Previous |
Next |
July 18, 2008, 10:42 AM ET
Challenge and Opportunity
Yesterday I met with one of our deans, her incoming successor, and a faculty member in one of our larger programs. A faculty member had recently resigned and left a sizeable gap in our course schedule. Because of the late date, the remote location of our university, and the large enrollments in several of the courses, we are facing a major challenge in trying to accommodate our students without overwhelming the remaining faculty members in the program.
Over the years, I have had similar meetings with professors and chairs, and have several times needed to make temporary full-time hires to replace faculty members who have announced their departures late in the season.
From an institutional point of view, the greatest challenge is finding the right person for the position. In the past, I have worked with local doctoral universities, advertised on disciplinary e-mail groups, and relied on contacts, among other strategies. Sometimes we’ve ended up hiring great people, sometimes we haven’t been able to fill the position at all.
Those occasions can be a wonderful opportunity for job candidates to step into a position with few of the hassles normally associated with an academic job search. A last-minute, one-year post can provide the proverbial “foot in the door,” leading to a tenure-track position at the hiring institution, as well as the chance to get some non-TA teaching experience for late-stage graduate students. For people struggling with the harsh realities of the job market, it is worth it to keep your eyes and ears open for surprise chances at what can turn out to be a fine position.
Categories: General-interest, Faculty-hiring
Add Your Comment
Commenting is closed.