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[gourmetless]

I was adding to your post, porcupine, not correcting you!

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...

My VAP position is at a school with extensive senior theses, and I have to send students who come my way to tt people.  Most students do not realize what VAP means, so they do not understand the limits on us.

The VAPS to TT searches I have witnessed (in my limited experience) have been unsuccessful.  Once, due to political falling out in the search committee, and the other time because the candidate shot self in foot, and did not acknowledge the wound.

[jacaranda_]

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.

For those who are currently VAPs, and whose blood pressure might be going up, it might be helpful to keep in mind that those who were VAPs who _did_ get the job are much less likely to talk about it.  So most of our anecdotal evidence is probably slanted in a depressing direction.  Managing your anxiety can become something of a psychological burden, so if any of you have "happy ending" stories, you might want to post them here.  I'll add in humility that two other people in my previous department were hired into a TT line after being VAPs.  I suppose I was the only loser who couldn't pull off that trick. : )

Seriously, I'm so much happier where I am right now, and relieved that I don't have to spend an entire career dealing with the cranky, insecure senior colleague, so I count this one as a happy ending.

[lerasmus]

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.

Building on the "anecdotal" evidence, is there any sense that this was due to status perceptions in hiring institutions, due to lack of published research, or due to...?

I just started a 2-year VAP and am trying to strategize a timeline for jumping to the next position... I'd like to stay, but all evidence points to no new TT lines for a few years 'round these parts.

[conjugate]

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.

My experience indicates that I would not have had a chance at a TT job where I had my VAP position; partly, I think, it was due to the perception that I was better suited to the large teaching loads and lower-level courses that I took.  Partly, it was due to a lack of research (heavy teaching loads contributed).  However, one other VAP at that school did eventually get a TT job there, after going elsewhere and getting the publication list up.  I think the key may be to find a job elsewhere and get experience that is obviously not the result of inbreeding, so to speak.

Best wishes for good luck to all.

[jacaranda_]

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.

Building on the "anecdotal" evidence, is there any sense that this was due to status perceptions in hiring institutions, due to lack of published research, or due to...?

I just started a 2-year VAP and am trying to strategize a timeline for jumping to the next position... I'd like to stay, but all evidence points to no new TT lines for a few years 'round these parts.

Publish.  It's probably the main reason why your current institution would take you seriously as a candidate for a TT line (if one opens up), and will make you a better candidate for any other job.  And go on the job market both years -- give yourself the best possible odds for getting the TT position.  Given what's going on in the economy, this year's job postings may turn out to be better than next year's.  Good luck!

[lerasmus]

Thanks for the encouragement, jacaranda... 2 articles in the pipeline, and a book proposal under review, hoping that will do for the next month!

[jacaranda_]

Thanks for the encouragement, jacaranda... 2 articles in the pipeline, and a book proposal under review, hoping that will do for the next month!

Wow -- that's terrific!  I do think there is a psychology at work in some places that goes like this:  the more likely it is that you could leave for another department because you are a competitive candidate, the more likely they will want you to stay.

[mj_romo]

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?

Yes, I was a VAP last year in this same predicament.  I ended up being privy to more info about the hiring process than I needed to know.  I also felt constantly under the spotlight whenever those discussions happened.  After a couple of uncomfortable dept. meetings, the dept. chair asked the VAPs to leave when hiring issues needed to be discussed.

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 think it's generally just unpredictable.  I was a VAP for a dept that had for 4 years previously hired their VAPs into t-t positions that became available.  Last spring, the dept was hiring 3 t-t positions, and none of their VAPs (me included) even made it to the second round of the process.

I wonder, too, about making the transition from VAP to t-t.  On the CC level in English, being a VAP is supposed to be the magical thing that gets someone the t-t position, but after 12 job interviews (both in and out of state), I'm starting to doubt that.  It seems to have gotten me interviews; it seems to have helped me to get as far as the president's office, but no farther.

[wild_rose]

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.

Hi Porcupine ~ we did have a brief discussion in which she said that January was the best time because it gave me time to settle in, get my routine figured out, get my classes rolling (I'm teaching 4 sections) and get some activities under my belt. There's an online form we fill out that she wants me working on, and that's what we'll talk about in January, among other things.

The eval might not be directly linked to retention, but most of the items in it would be. I think my chances are good. My students seem to be happy with the coursework and my teaching, and word is getting back to my Chair about how wonderful I am. They also seem interested in keeping me.

I'm working very hard to make sure that happens because I really would like to stay here, for a variety of reasons.

[porcupine]

wild_rose, glad to hear things are going well!

[wild_rose]

Thanks!

I have a question for you all (maybe I should post it on the job hunting thread?):

My department is advertising the tt version of my current position, and my dept head told me all I would need are a "letter of interest" and an updated CV. They will re-use the materials I submitted last year for this job.

What would you put in the letter?

[normative_]

What would you put in the letter?

The special insight into the department's priorities and programmes that you've gained in the last year. The fit, the fit, the fit!

[undisciplined]

What normative said, but also, I would make it a traditional cover letter. You never know who is going to see it. Unless they have specifically told you that all you need to write is some sort of memo, write a bang-up cover letter infused with FIT, FIT, FIT.

[conjugate]

Thanks!

I have a question for you all (maybe I should post it on the job hunting thread?):

My department is advertising the tt version of my current position, and my dept head told me all I would need are a "letter of interest" and an updated CV. They will re-use the materials I submitted last year for this job.

What would you put in the letter?

Professor X or whom it may concern:

I have seen the advertisement for your position in horticulture, and wish to apply.  Application materials are available to you, except for the updated CV, which I enclose.

I believe I would be a good fit for this position because I am familiar with the departmental culture.  I am able to teach the required courses, and in fact have already taught HORT 101 (The Care and Feeding of Wild Roses), HORT 102 (Flowering Plants and Shrubs as Exemplified by Genus Rosa), HORT 201 (Theory and Applications of Rosa Acicularia) and others. 

In addition, I am prepared to fulfill my service obligations.  Please notice my experience with serving on committees, such as my service on the assessment committee last year and the textbook selection committee in 2006.  I have handled (minority/ disadvantaged/ underprepared/ nontraditional/ special needs) students of the sort that your institution deals with, and believe that I would have no problem dealing with a student body of that sort.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Wild Rose.

Now, some of those sentences are kind of lumpty because I didn't take much time at it.  But if your institution is a minority-serving institution, you can frame some kind of sentence like the next-to-last sentence in the letter to discuss (and remind the search committee) how you won't need any "learning curve" time to get used to the local assortment of students, and you can probably phrase it more smoothly.

Anything else different about your school from the ordinary?  If your department uses the new, snazzy Mark II greenhouses, mention that you have experience with that.  If you have a special program that few if any other schools have (a Perfume-Making minor, for instance), mention that you know quite a bit about that program.  Each sentence that you write that seems painfully obvious to you (...have learned where the ladies room is... well, maybe anything BUT that) may be evidence or a reminder that it's one thing that a new outside hire would have to learn that you wouldn't.  I don't think reminding the SC of that would hurt at all.

I'm doing something similar in a letter for a job at a place where I once had a VAP.  One of my references is the department chair there, so I'm cautiously optimistic that I might at least get an interview.

I guess that's what Normative and Undisciplined said, but with more detail.  Anyway, get thee hence and write up a knock-'em-dead letter that would make even a hostile cynical observer feel they'd have to be stupid not to hire you. 

I mean, don't put down as a reason that you've already got a parking sticker, or that it would save time for the people who would have to enter a new hire's personal info into the computer where yours already is, but play up your experience there for sure.

[porcupine]

What everyone else said - great advice. I'd add: remember that they want to be impressed by you again. You know what impresses these people, so give them plenty of what they want. Your letter should show them that your experience in their department has helped you to learn how to be an even better professional than you already were last year, and make it clear to them that you will continue to flourish in their particular department.