Office Space

A friend of mine teaches at a school where a good deal of remodeling is under way. “They moved me,” she observed, “to a wonderful new office with a beautiful view. My old office, though, was mercifully converted into a hallway.”

I’d say that if your office is convertible into a corridor, it was not the nicest office in the world.

At my previous place of service, I had a fabulous office: on the corner, on the third floor, with a million-dollar view of the ancient quad. At my current institution, our newest buildings have very attractive offices, but I’m in an older building with sternly spartan offices. Even my decanal suite has nary a window.

I was thinking about this the other day and about how when I was on the market, I usually asked to see where my office would be. One school in North Carolina had almost palatial offices, with expansive views of the mountains. One in Florida was on the Intercoastal Waterway. Other places, though, were kind of sad, even depressing.

As you’ve made your rounds on the market, have any of you been either impressed or discouraged with the office space or lab facilities to such an extent that it impacted your decision to accept an offer?