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[1800es]

Hello All

I have just accepted a tt position at another school beginning this fall. I am currently in a tt position. I plan to teach a class at my current institution during the first six week of the summer session. The answers may be obvious, but I would like to hear opinions on these four questions:

1. When should I submit my resignation letter?
2. What should it contain?
3. When should I make my resignation effective?
4. I have a nine month position, how are benefits affected?

Thank you for your help

1800es

[%sig%]

[Adjunk]

If you're currently in a tt position, then haven't you already signed your contract for next year?  Usually these contracts go out in March because a school wants to have its faculty lined up and set for the following year.
As for your nine month position, that's nine months of teaching with summers off, but your salary and benefits are likely paid on a 12 month basis--that's how my full time contracts always worked.  If you resign, you should receive a lump sum rather than continue to be paid on a bi-weekly basis for the rest of the summer.

[1800es]

I have not signed a yearly contract. My initial offer contract states that the contract is automatically renewed on April 1st, unless the university wishes to release you. I actually asked about this as friends at other institutions were signing theirs. So, I did not take any actions, because on April 1st I was simply an applicant for the new position.

I am more worried about the university taking my summer class if I submit my letter of resignation before June 1st.

[sideroad]

Surely your contract also states the legal amount of notice that you need to give in order to resign...

[melba]

Yes, check your contract or faculty handbook.

#4. Benefits...check with the HR department. Usually health care benefits go through the year....do you remember when your health insurance first kicked in? For instance if your insurance coverage started on September 1 last year, they should continue through Aug. 31 of this year. If there is a gap, I really recommend short term coverage, paid out of pocket. You can get low rates with a really high deductible--the point is to have SOME sort of insurance so that any condition that develops becomes a "covered" pre-existing condition so that your new insurance policy has to pick it up.

Ha! I remember when I switched jobs a few years ago.  I never resigned in any way...news just slipped and slided through the grapevine and I packed up and left.

[econ anon]

If I'm not mistaken re benefits, 1800es should be covered via COBRA for health insurance if the health insurance from the previous job and current job do not match up.  It will cost more than what was paid before because the university is no longer paying part of it, but 1800es will still get the lower group rate.  This gives the old health insurance for up to 18 months after leaving the job at the old group rate (which must be paid out of pocket, but beats self-insuring).  Keeping continuous coverage is important, as melba said.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.html

[Adjunk]

If your contract was automatically renewed April 1'st, you might be locked into it.  You can still leave, but you'd be breaking your contract.  Even if they don't sue you, which they probably won't, still it won't be a pleasant departure.  As for the summer course, offering to continue to teach it may soften the blow of your departure, as you won't be leaving them hanging at the last minute looking for a replacement for the summer course.  I would approach the summer course in that manner, making it clear to them that you're still committed to teaching it because you don't want to leave them in a lurch.

[Sea]

I recently switched as well and provided the resignation letter as soon as I had signed the contract with the 'new' position.  If you haven't had bad relations with your current school, why create that by just leaving..... Handle it professionally.  Write your letter, provide a date (usually the end of the academic year) say how much you enjoyed working there but that your new position is better for you professionally, and wish them your best and move on.  In the letter you can also mention your intention to fulfill your summer class obligation, at least this throws the ball in their court to decide if you keep it or not.  Be upfront and honest about it.  Don't skip out, if you are proud of what you accomplished there.

[schoolmarm]

When I changed jobs last year, I was also slated to teach a summer course.  I had stated mid July as a resignation date, as I needed my office for private teaching and some grant work and I wanted to preserve my insurance benefits.  Due to ironclad contracts and a strong union, everyone's resignation was set at May 31st, which was the last day of my summer course.  

In the end, it was beneficial.  They let me keep my office until August 1.  They "bought out" the remainder of my contract in a lump sum.  The only downside was that my benefits ended the end of June.  My new contract started July 16th.  I took a gamble an went without insurance for a couple of weeks.  I am healthy and rarely go to the doctor, and thought that I would just pay for a medical visit if I needed one.  The COBRA payment was a couple of hundred per month.  YIKES!  COBRA also has a "grace period" and it was explained to me that if I needed surgery or the ER during that time, I could pay the premium and be covered.

I left on a good note, I believe.  Of course they weren't happy to do another search, and there were a few who were a bit jealous that I got a job with half the teaching load.  The university president was congratulatory as were many of my colleagues.

When it was time for the untenured to renew their contracts, (I was already tenured and thus no renewal in contract form) I made sure that my chair and dean knew of my search.  They were not in the dark.