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[soontobefirstyear]

All of my colleagues who graduated last year and had any teaching loads at all have been telling me that I will not be able to get anything done other than teaching.  I'm not ready to give up yet.  Is it really true?

Has anyone been able to accomplish any actual research while teaching first year on the t-t?

If so, how?

I'm at a 2/2 with high teaching standards, no TA, middling students, and small class size in the social sciences-- but I'm interested in hearing from all situations and fields.

[Dagny]

Yes!

I made a point to do one small project my second semester. It was a not-very-exciting survey study that yielded a lot of data that I'll probably never use--but it got me into the swing of things, helped me learn IRB procedures at my new institution, and forced me to get my lab set up.

My university allows a teaching reduction for first-year profs, and I took it--which helped a lot. So, I was 1/2 my first year, with no grad students or TA's. I should also acknowledge that I only had 1 prep that whole year. So, my circumstances were pretty ideal.

But you can do it--just keep it small and manageable, and don't expect it to be your best work ever. Treat it like a warm-up.

Good luck!

[%sig%]

[Untenured]

Every situation is different of course, but I believe you certainly can be productve the first year on your tenure track.  Consider that you are most fortunate with a 2/2 load.  Many faculty would give a pint a blood to teach that few course during the year.  Small class sizes only lighten the teaching load. As for high teaching standards, that will come with time as you sharpen your pedagogical skills.  You just might have a charming personality that will win over students in spite of the new-guy jitters you experience.  I find with undergraduates they appear to measure an instructor by how much you genuinely care about their education.  That level of empathy is difficult to train or quantify.

My suggestion is this -- spend as much as you need to this summer to get those courses ready for the fall.  Have the courses fully prepped by September.  Don't go overboard refining your syllabus or creating exercises that require a high level of work on your part.  Establish a competent course that functions effectively without extensive maintenance -- that means group exercises, easier to grade exams, and scheduling your office hours with care.  Don't crucify the quality of your course to save an hour or two, but remember that research is your first calling (I assume this to be the case if you have a 2/2).

With efficient preparation this summer you can hit the ground running on the tenure track and be most productive.  My first year I followed this advice and produced some good work.  It set the tone for years to follow.

Good luck and welcome to the academy.

Untenured

[%sig%]

[jr 2]

It's all about time management and keeping your eyes on the prize. If you can set aside time for your own projects and manage not to let it give way to all the other bids for your attention, you'll be fine. Needless to say, harder said than done.

[anon343]

Do you have a reduced load in your first year, or at least a smaller number of course preps than four?  I had a course reduction (1-1) and by frantically preparing courses in the summer and through the first fall semester, I was able to re-start my research program by the end of my first January (with 50% of my time devoted to research; this proportion has been steady since then).  I'm in the sciences, by the way.

The hardest part of doing research is arguably not finding the time itself - it's finding relatively large chunks of time.  For me, the value of six five-hour chunks of research time a week is far greater than thirty one-hour chunks.  If you have the option, I'd recommend that you consider scheduling classes / labs in as few days as possible, so that you can designate entire days or at least half days to research.  This past semester, I was lucky enough to be able to designate every Wed afternoon to Saturday evening as research time.

If I had been required to create and teach four completely-different courses from scratch in my first year, I would not have gotten much research completed at all.  I hear that others can do this, but not me (at least not without substantially compromising on the teaching quality).

Good luck!

[%sig%]

[soontobefirstyear]

I have two preps this year (one per semester).  Next year I will have 3 preps, but I'm hoping to take one of them as a capstone project course, which is supposed to be a lot of work but can result in some reseach output.

Thanks for the encouraging words... my colleagues were incredibly discouraging today because they didn't get any research done this past year.  They said that students are needy and they take all of your time meeting outside of office hours and in grading.  I just don't see why I should have to be available to students outside of office hours (so long as the office hours are reasonably accomodating) or why I should have to assign things that are difficult to grade.  (And when I was in college, if there wasn't a TA, the professor didn't grade every homework problem, just gave solution sets... but I guess that has changed?)  They say if you don't it looks bad to your colleagues... but I'm not sure how true that is.

[Dr. D.]

Try to write every day, even for just a little bit. You'll be surprised at how much writing you can get done in a little bit each day.

[Senior Scholar]

My solution has always been to give one day a week to "my own work" -- no grocery shopping, no bank errands, no grading, no class prep, no office time, no meetings. If one is teaching only 2 or 3 days a week this should be easy. If an essential meeting such as a promotion committee is scheduled on my designated day, I faithfully take my work day sometime else, even if it means doing it on Saturday or Sunday. And I have always made sure that I am really ready to work on that day -- I have already downloaded the essays I'll need from JSTOR, or picked up the books from the library, or made a rough outline of the section I'm working on. With this schedule I've always been able to accomplish research and writing, even in early days when I had a 3-4 teaching load (in a non t-t job) and children at home, or in recent years when I've been a department administrator.

[LarryC]

Senior Scholar has it--you compartamentalize your time and don't allow yourself to be sidetracked.  You'll be fine.

[Tala]

I am too wondering whether I will get any research done during my first tt track. I heard over and over that teaching (2/2) will take most of my time, and I won't be able to concentrate on research. I felt very disappointed, however, I really want to keep on doing research. I decided to spend part of the summer working on few research projects/ data analyses for next year (in collaboration with others). I hope that I will have the time to finish them although I sometime worry that I am being too optimistic regarding how much I could get done.  I am also spending time preparing for Fall courses.

[%sig%]

[Liz]

I have taught a 4/4 since the start of my career about a decade ago and still have manged to present every year at major conferences and publish more than 20 articles and reviews. The key, for me at least, has been setting time aside every week for my own work. I usually have done this on T/TH mornings when I'm not teaching, and I go to a carrel in the library for several hours and work. I don't meet students, answer email, or do anything but my own work (usually 9 am until 1 pm). I also do a lot of work in the summer. I've had to live for so long with a 4/4 that its hard to imagine all the additional work I could do with a 2/2 or 2/3, but research IS possible with a heavy teaching load. You just have to be highly disciplined and prioritize research.

[Untenured]

That's a great idea, Liz.  Your self-imposed isolation prevents students or faculty from finding you.  At least for me, I find that a block of time is necessary before I can get productive "thought" research completed.  Your system works perfectly.

Untenured

[Liz]

Thanks. I am actually very accessible to students, including going above and beyond scheduled office hours. But those research hours are sacred to me, and I make time for them no matter what. There are weeks when I get more of my own work done than others, of course, but it all evens out in the end.

[UKsystem]

My advice echoes what has already been said - set aside time and guard it jealously. If expectations of your position are teaching/research/admin, with an approx. 33% split, aim for a third of your hours to be research time (including keeping up with the literature etc.).

At the very least, you should take as many hours as you spend in the classroom engaged in research - in the classroom you are 100% focused on teaching and dont stop to browse the internet, answer emails, take phonecalls etc; your research time should be the same. Lock yourself inside your office and switch of your phone if it helps.

It might be an idea to post a timetable outside your office for both colleagues and students - indicate when you'll be teaching, your office hours, and when you'll be unavailable due to research commitments

Good luck!

[SecondYear]

Talk to your chair or tenure mentor about what the criteria are for your end of year review/contract renewal and get their help in finding a balance.   As in all things it depends on where you are.  

Last year I struggled to find the research time, and it was totally stressing me out.  I was on a 4/4 at a SLAC and it had been clearly communicated to me that teaching was to be priorities 1-5 during my first year and that any research was gravy.  My chair reassured me that getting the classes solid was more important during the year than the research.  Now that summer is here, I'm finally getting the lab set up and hammering the research.

On a 2/2, you should be able to set aside a few hours a week of uninterrupted research time (you don't say whether your "resesarch" is primarially lab, library or writing) and guard it with your life.  Put it on your office door schedule as a scheduled obligation, just like teaching and office hours.