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[new_bus_prof]

Permanent Lecturers are basically full-time adjuncts. They teach all the time. 10-12 a year is very common. Lecturer pay at my school is determined by simply multiplying the adjunct course pay by 8. Usually hired simply because the school can't find enough adjuncts.

VAPs are usually 1 year contracts with the optional renewal every year up to a max of 3 years or 5 years. My department takes the perspective that VAP positions allows them more time to search for and recruit new faculty. For example, if a search committee cannot secure at least 3 stellar candidates early on it will renew the VAP contract and try again next year.

[jester17]

Thanks, folks! Great advice all around. One nice thing is the position is a 3/3 load, so plenty of time to research for myself other options in my field -- and get plenty of writing done!

[finallyfullprof]

Technically, however, there is no such thing as a "permanent" lecturer. 

There is a lecturer position that may be renewed until a new VPAA or a new University President decides that having a lecturer with tenure or with permanent status is a bad idea and will cause some unspecified problem down the road.  There is "permanent until you piss off an administrator through no fault of your own," there is "permanent until a budget crunch makes finding a few adjuncts to handle your classes a regrettable necessity," but there is no permanent lectureship.  Still, you can build a good career doing that and if you enjoy it and can last long enough to get vested in their retirement system or something like that, you should be in good shape.

That is excellent advice, something which I wish I'd had when I was first starting out. I interviewed for two separate lecturer positions at my own expense, both of which were presented to me as "potentially permanent" even though they were not tenure track and would not be converted. One school even told me about a gentleman who'd been in that position for 12 years. Had I known the difference, I probably would not have spent the money to go on those particular interviews, especially since they were at places I would have needed job security in order to continue working.

[normative_]

I will probably be spending much time on this thread, myself, beginning this fall. And so I happily post in order to bump it back up to the first page.

Congratulations, Rose! I'm pleased you'll get to make use of it.

I hope it will be mostly about how well you're doing.

[wild_rose]

I will probably be spending much time on this thread, myself, beginning this fall. And so I happily post in order to bump it back up to the first page.

Congratulations, Rose! I'm pleased you'll get to make use of it.

I hope it will be mostly about how well you're doing.

Thanks!

Right now it's just frantic prep for class, getting syllabi together, and meetings, meetings, meetings. I've had at least one every weekday since last Friday (8/15).

[fishbulb]

I'm currently in the second semester of a great three semester VAP position.  I found myself in an awkward position the other day and I wondered if anyone else has been/is going through the same thing.

My VAP position was created to fill in for a TT faculty member who had to resign for personal reasons.  We're conducting a TT search for the vacant position for the 2009-2010 school year.  So, last week I found myself sitting in a faculty meeting while we discussed strategies for attracting and interviewing candidates for what I've come to think of as my job.  I know I can't expect to get special treatment just because I've been the VAP, but the whole situation just seemed weird, and it probably was for my colleagues too (some of whom are now good friends).  Has anyone else felt that they've been inadvertently placed in this type of awkward position thanks to the prolonged academic hiring schedule?

[conjugate]

I'm currently in the second semester of a great three semester VAP position.  I found myself in an awkward position the other day and I wondered if anyone else has been/is going through the same thing.

My VAP position was created to fill in for a TT faculty member who had to resign for personal reasons.  We're conducting a TT search for the vacant position for the 2009-2010 school year.  So, last week I found myself sitting in a faculty meeting while we discussed strategies for attracting and interviewing candidates for what I've come to think of as my job.  I know I can't expect to get special treatment just because I've been the VAP, but the whole situation just seemed weird, and it probably was for my colleagues too (some of whom are now good friends).  Has anyone else felt that they've been inadvertently placed in this type of awkward position thanks to the prolonged academic hiring schedule?

Oh, yes, at the VAP gig before my current job, the same thing happened to me.  I was happy to help out, since they were looking for a computer science guy (I'm not qualified).  Are you applying for the position yourself?  If so, back away from the decision process quickly.  If not, volunteer to help out; interviews, walking the applicants to and from buildings, and so on.  Your helpfulness will show up in letters of recommendation for you, and you may get a free dinner out of it.

But if you're applying for the job, you may need to show that the decision was made entirely independently from any input of your own.  People can be incredibly sensitive about the appearance of the potential for a conflict of interest.

Hey, WR, how's it going?  Hope you're doing well.

[olddocpossum]

I was a visiting associate professor last year, after working as "part time" instructor the previous 3 years.  When the department interviewed for a tenure track position, I didn't even get offered an interview.  I was demoted back to "part time" instructor (same number of courses, just a lot less pay and no benefits.) I declined, and now I am unemployed.  Are there any studies out there on percentage of VAPs who actually do get a TT position in the department in which they were visiting?

[wild_rose]

Hi, conj, doing OK here.

My department has started a search for a second faculty member in my field, but I haven't heard about mine, other than my dept chair saying they received funding for the TT version of it, starting next year.

I need to make an appointment with my chair and see what's going on and what I need to do to apply for it. She has already said I will be evaluated in January -- the rest of the faculty are being evaluated next month. I like the idea of being evaluated because it gives me good feedback on what I'm doing right and what I need to change, and also, I'm thinking they wouldn't bother evaluating me if they weren't at least considering keeping me.

But I'll ask the chair about it when I see her.

[porcupine]

I second the advice to run for the hills when faculty committees are discussing hiring, if you are planning to apply for the job. Some chairs can forget to be responsible about ensuring that a junior, visiting faculty members are not ruled out of contention for a position, by virtue of association with the process. Even if they don't want to hire you, they should ensure that you have the same opportunity to make a strong application as any other candidate, for the sake of the legitimacy of the process.

wild_rose, glad to know you are doing okay! You might consider asking your chair if there's any point in being evaluated sooner than January, even informally, so you can work up to your January evaluation with a bit more information and some ideas for specific areas to work on. I am not sure that the evaluation is necessarily linked to your retention as a tt faculty member, though - many departments do regular evaluations with VAPs even when there is no prospect of a permanent job in the offing.

I say this not to be depressing, but purely because I have learned (as you all know from reading this space...) that you need to keep a tough mindset in place when working as a VAP, so that you protect yourself as far as is possible from emotional fallout if the tt job doesn't come through in the end, as is always likely. I have some current colleagues who are very nice but most unhelpful in this regard, because they begin to discuss the possibility of collaborative teaching and administrative projects in the future, only for me to have to remind them every time that I am leaving at the end of the year (no possibility of renewal of my VAP contract and no tt hiring this fall).

[gourmetless]

I say this not to be depressing, but purely because I have learned (as you all know from reading this space...) that you need to keep a tough mindset in place when working as a VAP, so that you protect yourself as far as is possible from emotional fallout if the tt job doesn't come through in the end, as is always likely. I have some current colleagues who are very nice but most unhelpful in this regard, because they begin to discuss the possibility of collaborative teaching and administrative projects in the future, only for me to have to remind them every time that I am leaving at the end of the year (no possibility of renewal of my VAP contract and no tt hiring this fall).

This is a hard balance to strike.  It is tempting to get up emotionally, and to want to work with others and take part in the life of the institution.  I am in the same boat as Porcupine.  Being professional and cordial but trying not to get sucked into too much, knowing how hard it will be to turn away.

It is especially hard with students who want to work with me on their senior projects.

[porcupine]

Yes, sorry, I certainly wasn't trying to pretend I am actually any good at striking that balance, as readers of the initial VAP Support Thread will know! Note to self - take own advice...

I find the worst part is not so much dealing with students, as I try to make it clear that while I am here, regardless of when I am leaving, I will do everything that I can for them, within reason. I'm lucky because the students here are also very busy people, so are usually accepting of constraints on everyone's time.

The worst part is being honest with myself. I have to keep reminding myself that I am here temporarily, and that I should not be taking responsibility for things outside of my remit even when the urge to do so strikes. I have a good, if irascible, chair, who reminds me from time to time that I am only here on a temporary basis - that might be hurtful if I wasn't clear that they are making these remarks for my own good (which the chair is, thankfully, very clear about).

I'm terrible at being sucked in to extra work simply because I love teaching and contributing to the life of my department. Yet I have learned that this weakness does me no favors in terms of getting my own research work done, and relatedly, that it allows  certain colleagues with lower standards of professional ethics than those of my chair to take gratuitous advantage of me. I am starting to learn how to say 'no' and to be less emotionally involved in my work, as well as to be more efficient in doing the work I do take on - but it is tough going.

[fishbulb]

Thanks for all of the input.  Shortly after my last post my department head requested a meeting with me.  He simply wanted to tell me that they were all very pleased with the job I was doing and urged me to consider applying for the TT position.  Obviously it's still far from a guarantee, but the vote of confidence did make me feel a little better.

I try very hard to stay emotionally detached from this job.  I am constantly trying to remind myself that I'm only here temporarily.  I refuse to move anything more than the bare necessities into my office and I feel like I am constantly peppering conversations with "if I'm still here next fall".  It's rough constantly feeling like an outsider though, even if it's mostly the result of your own polite standoffishness.

[jacaranda_]

I was a visiting associate professor last year, after working as "part time" instructor the previous 3 years.  When the department interviewed for a tenure track position, I didn't even get offered an interview.  I was demoted back to "part time" instructor (same number of courses, just a lot less pay and no benefits.) I declined, and now I am unemployed.  Are there any studies out there on percentage of VAPs who actually do get a TT position in the department in which they were visiting?

Wow, there are just too many ways to insult someone in this kind of position.   I hope there was some satisfaction in being able to walk away from the department, but I hope more that you have or will have some alternative way to support yourself, or that was probably very short-lived satisfaction.  I don't know of any studies on this issue.  Anecdotally, at the place where I taught previously, two of us were hired at the VAP level:  she was hired by her dept. --  I was not.  However, she had a very supportive department, I was dealing with a senior colleague in my field who (according to other members of the dept.) found me professionally threatening, although I'm pretty damn easy to get along with.  It was a thoroughly ugly business.  I hope my case improves the odds for the rest of you who are currently in a VAP.  I should add that I've landed in a very welcoming department where I am actually free to teach what's important to me.

[porcupine]

I was a visiting associate professor last year, after working as "part time" instructor the previous 3 years.  When the department interviewed for a tenure track position, I didn't even get offered an interview.  I was demoted back to "part time" instructor (same number of courses, just a lot less pay and no benefits.) I declined, and now I am unemployed.  Are there any studies out there on percentage of VAPs who actually do get a TT position in the department in which they were visiting?

I looked and can't find anything. I think someone should publish a study on this for each discipline if possible, and that the results could be implemented into disciplinary guidelines concerning hiring procedures. All the anecdotal evidence I've heard from both VAPs and search committee members in the humanities suggests that a VAP is generally  less likely than an outside candidate to be hired as a tt assistant professor if the search is within the same department, and I would love to know whether more analysis bears this out.

I think your decision was brave, olddocpossum. You remind me that the academy does not determine self-worth. I hope you get a good job offer very soon.