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supplement to the ChroniCle of higher eduCation Winter/Spring 2011
Careers in Academe
D3Moving abroad:
Factors to consider
i you want to pursue
your academic
career at a university
overseas.
D8An academic author
gains redemption
rom her ignorance
about sales fgures,
marketing, and other
aspects o book
publishing.
D17Have no illusions:
Its hard work or two
academics to fnd
tenure-track positions
at the same university.
A bit o luck can help,
too.
D26Making the most
o your postdoc:
Practical tips
on how best
to take advantage
o a postgraduate
ellowship.
D28Academe should
encourage the growing
cadre o Ph.D.s who
become campus
administrators without
ever having been
on the aculty.
PLUSD10 An underclass o adjuncts
D13 Trying out lie 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 o successul administrators
D33 Getting a start in student aairs
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D2 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
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WINT ER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The Chronicle of Higher Education D3
By Christopher phelps
Ayear ago, I moved to England to accept ateaching position at the University o Notting-ham. I came as an American historian at midca-reer with a amily in tow. Those in other academic felds,
or who are single, or looking at a position in, say, China,
will very likely ace circumstances quite dierent rom
my own. Nevertheless, I will try to share what general
pearls o advice I have or American academics contem-
plating relocation abroad.
As any scholar o immigration can tell you, both
push and pull actors 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 or 10 years and had lost my two best
riends on the aculty, one to cancer, the other to transer.
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 allen since then ater the ratings cri-
teria were changed), and the universitys aculty 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 olk hero took rom the rich to give to
the poor. But intellectual exchange was the chie draw.
On my ormer campus, I was the only ul l-time scholar
o American history. In my new program, there are our
other scholars in my intellectual-history subfeld alone,
and other Americanists at work on such topics as slav-
ery, civil rights, literature, and oreign policy.
Moving abroad has proven intellectually justifed, but
it has not been without challengessome more severe
than anticipated. My amily and I were not strangers
to lie 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 o hassles,
large and small.
The visa process was surprisingly daunting. Even ora proessional with a job oer in hand, the British gov-
ernment has made the process exceptionally unwieldy.
Ater I flled out countless orms and supplied endless
documentation, the process stalled. A ew days beore
we were to depart, I sent a desperate e-mail, and a Brit-
ish consulate staer in Chicago worked miracles. We
now hold three-year, renewable visas. I would take re-
newal or 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 preerred to live in Nottingham, a bustling
city, so I could walk to work, but a check with other ac-
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 rom 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, caes, 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 o our oldest daughter. Residency does
not guarantee school enrollment, and our daughters case
dragged out on appeal or our 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 o 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 o.
But or 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 or money. Based upon currency conver-
sion, I anticipated a near-identical level o salary, but that
turned out to be meaningless because the cost o living
in Britain is, in many respects, higher. We thereore took
a hit to our income.
In the spring, my wie, a credentialed university re-
erence librarian, managed to obtain a one-year position
in the main humanities library at Nottingham. She didso on her own, since British universities do not practice
spousal hiring. Her extra income has made all the dier-
ence, and we hope the job will lead to something perma-
nent.
Living abroad adds layers o fnancial complexity to
lie. We have been unable to use our American savings
to put a down payment on a house in England, because
to transer 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 o credit or 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 Mv Abad: tav and tavaSome 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
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D4 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
United States. Naturally, the accoun-
tants who specialize in expatriate issues
charge prime rates.
There will be ups and downs. We
have had glimpses o the sublime, as
when scaling a mountain in Wales atChristmastime, 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 o gloom,
wondering whether we will ever belong
in this culture, with all o its inscruta-
ble dierences. For me the moments o
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 oten, or Id have packed
it in long ago.)
Technology makes communicationeasier than ever beore, but being at
trans-Atlantic distance can still make
one eel remote rom amily, riends, and
country, especially at holidays orI ad-
mit, this may just be meelections.
Kind colleagues have gone out o their
way to welcome us. One took me to a
proessional cricket game. Another, an
American, invited us over or Thanksgiv-
ing. Still, you nd yoursel 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, o course, but diculties arise
even when you supposedly share a lan-
guage with your adopted country. Few
people in England talk in the polished
tones o the BBC, but the British do have
a vocabulary o their own. A variant lexi-
con o academic lie must be learned.
Prepare to experience moments o inan-
tilization as you ask or explanations o
things that everyone else considers obvi-
ous.
Fortunately, you will absorb much o
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 dierent
cultural norms. Sta, or example, ap-
plies to aculty members here, unlike in
the United States, where the word tends
to be shorthand or administrative em-
ployees. That would seem to indicate anegalitarian sensibility: We are all sta.
In other ways, however, British ter-
minology refects a more pronounced
sense o hierarchy. I, or example, hold
two titles: senior lecturer and associate
proessor, British and American ways o
expressing an equivalent rank. At rst
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
Pro. on a human-resources orm as the
designation I preer beore my surname, I
learned that I was not to do so, since that
designation is appropriate only or those
with ull proessorships. Curiouser and
curiouser.
One completely unexpected and de-
lightul advantage o a considerate cul-
ture is that, or the rst time in my lie,
almost everyone is calling me by my ac-
tual name rather than truncating it in as-
sumed amiliarity, as i 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 o knowl-
edge, the British-university student spe-
cializes intensively, taking but a single
subject areasuch as American and
Canadian history and cultureor three
years (not our, as in America). Some o
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 perormance o
incoming students in the rst year does
not count toward their cumulative grade-
point average. The marks count in the
second year or 20 percent and in thethird and nal year or 80 percent o the
nal grade. At the end o every year,
there is an exam review board, where or
several days the entire aculty assembles,
with outside observers on hand, to re-
view every single students perormance.
Yearly marks that all just shy o a given
grade may be rounded up.
Instructors here act as personal tu-
tors to a number o students. That may
bring to mind visions o sherry-sipping
sessions discussing Montesquieu in oak-
paneled oces, but it is more mundane.
You hand them their marks at the end o
term and chat about how things are go-
ing. Once in a while, a student comes
and sees you out o the blue, and it is
very nice.
Nottinghams expansive green lawns
set it apart rom many European uni-
versities, attracting not only locals but
also students rom all over Britain, espe-
cially wealthy southern England, as well
as rom Europe and Asia. Apart rom
a generally higher level o ashion sen-
sibilityskinny-legged jeans, scarves,
and other accoutrements aboundand
a generally greater degree o politeness,
students here seem to me to occupy the
same range as Americans, rom apathetic
to brilliant, although the best here are
among the best Ive ever taught. The ac-
tual hours spent in the classroom here a
ewer (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 essaysThe Ph.D. is purely a research degree
here. Writing the thesis is the rub. Doc-
toral students dont have seminars, exce
when candidates present their research t
one another. In our program, each Ph.D
candidate has two advisers, not one.
National policy intrudes upon aca-
demic lie more directly when higher
education is state-provided. A severe
budgetary restructuring by the British
government, with outsized tuition hikes
orthcoming, has introduced major un-
knowns and righteous student rebel-
lions this year. The Research Excellence
Frameworka tool that measures acul
perormance, and by which budgets aresetis dened at the national level, with
goalposts sometimes moved in the mids
o a given cycle.
Despite the myriad dierences, how-
ever, the elemental lie o a university
scholar remains largely the same under
the British and American systems: dom
nated by teaching and research.
It may change your scholarship. Be
ing in a more research-driven setting ha
prodded me to submit more articles to
topmost journals. I also nd mysel writ
ing more or British publications, such a
Times Higher Education and theJourna
of American Studies.
But the main eect on my scholarship
o living abroad has been that in explain
ing the American past to an internation
audience across the Atlantic and reading
more British history, I am thinking more
consistently about t ransnational and
comparative themes in American stud-
ies. There is nothing like a move to put
things in perspectiveparticularly i it
takes you ar away rom the country you
study.
Christopher Phelps is an associate pro-
fessor of intellectual and cultural histor
in the School of American and Canadia
Studies at the University of Nottingham
A Mov Aboa: Tav an TavaContinued From Preceding Page
Wv ha gmp of th ubm,a whn covng hot amb-an-mntpat. But wv ao ha ay of goom.
By AsTrid WAlker
ihave experienced academic lieat seven institutions on three conti-nents, as a student, a aculty mem-ber, and an administrator. I Ive learned
anything rom 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 conerences, but there is oten
a much greater gul between our sys-
tems o higher education and our ex-
pectations than we assume. As a British
riend asked me in surprise recently, In
America, a bachelors degree takes our
years?
Insularism seems to be expected, or
even encouraged in some spheres. Surely
academics, with our levels o education,
curiosity, and research abilities, couldnt
help but pick up something about ourcolleagues abroad? But the ignorance
seems in some cases willul. I once
mentioned the annual convention o 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 nding out.
There is also the casual dismissal o
entire regions. A proessor rom anotherinstitution 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 requently I hear
them.
The sciences seem to have done a bet
ter job o internationalizing than many
sections o the humanities. It is among
humanists that Im more likely to en-
intnatonazng th Acamc Ca
Continued on Page D
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D6 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
counter scholars who are teaching at the
same institution where they completed
their degrees. They have no experience
o academic lie anywhere else and are
in no position to oer good advice to stu-
dents applying or jobs more broadly.Cultural pressures in many places have
maintained academic insularity. In much
o continental Europe, the structure o
higher education requires a second Ph.D.
(or habilitation) to begin applying or as-
sistant-proessor 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 o people working in aca-
demic administration in Europe have
Ph.D.s but would not be considered qual-
ied or aculty jobs, because they lack
the second qualication.
That requirement (added to language
barriers) is a major obstacle or outsiderswho want to be considered or teaching
jobs in Europe. Although the habilitation
has been abandoned recently in Spain,
and ocially this second Ph.D. is not
needed to apply or a job in Germany or
Austria, in practice it tends to be. Some
employers state they will accept a second
book instead o the extra degree, but ew
applicants rom outside Europe who have
two books will be interested in applying
or an entry-level assistant proessorship.
Perhaps because the Carnegie clas-
sications created compatible catego-
ries o universities and colleges across
the United States (and acilitated student
transers between institutions), American
academics dont realize how programs
and institutions are ar rom 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 reerences 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 rst degree you
could earn was a ve-year masters. The
change led to student strikes and riots
in several countries. The system is sup-
posed to streamline the transer o stu-
dents within the EU, but generally be-
tween their rst and subsequent degrees,
not during the rst one.
The level o dependence on the state is
another dierence: In much o the world,
universities are all public institutions.
Students are accustomed to paying trivi-
ally low ees (even at elite institutions
like the Sorbonne) and receiving a gov-
ernment stipend while they study. Thathelps explain the extended
time to degree in some coun-
tries and the dierence 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 o
their parents houses into
shared apartments and live
on the student dole. But the
idea that going to a univer-
sity should costa student (ora students amily) a signi-
cant amount o money aces
entrenched resistance in Eu-
rope.
Conversely, in much o
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 or
academic jobs. The era in which people
could look or jobs only in the United
States and still call their search geo-
graphically unrestricted has passed.
Any aculty 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 i you
are seeking employment in a country
outside your own?
I you have no previous experience in
a country to which you are applying, you
ace many potential pitalls. Do not as-
sume anyone in the hiring department
is amiliar with the type o 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 beore.
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 alter
when they use numeric codes to describe
courses (Ive taught 200-level courses)
as i those numbers mean the same thing
worldwide.
Be ready to learnastabout 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 orms asking or 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 o the
world, the North American approach
to an academic searcha months-long
process punctuated by conerence 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 rom adver-
tisement to appointment, culminating inthe interview o all nalists on the same
day and an oer the next morning.
It cuts both ways.
North American search committees
oten ask applicants or their transcripts
and student evaluations o their teaching:
two things that dont exist in a lot o the
world, including some English-speaking
countries.
I 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 rom France or New Zea-
land because the applicant didnt send
American-style documentation. Online
application orms that only have space
or a North American phone number or
ve-digit zip code are an example o the
knee-jerk insularity.
Even some articles giving advice abo
how to deal with oreign job applica-
tions give in to the attitude that regards
American hiring practices as normative
Nobody wants to eel condescended to,
and the geographic subordination is ote
part o the same thought process.
Academics need to change in two
ways: to recognize, rst, that interna-
tional applicants to U.S. institutions are
not necessarily inerior, and second, tha
taking a job overseas is not a sign o me
diocrity or an American Ph.D.
Ive seen many scholars rom Western
countries who have cursed the day they
accepted a job in Asia, not realizing tha
it would limit their chances o ever re-
turning to their home country because
o the common assumption on aculty
search committees that anyone who wa
any good wouldnt have been working
outside Europe or North America in the
rst place.Having an international career has
brought me many opportunities or 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 o
dierent educational systems becomes
an asset or any aculty 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 CareerContinued From Page D4
To universities in many parts of the world,the North American approach to a facultysearch seems long-winded and bizarre.
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WINTER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The Chronicle of Higher Education D7
No one person can do everything: thats why support is important
to succeed. PACT mentors are available to give you personal
attention on your time, when you need them. No matter what
your goals are, their support and services are a lifelong promise.
Learn more atwww.mercy.edu/pact.
SHE KNOWS YOULIKE TO STAY UPLATE AND WANT TOGRADUATE EARLY
MEET YOURMENTOR.- Caitlin Krueger, PACT Mentor
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D8 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
By BarBara J. King
as a college professor who is
also an aspiring-to-midlist au-
thor, I nd 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
athom 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 o publishing?
Ater years o publishing with aca-
demic presses ranging rom 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 mydelight, with the help o agents who
had invited me to sign with them.
Certainly, rom 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 proled
on the pages o Salon.com. In other
ways, its been a startling lesson in how
much sweat and skill it takes to code-
switch successully. Peeking out at the
publishing world rom ivied walls, Ive
oten elt lost.
My rst proposal or a book aimed
at general readers was, I elt sure, notonly well crated but also scrubbed
ree o technical language. Internally,
I celebrated my ability to jettison the
jargonwhat un 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 o the time I
joined a pack o anthropologists in Mex-
ico or a conerence. In the weeks beore
the trip, Id boned up on my rudimentary
Spanish, and I oered it condently 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, o course. So I re-
entered the starting gate and revised my
pages. Next I unurled the equivalent o
octopus suction cups and attached mysel
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 o televisions
Neilsen ratings. BookScan, my publisher
says, tends to capture about 70 percent o
retail sales or any given title. No, coun-
tered my agents, its more like 60 per-
cent. And there was the tip-o: Theres
no easy metric or correlating BookScan
gures with numbers o books actually
sold.
Lets say a book shows up on Book-
Scan as having sold 7,000 copies. Theres
no way to determine i it has actually
sold 10,000 copies (meaning that only
70 percent o its sales were captured and
reported by Bookscan), perhaps 11,500
copies (with only about 60 percent o its
sales reported), or some higher gure.
Is that dierence trivial? Maybe,
but Andrew Zack, a Caliornia literary
agent, argues that no calculation rom
BookScan reports will lead you to reli-
able predictions o sales. In a 2009 blog
post, The Lie That Is BookScan, he
cites a convincing instance in support o
his point: One o 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 gures
or my bookEvolving Godcome in at
47 percent o sales as reported to me by
the publisher. The discrepancy is all themore noteworthy because, more than
three years ater publication, returns o
the book are a thing o the past. (Re-
turns: another jaw-dropping concept. See
below).
How can BookScan veer o track like
that or some titles and not others? While
its true that books sold at Wal-Mart or
most airport kiosks are not included in
BookScan gures, thats likely to matter
little in my case. Megastores or fy zones
dont eature my work. More relevant,
indie numberssales rom independent
bookstoresare usually absent rom
BookScan. The why, then, o its uzzy
numbers may dier rom title to title.
And oh, those returns. Now theres
a harsh lesson. Its enthralling to know
that, shortly beore a books on-sale date,
thousands upon thousands o copies are
shipped out to stores. Yet its close to
certain that a lacerating percentage will
come back unsold. In a trickle (i youre
lucky) or a food (i youre not), books fy
home to (in my case) Manhattan, as i at-
tached to some wayward literary boom-
erang.
That state o aairs means that in the
early months, neither BookScan nor the
publisher can pinpoint sales. As o last
June, or example, I lacked any precise
notion o how my latest book,Being With
Animals, was doing, as it was published
only in January. There lies one root cause
o the urtive compulsion to check Ama-
zon every day (OK, more than once a
day) to see your sales rank. As most o us
know by now, a sales rank can shoot up
by tens o thousands o places when only
a single copy is sold. Addictive as it is,
theneven seductive at times, as ater a
national interview like the one I did with
Diane Rehmits a pretty meaningless
measure.
I write books not primari ly or the
money, but because I adore writing. Con-necting with the reading public about
anthropology and animals is a pr ivilege.
Yet Andrew Zacks point is that, how-
ever many books you sell, the elusive na-
ture o sales gures does matter: When
BookScan isnt tracking sales accurately,
an author may suer when she pitches a
new proposal to a publisher. Were only
as good as our last set o sales gures,
were told, and its true.
All o 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 o market-
ing.
A ew years ago, a kind publicist
spelled out or me the distinctions be-
tween publicity and marketing. Publicit
costs amount to review copies o 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
o print, online, and on-air reviews and
interviews.
Marketing, though, costs money. And
the conundrum is this: I your book isn
selling, or i your last book didnt sell,
the money or ads dries up. Without ads
the new book wont move, unless its ve-
locity derives rom the slow swell o
book-club buzz or the ripple eect o ra
dio publicity, and those cases are rare.
Marketing is excited about this one!
is music to any writers ears. But disap-
pointment may ollow, as when thenotion o ads translates into a ew
ephemeral mentions in cyberspace,
come-ons that are extinguished quick
and with no visible trace. Each time a
new book comes out, I go round and
round, dizzied, like a child on a speed
carousel. Next-to-no marketing means
weak sales, weak sales means next-
to-no marketing. How do I get o this
ride?
I dont mean to duck responsibility.
No marketing campaign guarantees a
books budging o the shel. I sales
fag, my writing may be at ault. Or
maybe I will have misjudged the keen
ness o readers desire to explore whywe humans are so moved by our rela-
tionships with animals.
On the other hand, in the rst three
months ater my new books publica-
tion, I had done more than 10 radio
interviews, a signicant percentage o
them national broadcasts. I oered ani-
mal stories to audiences in Denver, Phoe
nix, Chicago, Santa Fe, and Richmond,
and appeared on my local NPR stations
und-raising Pet Pledge Friday. In that
case, my anthropological observations
were wedged between call-in queries to
my ellow guest, a veterinarian. The cal
ocused largely on the litterbox traumas
o house cats.But hey, you wont catch me com-
plaining. For one thing, I cant write or
a broad public and expect to chat away
about Donna Haraways latest species
maniesto or new thoughts on posthu-
manism or whatever else is hot in ani-
mal studies. Indeed, I participated in on
book-signing at a local Barnes & Noble
that involved dogs as my co-stars.
For another thing, I learned a lot rom
that on-air litterbox Q&A. I am hal o
a team o cat rescuers (abandoned cats
drape our urniture and the spacious pe
in our backyard), and animals populate
my lie, not just my books.
a authos redempto Fom Publsh ioce
Continued on Page D1
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WINTER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The Chronicle of Higher Education D9
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Bioanalytical chemistry and engineering
Biopolymer chemistry and drug delivery
Drug delivery
Pharmaceutical practicePharmaceutical science
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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
NursingPhysical therapy
Security
Criminal justice
Information assurance
Sustainability
Infrastructure engineering
Landscape architecture
Marine sciencefisheries
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
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research groups of national and international stature. Northeastern oers outstanding
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D10 The Chronicle of Higher Education CAREERS IN ACADEME WINT ER/SPRING 201
Admittedly, Ive not hit the TV circuit.
(Even now I struggle not to end that sen-
tence with a yetthats just a last gasp
o hope). Early on, or a evered week or
so, my thoughts had run crazy: Jon Stew-
art is a William & Mary alumnus; hellinvite me on his show! Ellen DeGeneres
is an animal activist; shell grab my book!
Im ring on mysel, yes, but to a
purpose: Some authors do have infated
hopes. But those arent born rom ego
so much as rom taking too literally our
publishers and agents strategizing ses-
sions. When were told o the marketing
departments enthusiasm, reality does not
inevitably prevail. Reality is, o course,
that most authors dont appear on TV. I
am sincerely happy or those who do; allboats will rise, as my ormer department
chair was ond o saying.
Publishers: We authors, some o us
anyway, expend ar too much energy
seeking to understand this new land-
scape. We need an authors boot camp.
Or better yet, reshman 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 o 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 o
BookScan, returns, marketing decisions,
and other aspects o the crat that are as
obvious to you as breathing.
Better yet, publishers, dont wait or u
to ask questions. Unconuse us spontane
ously.
Because instead o peering at shit-
ing sales equations or daydreaming abou
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).
A Athrs Rdmpti Frm Pblishig IgraContinued From Page D8
By RoB FAunce
Let me testify, in case this isnt
blatantly obvious already: The
lie o the adjunct does not re-
semble a Carnival cruise. The lie is o-
ten exhausting, underpaid, undernour-
ished, and r ie with logistical challenges.
I think weve all heard that rerain be-
ore, but perhaps its time to hear it again,
and to think about the conditions o our
younger peers as we move on into mythi-
cal jobs and mythical tenure. I nished
my Ph.D. at a major public university in
New York and taught at a campus with a
panoply o class, race, ethnic, and sexual
diversity. Fortunately, I had savings to
all back on, but some o my peers relied
on Medicare and ood stamps to supple-
ment their adjunct incomes.
An adjunct liestyle is not just aboutthe low pay and the large class sizes,
o course. Preparing or a semester o-
ten begins our months beore the rst
day o classselecting texts, gathering
ISBNs or submission to the campus
bookstore (on an onerous orm that must
be lled out or each course section you
will teach, regardless o whether you use
the same books across sections), sepa-
rately requesting desk copies o books
rom publishers, beginning to upload
documents to Blackboard or to e-reserves
(available through the campus library,
and convenient or using journal articles,
but needing at least six weeks advance
notice to the librarian who works withthe materials).
Then youve got to generate a sylla-
bus that contains all the salient inorma-
tion, not just oce numbers and e-mail
addresses. A good syllabus has learn-
ing objectives, book titles and ISBNs, a
plagiarism policy, a clearly dened at-
tendance policy, and a ull chronology
o the course, including any homework
expected o them. Any papers being as-
signed with specic thematic concerns
should best be explicated as well. Find-
ing time to makes copies o the sylla-
buswhich means delivering paper cop-
ies to the universitys copy center with a
weeks noticemeans coming in to the
oce a week or two beore the semester
starts.
O course, i your oce has been
moved (oten not or the rst time, and
usually to accommodate a new, tenure-
track hire), you might have to come in
even earlier to nd your new space. You
might get a desk, and maybe a shel on
a bookcase. But dont leave any antholo-
gies there unlocked, since someone
will sell them to a used-book buyer, and
youll nd yoursel without the text on
the day youre supposed to teach Dante.
Your oce might house three otheradjunctsor 10, or 30. You might never
see your oce mates, or you might sit
with our o 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 oce might have a land line, but
you probably dont know the extension,
and anyone who calls is looking or a
proessor 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 dierent
ways than you are, oten by teaching on
two or three campuses, sometimes com-
muting two hours to do so. When your
oce mates tell one another to go to hell
(because o a loud phone call, or because
someone monopolizes the one computer
that 12 o you share), you try to keep
your head down and stay out o it. When
three o your oce mates are let go, and
complain about how corrupt your depart-
ment is, you (try to) keep out o it.
And did I mention that the oce has
no window, and no airfow (other thana generic table an, with three settings),
and that your hallway averages 80 de-
grees, year-round?
Picture yoursel dealing with all o
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 beore you
took a teaching practicum. Picture it on a
salary o $2,400 a course, and picture
it in New York City.
Its not a distorted picture; its the lie-
style o many urban graduate students, who
orgo ood, health insurance, sanity, and
vacations so that they can dedicate them-
selves to learning to teach, and then to ac-
tually teaching many o the courses oere
in departments across our universities.
My rst o year o adjuncting, as a
second-year graduate student, was a tr ia
by re. Thanks to taking a concomitant
teaching practicum, I was thinking abou
the mechanics o 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 ve
segments o 15 minutes each.
When I taught a composition course,
class business and ree-writing time
came rst, ollowed by discussion o theree writing, segueing into refection on
that days reading, which kicked o a
two-segment sequence o group work, a
o which was meant to scaold that day
discussion onto prior class work.
In a literature course, there was no
ree-writing period, so more time was
spent on group work and Q&As on the
reading assignment or that day. When
we were reading Sophocles Oedipus
Rex, Genets Querelle, or Bret Easton
EllissAmerican Psycho, or instance,
questions o sanity, chronology, and psy
chology emerged that demanded discus
sion time. Group work might emanate
A udrlass f Adjts Is edatig Yr childr
Continued on Page D1
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WINTER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The Ch ronicle of Higher Education D11
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D12 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
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
rom discussion questions in the text.
For Oedipus, I divided students into ve
groups and assigned each a study ques-
tion rom our textbook/anthology, which
they were to crat into a short paper and
present to the class. We ollowed that upwith 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 or 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 or every hour o actual teaching.
O 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 benets, or to hear
that a colleague had quit to become a
waiter or a temp. As an adjunct, you are
not guaranteed employment rom year
to year. But i you are oered reappoint-
ment or the next year, you are not neces-
sarily eligible or unemployment benets
over the summer. To get health insurance
through the union at my university, youneeded to teach at least two courses each
semesterevery semesterand then
wait a year to be eligible. You were not
paid or all the time you spent preparing
a course. Nor were you reimbursed or
extended oce hours, registration ees
at conerences (let alone transportation
costs), or time spent e-mailing students
or responding to their messages.
There are magazines designed to help
ease the burden o the adjunct, with tips
on dealing with high maintenance stu-
dents, indierent 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 o teaching is one thing, but su-
ering at the hands o (and oten railing
against) universities, which are increas-
ingly run as businesses, make no sense to
me. We teach or many reasons, but i we
are unable to nd employment that can
support us, we shouldnt teach. Perhaps i
many adjuncts let the industry, withhold-
ing the labor supply that keeps demand
low, and wages even lower, the goal o a
living wage would be achieved by the res-
olute union reps in perpetual negotiations
or the next contract.I eel lucky: I have a job now, as
a ull-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
benets and can a-
ord to visit my amily
more than once a year.
I dont know what
else I can do, person-
ally, to help riends
who still participate in
the economic horror
show that is graduate school, other than
to speak up, and remember. Perhaps i
enough o us do that, we can eect some
kind o change the next time were asked
to sacrice living wages and air labor
practices in order to satisy a bureaucrat.
Rob Faunce is a full-time lecturer in the
Program for Writing and Rhetoric at
Stony Brook University.
An Underclass o Adjuncts Is Educating Your ChildrenContinued From Page D10
It was not uncommonto hear adjuncts discussMedicaid benefts.
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WINTER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The C hronicle of Higher Education D13
By Paula M. KreBs
after 18 years as a aculty
member in a small liberal-arts
college, I am spending this aca-
demic year learning, as ast as I can, howpublic higher education works.
I am in the enviable position o being
an ACE Fellow or 2010-11. Every year
the American Council on Education o-
ers a group o aculty 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 o ellows,
studying nance, strategic plan-
ning, positioning, and lots o
other things they never taught us
in graduate school.
But the real git, the part thatthe ellows all talk about when
we get together at our working
retreats, is our placements. We
spend the year (or a ew months,
depending on our home institu-
tions needs) in the oce o a
president or provost o a dier-
ent institution. At my host insti-
tution, I can be a fy on the wall
in high-level meetings, debrie
aterward with a mentor to nd
out what really happened, accom-
pany the president to a ootball
game or a chancellor to a cocktail
party, and meet with anyone and
everyone on the campus to nd
out what goes into each job. I get
to work on a project at the host
institution, ollowing it through
over the course o the placement,
and I get to eel like a real part o
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 o public higher education.
I was lucky enough to be oered
a dual placement in the presi-
dents oce o a state university
system and in the chancellors o-
ce at one o the systems cam-
puses. That way, I get the state-
wide picture as well as the single-campus perspective.
In the rst two months o my new gig,
I learned many, many things about the
dierences between private and public
higher education, as well as a ew things
about mysel. Here are some:
In public higher education, rules ac-tually apply. As a aculty member at a
small private college, I am used to ask-
ing, and being granted, avors. A reim-
bursement orm was late? A riendly ad-
ministrator could get it through quickly
so I could get my check. Not enough stu-
dents in this section o my course? Well,
we can make an exception just this once.
My computer acting up? Friendly, e-
cient tech support comes to my oce,
same-day service.
But public higher education, not least
because the institutions and systems areso much bigger, has strict procedures and
bureaucracies. No judgment intended
hereI imagine nothing at all would get
done i 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 conerences and meet
people rom other institutions; occasion-
ally I see olks rom other private col-
leges at more than one event. But or themost part, we in the private-college sec-
tor operate independently o one another,
choosing what we do based on the partic-
ular needs o our own institutions.
In the rst week and a hal o my el-
lowship placement at a state university,
Tying Ot lif t Pbic univity
For more information, visitscranton.edu/facultyresearch
SPOTLIGHTONSCRANTON
National Recognition
U.S. News & World ReportsAmericas Best Colleges
Among the 10 top masters universities
in the North for the past 17 years
Among just 86 schools in the nation hailed
for a Strong Commitment to Teaching
Among just 15 schools in the North
listed as Great Schools at a Great Price
The Princeton Review Among the Best 373 Colleges
for the past nine years
The Princeton Review & Entrepreneur Among the top 15 colleges in the nation
for general management
Presidents Higher Education CommunityService Honor Roll with Distinction
Among just 115 colleges in the nationrecognized in 2009
Carnegie Classificationfor Community Engagement Among just 119 colleges in the nation
recognized in 2008
An Accomplished Faculty
In the past five 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 NewsOur 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.
JohnNorcross, Ph.D.
JamesRoberts, Ph.D.
Carole Slotterback, Ph.D.
Jessica Nolan, Ph.D.
Joe Vinson, Ph.D.
Continued on Page D14
In thi ginttt ytm,I m voic.
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D14 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
Second CenturyInitiative
Georgia State University, located in vibrant downtown Atlanta, is a university on the r ise.
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 five 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 identified in the programs first 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 our major conerences in the
state, all o which eatured issues that ap-
plied to all o the sectors o public higher
education, rom community colleges to
research universities (and some applied
to grade schools as well). Dierent sec-tors and dierent institutions have di-
erent stakes in each issue, o 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 o education. You learn how
business groups understand the role o
public higher education and their role
in relation to it. The work that hap-
pens on behal o the university as a
whole aects more than one campus,
and it oten aects more than one sec-
tor o the public system. Sometimesthe work at the system level even a-
ects 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 o 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 reerence, on a day-to-day level, to
the work that happens at the statehouse,
the education department, or the system
presidents oce.
O course, ultimately, many aspects
o 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
oot 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 sh in a
small pond, elected to lots o 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 amvoiceless, except to a very small group o
olks 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 o the
ellowshipand at the same time, the
most elusiveis the opportunity or re-
fection it oers. Meetings, conerences
seminars, ootball games, receptions, an
luncheons are part o the daily work o
administrators, and they are great learn-
ing opportunities. Im taking tons o
notes and having terric conversations.
But the ACE stresses that ellows need tbuild time into our schedules to process
what were learning. That, o course,
is easier said than done.
Im trying to schedule in the time
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 o what Im learn-
ing, to look at the bigger picture, and
to gure 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 thepersonal 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 UniversityContinued From Page D13
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By Female Science ProFeSSor
ive always enjoyed novels set
in academe. Even though many o
them contain somewhat unattering
parodies o academic lie, they can be
very entertaining.Lately, when I read news articles about
American universities, what I read re-
minds me o the fctional settings, char-
acters, and plot lines o some o those
novels. I dont, however, enjoy reading
the nonfctional accounts, because their
descriptions o academe are dis-
turbing, not entertaining, and
truly remote rom my experi-
ence.
Is my lie as a proessor so
dierent rom the norm? Is my
university unusual? I could be
wrong, but rom what Ive seen,
my experience is airly typical
o that o a science proessor at
a major research university. So
why is there such a disconnect
between apparently actual de-
pictions o academe in newspa-
pers and magazines, and my ex-
periences as a proessor? There
are several possible explanations.
Some news accounts o aca-
demic issues are intended to
be infammatory. Especially in
these difcult economic times,
who wants to read about why pro-
essors need the lietime job secu-
rity that comes with tenure? Per-
haps it is much more satisying toread articles claiming that proes-
sors might, in act, be harmed by
tenure. A prime example was an
August 11 article in Slate called
Finishing School: The case or
getting rid o tenure.
When I read such art icles, I
cant relate to the claims that are
made about how much most pro-
essors are paid (and rom what
sources), the role o academic
reedom in our proessional
lives, the responsibility o pro-
essors or the publish-or-perish
ethos, and the opinion that ten-
ure incentivizes aculty mem-bers to maintain the status quo.
Like the vast majority o my
colleagues, I am not reezing up
tens o millions o otherwise-
liquid endowment money or a
generation, as the Slate article
suggests. I do the work I am
supposed to do (teaching, re-
search, advising, and service) in
exchange or my salary. I bring
money to the university in the
orm o grants that pay the sala-
ries o 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 i their proessors also do
research, even i research is o equal or
greater priority compared with teaching.
Certainly you could fnd spectacular ex-
amples o star researchers who are hor-
rifc teachers, and I eel great sympathyor students subjected to them. But the
vast majority o proessors I know who
do research are also dedicated teachers.
The question o whether being a re-
searcher makes someone a better teacher
has been much debated. I am sure that
the answer varies rom 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
or teaching, even or courses I have
taught many times beore. I know many
talented teachers who are intellectuallyengaged without being active research-
ers, but what works or me is to rejuve-
nate my courses via my research. Fur-
thermore, being an eective researcher
requires some o the same skills that
we need to be eective 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, acts, and ideas we want to
teach our students.In addition, I typically advise under-
graduates who are active members o my
research group. I request money in my
grant proposals to pay the students sti-
pends and research expenses, and I help
i Dd nt Sw Dw o i Gt Tu
What does jazz have to do with r unning an enterprise? More than meets the ear. In a jazzensemble, every member makes an individual contribution to collective creation. And jazzmusicians improvise within a framework, essential skills in business today. At San FranciscoState University, management and music faculty have joined forces to teach organizationsbeer 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
Adve
rtisementpaidforwithnon-statefunds.
CHE010711
Continued on Page D16
WINTER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The Chronicle of Higher Education D15
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D16 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
them write their own proposals.
My colleagues all do the same.
Some o 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
o a stimulating intellectual en-
vironment (presumably a good
thing at a university) and the
involvement o students (un-
dergraduate and graduate) in
research. We are t raining the
next generation o researchers
who are going to invent things,
cure diseases, and/or provide
new insights about the world
(past, present, uture). Despite
the claims made by Andrew
Hacker and Claudia Dreius 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 or 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 proessors do ex-
ist, and I think many proessors
would agree that some sort o
constructive post-tenure review,
with real consequences, would
help with those ew problem
cases. Nevertheless, most o us
do not kick back and spend our
days on the gol course or pol-
ishing the fxtures on our yachts.Most o us continue to care about
teaching and research ater we
get tenure.
It can take years to build a re-
search group, attract a good co-
hort o graduate students and
postdocs, and keep everything
up and running well. By the time
some o us get tenure, our re-
search group is rolling and things
are getting interesting. Tenure
gives us the reedom to spend
more time delving into problems,
to try riskier ideas that may or
may not pay o as quickly with
an interesting discovery, and toorganize larger-scale collabora-
tive projects than we could pre-
tenurejust as tenure is sup-
posed to do.
Ater tenure, our service com-
mitments ramp up, and we serveon committees at our own univer-
sity and beyond. Some o us edit
journals and hold other positions
in proessional organizations. And
we spend a lot o time advising
students and other researchers.
Most o us are busier ater tenure
than we were beore. Universities
get what they pay or: hard-work-
ing aculty 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 o dedicated, highly active
people. The problem cases are
vastly outnumbered by aculty
members who care about both
teaching and research.
Some o the disconnect be-
tween what I read and what I live
as a science proessor may be re-
lated to the act that the debate isdominated by writers immersed i
the humanities. But I dont see th
as a humanities-versus-science
issue. I see the same care or re-
search and teaching when I serve
on interdisciplinary committees
and interact with aculty member
rom the humanities. It thereore
puzzles me that the image o the
overpaid, tenured, deadbeat pro-
essor is so pervasive.
O course universities need re-
orm. O course we should im-
prove how we integrate research
and teaching. But we dont need t
start by pointing fngers at hard-working proessors who earn ave
age-to-high fve-fgure salaries. I
would also suggest that the actua
time we spend on teaching-relate
activities (not just the scheduled
class time) should be consideredin discussions o how much pro-
essors work. And, fnally, report
on any crises in higher education
should include serious consider-
ation o 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.
VanderbiltUniversityiscommittedtoprinciplesofequ
alopportunityandaffirmativeaction.
Explore Our Differencepeabody.vanderbilt.edu/professionaled.xml
Vanderbilt Universitys Peabody College, the
nations top ranked school of education, offers
innovative programs that guide professionals like
Fatima in applying theory to practice through:
Fatima Mncube-Barnes
Bioinformatician, Meharry Medical College
Summer Fellow, Peabody Professional Institutes
Full-time degree programs
Weekend Ed.D. programs for senior practitioners
Week-long summer institutes
Continued From Page D15
Most of us are busier after tenurethan before. Universities get whatthey pay for: hard-working faculty.
I Did Not Slow DownOnce I Got Tenure
http://scienceprofessor.blogspot.com/http://scienceprofessor.blogspot.com/http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/professionaled.xmlhttp://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/professionaled.xmlhttp://scienceprofessor.blogspot.com/http://scienceprofessor.blogspot.com/8/4/2019 Chronicle Carreers in Academe 2011D Dl
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WINTER/SPRING 2011 CAREERS IN ACADEME The Ch ronicle of Higher Education D17
By Naomi GraNville
iam part oa two-career academiccouple. We share the same disci-pline and are ortunate enough toteach at the same university. From ourpresent 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 rustration 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 werenave 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 or us
both.
That frst year, several jobs ft
my area o expertise, and none
specifed his. We both applied or
many positions. I landed three in-
terviews, two at large universities
in locations where it would be
difcult to fnd a second teachingjob, and one at a small college
with several nearby institutions
that could oer him opportuni-
ties.
My frst job interview, at a
large Southern university, re-
sulted in an oer. Meanwhile, I
had a second interview at a uni-
versity in the Midwest that was
more appealing because o a
lighter teaching load. The South-
ern university gave me two weeks
to decide, just short o the time
needed to learn whether the Mid-
western university would also
make me an oer.
In those days, beore contracts
were easily sent via e-mail, my
adviser cleverly suggested that I
buy more time by asking to see
the oer in writing. It worked: I
received an oer rom the Mid-
western university in time, and I
turned down the Southern one.
With that oer in hand, I in-
terviewed at a third institution,
a small college. And the cycle
repeated itsel: The Midwest-
ern university had given me two
weeks to make a decision, just
enough time or me to knowwhether I would be oered the
college position. However, on the fnal
day o 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 oered the best oppor-
tunities or my husband. I asked the Mid-
western university or three more days,
the chair said no, and I turned down the
position.
Three days later, the college chair
called to say she had oered the position
to the other candidate.
Swallowing my pride, I called the
Midwestern university and let a message
that i the position was still available, I
was interested. The secretary told me ithad been oered to a visiting lecturer. I
hung up with a sense o relie. I wasnt
very enthusiastic about the job or the lo-
cation. I reassured mysel that three in-
terviews and two oers 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 or which I clearly ft
the bill or the next three years?)
Ater a short vacation, I returned to
fnd a message rom the Midwestern uni-
versity. It turned out its president wouldnot approve the oer to the visiting lec-
turer because he did not ft the job de-
scription. The department oered me the
position again and, with mixed eelings,
I accepted.
That summer we packed a small mov-
H N iusns: Du acdc Cs rqu luck
The first 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 influence 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
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Continued on Following Page
http://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peterhttp://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peterhttp://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peterhttp://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peterhttp://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peterhttp://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peterhttp://www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/peter8/4/2019 Chronicle Carreers in Academe 2011D Dl
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D18 T h e C h r o n i c l e o f H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C A R E E R S I N A C A D E M E W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1
ing van, towed our old Datsun behind it,
and drove to the Midwest. The depart-
ment chair asked i 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 or something
else.) My partner eagerly accepted, even
though the winter commute was a night-
mare, and despite the our-our teaching
load that required he prepare brand-new
courses on subjects beyond his areas o
expertise.
We elt very lucky. Our combined sal-
aries were low, but we elt richer than we
had ever been.
Over the next our 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 or a semes-ter, ollowed by miscellaneous courses
here and there. We continued to scan the
job ads and to apply or positions in bet-
ter locations and at better institutions.
We both published our dissertations as
books with a prestigious academic press.
That ueled our ambition, reassuring us
that our hard work would pay o. I elt
the pressure as the ul l-time breadwin-
ner; he did the bulk o the child care and
woke up early to work on publications.
Our dream o nding two tenure-track
jobs was ading, but we told ourselves
that our best hope was to publish our way
out.
During our ourth year in the Mid-
west, I landed two interviews, both at
better universities in more cosmopoli-
tan areas. I received an oer. My part-
ner was more eager to move than I was. I
had become accustomed to the slow pace
and low pressure o the Midwestern uni-
versity. I was over my initial shock at the
poor academic skills o the students, and
I was well appreciated and productive.
The new university initially oered
my partner nothing. When the depart-
ment chair inormed me that no job was
available or 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 o-
ered my partner a two-year, hal-time,
visiting position or $20,000 a year.
We also negotiated or a year o re-
search leave without pay. We sold our
house at a $10,000 prot, added that
amount to two small research grants, and
spent the next year overseas doing re-
search and writing or six months in each
o our research locations.
The transition to the new university
was not without problems. That August,
en route to the new city, one o 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 o the charges. The doctors
ees were not discounted, and the pro-
ceeds rom our house, plus more, were
used to pay the medical bills.
My partners salary and some o my
pay was spent on part-time day care
(three mornings a week plus lunch) or
our two preschool-aged children. We
took turns looking ater the kids so the
other could work. My workload was
much heavier than beore, mostly be-
cause I inherited a number o graduate
students rom my predecessor. Had we
not taken the previous year o or re-
search and writing, it would have been
dicult to maintain our research produc-
tivity.
While we were abroad, our new uni-
versity listed a tenure-track position or
which my partner was marginally quali-
ed. He applied, but early in the process
the position was cut because o budget
constraints. The ollowing year the posi-
tion was listed again. By then my partner
had shaped some publications to t 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 o the top jour-
nals in his eld. Still, our hopes or dual
tenure-track employment were ading.
The next year, his nal year in the vis-
iting position, we agreed would be his
last season on the academic market. I 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 o our 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 thei
job talks, but one candidate insisted on
meeting me. In my oce she demanded
to know whether this was a legitimatesearch and whether my husband was, in
act, the inside candidate.
The long wait or a decision was punc
tuated by colleagues who avoided eye
contact or pretended nothing unusual
was going on, while our utures lay in
the balance. Ultimately, my partner was
oered the job. Had we known over the
intervening seven years that it would
eventually work out, it would have saved
us an inordinate amount o stress and
heartache.
In retrospect, we were nave and un-
realistic about the prospect o nding
two jobs in one place. Neither o us ully
comprehended or admitted to ourselvesthe increased stress we experienced as a
result. Nor did we admit that we envied
each other.
I envied his reedom rom the pres-
sures o a tenure-track job and the time
he could spend with the kids. He envied
my tenure-track job and the validation i
lent to my career. Neither one o us was
comortable 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 o
obsession, in our search or jobs and our
endless work on publications. My part-
ners persistence took the orm o ob-
sessive writing, carving out ever-earlier
morning hours to work beore the chil-
dren woke. His persistence was ueled b
a desperate sense that he was suited or
only an academic career.
My point is not that dogged persis-
tence and obsessive research productivit
eventually pay o. Its that we were in-
credibly lucky.
Would we do it over again i 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 LuckContinued From Preceding Page
Question (rom Bettina): It was8 a.m., I had the morning paper, and thephone rang. Have you gotten the course-designation orms in yet?
I was still head-fuy and reading aboutAghanistan, and I asked, What?
It was my department chair, about tochew me out or some nomenclatural/numerical change in some departmentcourses. The orms werent due until Sep-tember, it was summertime, and it re-ally was not urgentexcept to Dr. Boss,who, at the time, was waiting or his dying
mother to come out o intensive care, so
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