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[12-month position]

Okay, I have a few questions about a 12-month position, I'd be grateful for any insights offered.  I understand that a 9-month position means that you might have the opportunity to teach extra in the summers, for extra pay.  In a 12-month position, you're already being paid to work 12 months and so there's no additional teaching.  But what does this mean in terms of vacation time?  Does it mean that you get the same 2 weeks per year as all the rest of the drones in the US?  

My sense is that the reason the position in question is a 12-month position is that the responsibilities include administering an "Undeclared Major Program." It seems entirely possible that this means having to show up to an office every day all summer - though of course one of my tasks now is to figure out what this program is and what it means to administer it.  I know that the only way to learn what I need to know is to research the specifics of the job.  But it would be helpful to have a sense of the broad outlines of 12-month positions first.

[anon]

A 12-month position means that your "vacation" will be the break between the end of the Summer semester and the beginning of the Fall semester.

[Diogenes]

Describing a faculty position as "12 month" or "9 month" is usually less than perspicuously clear, since I've been in "9 month" positions where the salary could be distributed over 12 months (although benefits were only offered for the 9 month period), in which case you had the summer "vacation."  At the same time, I've had "12 month" positions which included only Fall and Spring semester teaching, in which case the position really expected 9 months of work.  The salary was pretty much comparable whether the position was listed as 9 months or 12 months.  The only difference was that 9 month positions funded benefits for 9 months, and 12 month positions funded benefits for 12 months.

I'd contact the school or department in question and ask about the expectations of teaching load, and whether it includes summer administrative or teaching responsibilities.  It's a perfectly fair question to ask, and it shows you're interested in the position.

Incidentally, I've NEVER heard of a term faculty position that expected someone to show up at an office 5 days a week throughout the summer.  Unless this position is primarily an administrative one, I suspect you'd be expected to be on campus basically the days you taught.

[Thundering Marshmallow]

I agree with Diogenes if your position is purely faculty. However, this is more common when it includes some administrative function. Instead of course release, they give you two more months' pay.

One point of departure with Diogenes: Tenure track positions include benefits over the summer, whether you teach or not.

Finally, the only institution I heard of that actually insisted on 'seat time' in the office was an independent institution run more like a business than a university, with no expectation of scholarship.

[Larry Pesto]

"In a 12-month position, you're already being paid to work 12 months and so there's no additional teaching."

Coveat my young friend!  A 12 month position also means that you could be required to teach summer courses and for no additional pay.

[12-mo]

Yes, I did interview for a 12 month faculty (only) position, where summer teaching was regularly expected (with no additional pay)..