Back to School
If you're wondering why there have been a drought of posts, I'm blaming the whole back-to-school thing! I started teaching August 30th at a local 4-year college, as an adjunct professor (that's American-speak for a sessional instructor). I'm teaching a lecture section plus its two labs for a required-for-arts-students physics class, as well as a lab section for a physics-for-science-students course. While the whole back-to-work phenomenon has been rather tiring, I am feeling much better these days now that I have a schedule and contact with people! The process to find a position was enlightening, however. At the end of June, I'd sent out a resume and a request for a teaching position to every school in the city which seemed to offer physics courses. I ended up interviewing with three, and having some other offers as well. Several schools emailed me to acknowledge receipt of my resume, but informed me they had no job openings. And one school sent me actual mail with the same information! Here are some thoughts and experiences I'd had:
School 1: The school at which I am currently teaching. The chair was interested in my teaching experience and was first of the schools to call me up. We had a lovely chat on the phone, and he asked me to come into the school. I went, and we continued our conversation about teaching philosophy, and I got a tour of the teaching facilities, the campus library, and the general campus. The chair was upfront about possible teaching opportunities, stating that his scheduling of classes wasn't complete, and may not be until the end of August. However, he did want to have me on board if the opportunity arose. We parted with my feeling positive about the school and the department, and knowing there was a chance I'd be able to teach there, and with a promise to hear back from the chair before he left for holidays at the end of July.
School 2: The school at which I almost taught. This school had the most formal interview, with the chair, and 2 profs interviewing me, complete with agenda and formal questions. They were interested in hiring me to teach a special program for high school students who were taking college courses and earning college credits. My previous outreach experience had drawn their attention. Though the interview began with, "We are interviewing a number of candidates.", it seemed to me that, by the end of the interview, I had the job. Further attempts to contact them support this feeling of mine, but at no point was a job offered to me. Indeed, trying to get answers to questions about logistics and expectations was like pulling teeth! I went several times to the school in my attempt to get answers and materials. This culminated in a meeting less than a week before classes were to start, where I was made to wait an hour, and leaving with more unanswered questions than I came with! I decided that this pilot project was not likely to fail with this seeming lack of leadership, and, knowing I would likely take the blame for such a failure, I declined the job. Much to my surprise, this time I managed to hear back almost immediately from the school! But my mind was made up, and I am glad that I have less to juggle now.
School 3: A private institution. This school had a very slick website which made me worried I would be underqualified for the teaching position. The entryway was very posh, with several-story-high windows, shiny surfaces, giant display boards, etc. However, the inner areas were in serious need of repair! I was rather disheartened to walk through halls with broken-down water fountains, chipped walls, and unlit areas. The chair was friendly enough, but almost the first mention of students pointed out ways in which the department moved to prevent cheating. I was then introduced to the head of the lab-teaching. This prof admitted to not having read my resume, spent 15 minutes discussing grades with a student during my interview, and spent a lot of time telling me how lazy and stupid the students were. The lesson here? You don't attract good instructors by belittling your students! I turned down this teaching position.
Interestingly, I was offered positions right down to the wire! In fact, my last offer was at 5pm the day before classes were to start! This last-minute feel was certainly a surprise. I had no idea that class assignments went so late. And how could an instructor possibly do a decent job of a course when he/she has been given less than 24 hrs to begin preparations? At any rate, I'm glad I am now working in a department which seems to care about its students, which has wonderful leadership and support, and which has a pretty campus on top of everything else!
The only downside is that the commute for me is about 90minutes each way. (Hence my recent annoynaces with subway transport, and fellow passengers!) (One of the reasons the chair wanted me to interview on campus was so that I could try out the commute. It turns out he lives just a few blocks south of us, so he's quite familiar with the length!) Luckily, I only need to go into campus twice a week. I'm learning new ways to sit so as to reduce back-ache, and I'm getting a lot of non-complicated knitting done during the commute! I suspect I'll have more insights into New York life because of this increased contact with people!
School 1: The school at which I am currently teaching. The chair was interested in my teaching experience and was first of the schools to call me up. We had a lovely chat on the phone, and he asked me to come into the school. I went, and we continued our conversation about teaching philosophy, and I got a tour of the teaching facilities, the campus library, and the general campus. The chair was upfront about possible teaching opportunities, stating that his scheduling of classes wasn't complete, and may not be until the end of August. However, he did want to have me on board if the opportunity arose. We parted with my feeling positive about the school and the department, and knowing there was a chance I'd be able to teach there, and with a promise to hear back from the chair before he left for holidays at the end of July.
School 2: The school at which I almost taught. This school had the most formal interview, with the chair, and 2 profs interviewing me, complete with agenda and formal questions. They were interested in hiring me to teach a special program for high school students who were taking college courses and earning college credits. My previous outreach experience had drawn their attention. Though the interview began with, "We are interviewing a number of candidates.", it seemed to me that, by the end of the interview, I had the job. Further attempts to contact them support this feeling of mine, but at no point was a job offered to me. Indeed, trying to get answers to questions about logistics and expectations was like pulling teeth! I went several times to the school in my attempt to get answers and materials. This culminated in a meeting less than a week before classes were to start, where I was made to wait an hour, and leaving with more unanswered questions than I came with! I decided that this pilot project was not likely to fail with this seeming lack of leadership, and, knowing I would likely take the blame for such a failure, I declined the job. Much to my surprise, this time I managed to hear back almost immediately from the school! But my mind was made up, and I am glad that I have less to juggle now.
School 3: A private institution. This school had a very slick website which made me worried I would be underqualified for the teaching position. The entryway was very posh, with several-story-high windows, shiny surfaces, giant display boards, etc. However, the inner areas were in serious need of repair! I was rather disheartened to walk through halls with broken-down water fountains, chipped walls, and unlit areas. The chair was friendly enough, but almost the first mention of students pointed out ways in which the department moved to prevent cheating. I was then introduced to the head of the lab-teaching. This prof admitted to not having read my resume, spent 15 minutes discussing grades with a student during my interview, and spent a lot of time telling me how lazy and stupid the students were. The lesson here? You don't attract good instructors by belittling your students! I turned down this teaching position.
Interestingly, I was offered positions right down to the wire! In fact, my last offer was at 5pm the day before classes were to start! This last-minute feel was certainly a surprise. I had no idea that class assignments went so late. And how could an instructor possibly do a decent job of a course when he/she has been given less than 24 hrs to begin preparations? At any rate, I'm glad I am now working in a department which seems to care about its students, which has wonderful leadership and support, and which has a pretty campus on top of everything else!
The only downside is that the commute for me is about 90minutes each way. (Hence my recent annoynaces with subway transport, and fellow passengers!) (One of the reasons the chair wanted me to interview on campus was so that I could try out the commute. It turns out he lives just a few blocks south of us, so he's quite familiar with the length!) Luckily, I only need to go into campus twice a week. I'm learning new ways to sit so as to reduce back-ache, and I'm getting a lot of non-complicated knitting done during the commute! I suspect I'll have more insights into New York life because of this increased contact with people!
posted by blumaroo at
2:00 PM
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