next »

[mj_romo]

I had a terrible experience as a VAP at the CC I enjoyed working at most.

Last summer, I interviewed for 2 t-t positions at this CC.  Apparently, when we were ranked, I was the #4 pick.  The #1 pick had been a VAP for the dept the year prior, as had the #2 pick.  #2 was offered a position at a school closer to her home and went with that, so #3 (who had been a VAP at another local school) took the second spot.  I was offered the VAP position as a consolation and with the promise that it was a stepping-stone position to the t-t spots up this year.

I worked my butt off, joined 3 committees, had people come watch me teach, got to know everyone.  When the positions were flown, as I started watching other schools for positions, I was assured that I didn't need to bother with any other applications.  Messages were passed to me from people on the hiring committee that I was a shoe-in for the positions; I was the #1 pick for the dept.  Friends in other departments on campus were congratulating me because they'd heard I would be the choice.

I did apply at other locations within the area, but I didn't get a single interview.  Where I live, it's often known who is going to be chosen for a position before they even fly them, so I assumed I didn't get calls because I was going to get this t-t position; I know other people that this has happened to.  Two days before the interview, people were joking that it was going to be such a breeze for me. 

Well, I didn't even make it to the second round of interviews.   

And now, I am teaching a summer class and find myself being avoided by my colleagues.  I get the impression quite strongly that people are going out of their way to not see me.

On top of that, I have been trying to contact some of my colleagues to get letters of reference, which I now need so I can find work for fall, and people are not returning my emails or phone calls.

I honestly have no idea what happened or what I did wrong. 

[conjugate]

I had a terrible experience as a VAP at the CC I enjoyed working at most.

snip:

And now, I am teaching a summer class and find myself being avoided by my colleagues.  I get the impression quite strongly that people are going out of their way to not see me.

On top of that, I have been trying to contact some of my colleagues to get letters of reference, which I now need so I can find work for fall, and people are not returning my emails or phone calls.

I honestly have no idea what happened or what I did wrong. 

Probably you did nothing wrong.  That's why they won't talk to you.  They screwed up, or wimped out, or Candidate #1 came back and suckered them into offering him/her the T/T appointment, or something equally improbable. I think it's disgusting, it's unethical, and probably there's not much you can do about it except hunt down the dept. chair (at home if need be) and have a frank talk with him/her about what to do.  In particular, that person needs to tell you to your face that you will or won't get a letter of recommendation, and why.

If you had done something wrong, somebody would have come to you and said, "Oh, my God, what were you thinking when you...."  Or it would be apparent that you had mortally offended the Dean's partner or accidentally said something unforgivable about the President's pet project, or whatever.  I'm so sorry this has happened to you, and I hope you can get someone on the faculty to go to bat for you.  Start making appointments to see anybody you can talk to about this, because this is the kind of thing your school really needs to face up to.  Somebody in administration or on the staff should be able to get you something in the way of a letter.  If there is a local lawyer you can talk to without having to pay an initial consultation fee, go talk to him or her about whether the things you were told constituted a promise.  Don't mention the lawyer to people at your school, because I suspect that the silence is due to their worry that you're going to sue, and any confirmation of this will simply make them clam up even more.  Maybe offer to go quietly if they'll supply you with glowing letters, and see if that will help?  What do other forumites think?

[madhatter]

This may be a little tangential, but I'm curious about a situation a friend of mine is in.

Let's call my friend Dr. Finally. Dr. Finally earned a Ph.D. in a not-particularly-in-demand humanities field a few years ago. Dr. F went to a fine school, but he did not have a very auspicious academic career. Frankly, Dr. F took quite a bit of time to complete his degree, did not publish much research, and did quite a bit of student teaching and adjunct work along the way. When he finally got on the job market, the results were unsurprising. His only offer was a VAP at a large public university. He's been back on the job market, but nothing better has come along, so Dr. Finally is in his third year of this VAP. He feels this is going to lead to a TT position either at the large public school or elsewhere.

So, wise forumites, here are my questions. How long can Dr. Finally stay in his VAP position? He likes it, they seem to like him, but do these things have firm time limits? What are the chances that the large public school will want to convert a VAP into a TT position? Is Dr. Finally, with his lengthy time-to-degree, modest publishing record, and history of adjunct and VAP teaching, competitive in the TT market these days, or is he getting less so all the time?

[dr_dre]

If there is a local lawyer you can talk to without having to pay an initial consultation fee, go talk to him or her about whether the things you were told constituted a promise.  Don't mention the lawyer to people at your school, because I suspect that the silence is due to their worry that you're going to sue, and any confirmation of this will simply make them clam up even more.  Maybe offer to go quietly if they'll supply you with glowing letters, and see if that will help?  What do other forumites think?

People say encouraging things to adjuncts and VAPs all the time and they are almost always meaningless, as many threads here show. Even when folks have good intentions, they often end up being wrong. I think that warning adjuncts and VAPs always to cultivate a backup plan is one of the best services this site provides.

I hope you find a good position soon, mj_romo. The situation sucks, and I'm terribly sorry this happened to you. Are you tied to your region, or can you go on the national job market?

[pandora]

So, wise forumites, here are my questions. How long can Dr. Finally stay in his VAP position? He likes it, they seem to like him, but do these things have firm time limits? What are the chances that the large public school will want to convert a VAP into a TT position? Is Dr. Finally, with his lengthy time-to-degree, modest publishing record, and history of adjunct and VAP teaching, competitive in the TT market these days, or is he getting less so all the time?

The VAP position is definitely limited, in many cases to 3 or 4 years.  With the national economy circling the drain, it is less likely that a public U will be able to hold on to the VAP and convert it to a TT.  Urge your friend to get at least one major article submission sent out this summer before going on the job market next fall (don't wait).  And no matter how much his colleagues may like him, if there is a TT search, a search committee is going to like the impressive c.v.s of other candidates a lot more.  He's certainly not out of the running in the job market, but he has to make some definite changes right now.  It will be much easier for him to get another position if he hasn't already lost this one.

ps:  how do we make this a sticky thread?

[zharkov]

 What are the chances that the large public school will want to convert a VAP into a TT position?

It depends on why they don't have a TT slot.  Is the VAP owing to people being on sabbatical?  Or is it a sort of glorified adjunct job?

Whatever the reason, if they do add a TT line, the U will almost certainly advertise it, and as the insider may or may not have a decent shot at that TT job. 

[seniorscholar]

Many large public universities (such as mine) use VAP positions, limited to 5 years max, to get the basic courses in English, math, and such fields taught -- even with graduate students to teach one section apiece, in my English department, there remain about 200 sections of first-year comp to be taught every semester, and there is no way on earth that we could get a budget for 60-some tenure-track people to teach the sections, nor would any of them who happened to achieve the book required for tenure then be willing to go on teaching comp all the time. The most humane solution is to have full-time VAPs (rather than adjuncts); they have a decent salary, full benefits, and (if they take the offer) some mentoring from TT faculty on writing and job searching. And every year some who have reached year 5 firmly convinced that they're such good teachers we'll keep them around have a rude awakening when they discover the university will not do that. They are perfectly free to apply for any TT positions we advertise, but (as others have said) they virtually never have the c.v. we're looking for. (We do offer a limited number of the VAP positions to our own recent PhDs, as a sort of post-doc, and we do manage to twist the arms of our own students, usually, to get those publications out there so they do get a job at some other school in two years or so.)

After a number of years as a VAP, your friend will be competing with people who are the same number of years beyond a PhD who have been publishing. Which will look better to a search committee?

But for the basic question, "how many years will the VAP last?" -- that question depends on the rules and practices of the school and the department in question, and can be answered ONLY by the chair of the department, who will know if they are ever renewed beyond three years, or five years, or whatever. If the person in question is not willing to ask the chair that question, I'd judge that the chances of winning a TT position (if one were to be searched) are somewhere well below zero.

[madhatter]

Thank you for the insights. It sounds like my friend still has a chance for the career he wants, but he has to get his ass in gear because the clock is running out.

[porcupine]

Just chiming in with a virtual hug for mj_romo. I don't think there's anything wrong with taking legal advice, but I don't know that you have much chance of recompense where this department is concerned.

I think (unfortunately) that you're better off speaking calmly but firmly with your chair and the faculty who observed your teaching, explaining that you need to build a strong set of application materials for your job search next year and asking them whether they would be willing to write on your behalf. No matter how the search turned out, you can be proud of the good work you've done for the department - so you shouldn't be afraid to ask for strong letters.

madhatter, your friend Dr. Finally needs, like me, to publish more. Try for articles in well-respected journals over the summer, and try for an advance book contract if you're ready. Dr. Finally can join us on the Manuscript Writers' Support Thread (where for once nobody cares whether you're on the tt or not!).

[pandora]

Hey, look everybody!  It's a sticky topic!  Lesson for today about the mods:  ask and they shall stick a virtual thumbtack in your thread.  Thanks, mods!

Now back to the trials of VAPdom....

[mj_romo]

If you had done something wrong, somebody would have come to you and said, "Oh, my God, what were you thinking when you...." 

Someone finally did do this; she said I was abrupt and flustered in the interview, and she was really surprised.

What she was not aware of was that there were some time-limit discrepancies that I was given in the proceedure that resulted in my giving briefer and more abrupt answers than I normally would have.  I was told at the start of the interview that I had less time than what was published and asked to confine my answers to 2-3 minutes.  This was after my pre-interview activity had been cut short by 15 minutes.

When I asked what she would suggest I do in this case, she was conflicted.  She knew those discrepancies go completely against hiring proceedure, but she also said if I complained, I'd be blackballed.

[jester17]

Boy -- hearing all these horror stories really makes me feel lucky: My VAP starts this Aug.; I start my pay sched. in July. The dept. has been very upfront and honest about A) their desire to "get more from the position than one year," but that B) it's probably not possible. My new dept. chair has told me I'm worthwhile to the dept. because, "(I) can do what we can't." Nice relocation and prof. development $$$; dept. is small, and has folks from three Ivy league schools; students are already asking about me.

Any (further) advice on how to "convince" my new associates I'd be a worthwhile perm. lecturer, something I'd be quite happy doing? Private college, humanities dept., NE location...

[pandora]

Boy -- hearing all these horror stories really makes me feel lucky: My VAP starts this Aug.; I start my pay sched. in July. The dept. has been very upfront and honest about A) their desire to "get more from the position than one year," but that B) it's probably not possible. My new dept. chair has told me I'm worthwhile to the dept. because, "(I) can do what we can't." Nice relocation and prof. development $$$; dept. is small, and has folks from three Ivy league schools; students are already asking about me.

Any (further) advice on how to "convince" my new associates I'd be a worthwhile perm. lecturer, something I'd be quite happy doing? Private college, humanities dept., NE location...

The Very Best means of persuasion in this case is to get a job offer from a more prestigious institution next year.  Get everything you can out of this teaching experience and enjoy the generous opportunities you're being offered, but if you've been told up front that they probably can't extend the contract, then you need to take them at their word.  That perverse logic of desire is often at work in these cases in which the more you seem to want the position, the less appealing you will appear to them (hmmm, that sounds like advice that more properly belongs in LHC).

[amiens]

Any (further) advice on how to "convince" my new associates I'd be a worthwhile perm. lecturer, something I'd be quite happy doing? Private college, humanities dept., NE location...

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any real way to go about doing this, because everything is so up in the air.  Your department can want to keep you all they want, but if the higher-ups say it's a no-go, then it's a no-go.  Some departments are in a really awkward situation, for, as I learned this year, the higher-ups can be indecisive and flip-flop on these questions of renewal.  Other departments, like some of the ones mentioned in this thread, just seem cowardly.

I really think that, as a VAP, you have to go in there with the mentality that you will be kept on for the duration of your contract, and anything more is a blessing of fortune.  Even if you are getting all sorts of signals in re: renewal or TT lines, you have to assume that such signals are mostly meaningless.  If you keep on reminding yourself that you owe them whatever teaching and service duties are outlined in the contract and they owe you the resources necessary to perform those duties, nothing more and nothing less, you can spare yourself a lot of grief and hand-wringing.  I probably would have gone insane during this spring's "will it or won't it be renewed" fiasco if I hadn't kept to this mentality.  Most importantly, this mentality kept me from getting angry at the department (and thus upping the probability of doing something unprofessional in the office) when the higher-ups did not approve the budget for renewing my position.  I kept on reminding myself that my department had admirably held up its end of the deal in terms of providing me with resources, respecting my time, respecting my expertise and generally treating me much the same as it treats its tt-faculty. 

[conjugate]

Boy -- hearing all these horror stories really makes me feel lucky: My VAP starts this Aug.; I start my pay sched. in July. The dept. has been very upfront and honest about A) their desire to "get more from the position than one year," but that B) it's probably not possible. My new dept. chair has told me I'm worthwhile to the dept. because, "(I) can do what we can't." Nice relocation and prof. development $$$; dept. is small, and has folks from three Ivy league schools; students are already asking about me.

Any (further) advice on how to "convince" my new associates I'd be a worthwhile perm. lecturer, something I'd be quite happy doing? Private college, humanities dept., NE location...

Sounds like they're convinced.  But do a good job, keep the evaluations high, try to show enthusiasm for the courses you teach, help out other department members when they need help, and you've done about all you can do.  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.