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[anon anon]

I know that this has come up before, but a few musings...

I've been offered a campus interview at a CC.  They are offering 50% compensation for travel expenses.

This is not my "dream job" but I think I could be convinced if I went and gave the place a fair shot.  They would be interviewing me; I would be interviewing them.

However, I feel that this arrangment is exploitative and disrespectful to me as a candidate.

I have been on a few campus visits thus far this year, (all expenses paid) and have another coming up.  In the last two weeks, I've also had three phone interviews that could lead to campus interviews -all in more attractive places and settings than this CC.

If this were the *only* nibble I had, I suppose I'd jump on it and be glad for it.  However, in the light of these other circumstances, I think that the market is telling me that I am more valuable in terms of money and respect than this CC wishes to aknowledge. (read pay)

Now is this "my loss"?  Perhaps.  

But I think it's their loss too.  This policy is going to make them miss out on a great candidate (if I do say so myself) who was open to the idea of teaching in the CC setting and could have become a good faculty member there.

I haven't declined yet.  I'm going to mull this over over on the weekend.  But as the magic eight ball says "all signs point to no."

Thoughts?

[Mel]

This is going to be normal at many CC's.  It has nothing to do specifically with you as a candidate; it's just the way they do things.

So you can't take it personally.  I guess the question for you is: do you want to pay half your travel expenses for a job that isn't your first choice?  Only you can answer that, presumably weighing the possibility of ending up with no job despite promising interviews.

[b]

Sure it's their loss if you're better than the one they end up hiring, but until you have a job it is much more your loss than theirs. They can pick from, depending on the location and the subject, from as many as 100 applicants, let's say 10-15 good ones. You have several interviews and campus visits but no guarantee that they will work out. Keep in mind that CCs often do NOT pay for candidates, so it's "generous" that they pay 50%. If you don't go, you might think that you "showed them!"but really they won;t care so much, whereas if you go you might end up with a job! If you see yourself working at that CC, I say go!

[agree]

It's wrong on principle, and I would be extremely reluctant to even consider it.

The fact that such contemptuous treatment might happen to occur more routinely with certain types of employers doesn't mean that every person getting it shouldn't be offended.

[%sig%]

[anon anon]

I guess I should have clarified that.  I do have employment (visiting with an exit option) for this and next year.  So the possibility of "no job at all" is not in the cards.

However, I fear that if they're this stingy now, what will they say when I want travel money for a conference, office equipment and so on?  I realize that it's not personal, but it still exudes an air of contempt for applicants (maybe OtherSeniorProf works there?).  

Bottom line, it doesn't seem to be putting one's best foot forward.  It certainly has not impressed me.

[Moz]

You seem to be laboring under some severe misconceptions about how CC's work.  Travel money?  Equipment money?  At a CC, your job is to teach to the unwashed masses, not go to conferences.  I am shocked that they would pay 50% of our visit expenses.

If an R2 or R1 tried this, I would agree with you that it signifies either disrespect or departmental poverty.  But it is typical of a CC, and 50% expenses is better than most.

[Flanders]

I agree with Moz.  The question you really need to ask yourself is whether you want to teach at a CC or not.  That should really be the first question all job candidates should ask themselves.  It is a totally different kind of system in almost all respects from traditional 4-year colleges.  And once you enter either system, it is probably quite difficult (but not impossible) to shift from one to the other (exception: current graduate students who might be teaching at a CC simply to get some independent college teaching experience).  So if you want to teach and teach and contribute to the CC mission of offering educational access to everyone, go for it and realize, like others have said, that offering 50% of travel costs is quite generous.  If you want to have a career with any kind of research agenda, I wouldn't even consider applying to CCs.

[%sig%]

[Larry Pesto]

What is your point.  Are they missing out on a great candidate?  Doesn't matter!  If they don't have the money to interview you it is quite the moot point.

[2 More Cents]

Personally, I would buy my own gas and drive my own car to an interview in a 50 or so mile radius.  Beyond that, and especially if the travel involved airplanes or hotels, I would not go anywhere that wouldn't reimburse all expenses.

[every which way]

I just turned down a campus interview at a SLAC, where they expected me to pay 100% of the expenses.  Frankly, I wanted the job, but I honestly can't afford the travel and hotel.   It was in a small town with no direct flights.   It is hard enough that I have to float a loan to colleges that will reimburse me.