifed to develop new ways to
measure your effectiveness. The alter-
nativesto wait for someone else (your
supervisor) to do it, or to be judged by
outdated standardsare not in your best
interest.
Russell S. Powell was a public-relations
offcer at Elms College, in Chicopee,
Mass, when he wrote this column. He
has since left the position to pursue his
consulting business in marketing. He
previously worked as director of public
relations at Hampshire College and at
Greenfeld Community College.
The Productive PR offce

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SOMEBODY BACK THERE
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MR. & MRS.
BULLY
DONT
E-MAIL ME
THIS WAY
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MAKE EM CRY
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IS THERE A CURE FOR THE SUMMERTIME BLUES?
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RESILIENCE. REJECTION.
RENAISSANCE.
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.
Chronicle.com/advice
AA/EOE/ADA 2010 UNT URCM 03/11 (11-054)
The biggest myth
regarding Miranda warnings
is that everyone understands
them. Not true. Through
UNTs research funded
by the National Science
Foundations Law and Social
Science Program, weve
identified disturbing trends
in the more than 360
juvenile Miranda warnings
evaluated so far. Some of
these warnings are more
than 400 words long and can
require a college reading
level to understand, even
though juvenile offenders
typically read at levels four
years below their expected
grade level. Were working to
have all warnings written at a
third-grade reading level and
reduced to fewer than 50
words. I want all juveniles to
truly understand their
Miranda rights.

5LFKDUG5RJHUV
Regents Professor of
psychology and recipient of
the American Psychological
Association Award for
Distinguished Professional
Contributions to
Applied Research
I see a future
where justice is
a level playing
eld for all.
403,671
juveniles under
age 15 were
arrested in 2009.
U.S. Department
of Justice
JUVENILE MIRANDA RIGHTS
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF

Chronicle Carreers in Academe 2011D DL

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supplement to the ChroniCle of higher eduCation

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