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[11227912]

Good afternoon all,

I hope to be able to get some insight and advice for a buddy of mine who reads my Chronicle, but is too cheap to purchase her own! :)

Anyway, she has a tenure track position that disallows any other teaching responsibilities (pretty common I think). However she is a finalist for another full time position outside of teaching that fits her class and advising schedule perfectly. This came up in a Chronicle article a few weeks ago, asking about academics and their abuse of the flexible schedule. The consensus in the comments there was that many of us on the TT need the money, and should be allowed to work a second job.

Not that it matters but she is a single mom, and the outside job would improve her finances a great deal, as well as compliment her skills and abilities. How could she best go about working both jobs without raising a stink? She is a young faculty member and is very career conscious, just trying to make ends meet.

[zelter]

As long as it complements her position and is not contractually prohibited- do it.

[canadatourismguy]

As long as she is sure she is putting in the time necessary to get her tenure.  I could not imagine having a 2nd full time position and still having enough time to balance family and tenure expectations.

CTG

[jacaranda_]

I think this is tricky, especially if she lives in a mid-sized or small community.  Unless she's living in a major city, someone on her campus is bound to find out, and it sounds like the culture on her campus discourages moonlighting, even if it is specifically secondary teaching jobs that are prohibited.  It could certainly have negative repercussions for tenure review, especially if there are any complaints from students that she is not available enough or takes a long time returning work.  

A full-time job in addition to her full-time tenure track job and raising a child?  That sounds really inadvisable and possibly crazy making, unless the second job is, I don't know, working as a security guard where she'll be able to do her teaching work at the same time.  I am very sympathetic to the financial burdens she is facing, but that sounds like an awful lot of strain for a single parent.  

At what kind of institution does she teach?  What is her teaching load and research expectations for tenure?  How long has she been teaching on the tenure-track?  It's hard for me to imagine circumstances under which any normal mortal could handle all that without having a breakdown or becoming really ill.  I hope she can work something out.

[11227912]

The jobs are located about an hour apart, so I would say mid-sized. Her students are adults and don't typically meet with her on campus during the daytime at all. Her classes are weekend based, and the student meetings/advising take place then.

She will have support in place in the town where the second job is, and so the child care issue is somewhat addressed.

Her campus does discourage moonlighting, however her contract says no outside teaching, and the other position she is chasing is not teaching. All this to say, she is trying to balance her professional and finanical future with the right choices.

She is also not sure if the second job will be OK keeping her teaching job in addition to theirs. How should she approach them?

[charlesr]

OP, your friend does not have to subscribe in order to read and post to these boards. 

I think this is a bad idea for the reasons others have mentioned.  If she does take the second job, she needs to be open and honest with all parties.  Sooner or later a conflict will arise such as a mandatory meeting or other event.  She will be found out. 

[zharkov]

She is also not sure if the second job will be OK keeping her teaching job in addition to theirs. How should she approach them?

If offered the job, make it clear she has a weekend teaching gig, so she will not be available to work any weekends.  It is likely something that can be negotiated, but make sure to make it clear up front. Some "weekday" jobs have expectations of weekend duties from time to time.

[pedanterast]

For a single mom to work two full-time jobs is absolutely nucking futs.  And with a two-hour commute?  Both will suffer.  It's a short-sighted career move that will backfire sooner rather than later.  Insane.

[wegie]

In my last three posts *all* outside employment was at the discretion of the Head of Department, and was in any case limited to a maximum of 30 days a year. If her department and university is anything like my last ones were (and the "no other teaching" rule suggests strongly that it is) she is a constructive dismissal case waiting to happen.

Make sure she has a very good employment lawyer go over the contract terms of each job with a fine tooth comb.

[clean]

From my short time on the T&P committee, I hear this phrase bouncing in my head, "IF she has time to work another job, she has time to publish".

The university will always do what it thinks is in its best interest.  That may or may not be in her best interest.  They may not think that it looks good that someone can not survive on the wage they pay them and has to find an additional job.  They may allow her to find a wage more fitting to her situation and find another who can more happily live on the university's dime.  (Cheaper than giving her a raise).

I suppose that the bottom line is that if she is looking for an additional job, she should be looking for an other one too.  I dont see how she can raise a child, teach, commute, work another job and publish without doing at least one poorly.  My guess is that publishing is what she is giving up, which means she is getting paid for work not being done for the university.  The university job has a research requirement, Im sure.  The time she is working for job 2 is time the university expects her to be publishing.  (We should be publishing when we sleep and shower... which is good because several good ideas have occurred in the shower... some have resulted in more children... and the cycle continues).

REFRAIN:
If she has time to work another job, she has time to publish

[jacaranda_]

Does she teach at a community college?  I don't know of any traditional schools where a tt faculty member would teach only on the weekends.  If that's the case, then there may not be much expectation for her to publish, but then she would have a pretty large teaching load (4-5 classes) with a ton of students.

However, I think we're rolling around a lot of speculation here, and some of the details are a bit confusing.  At this point, instead of trying to channel this discussion through the OP, it might make more sense for her to do what was suggested upthread, which is simply to sign on and actually participate in this conversation if she would like our advice.

[donstefano]

My best financial investment thus far has been to publish, publish, publish, and get a promotion and a big pay raise. An academic job is full time

[rekishi]

Many schools also offer teaching overloads and summer courses that are legitimate ways to make extra money (and will not cause T&P problems). The second job just sounds like trouble in the making.

That said, I have worked various part time jobs during Christmas and summer breaks to bring in extra money (and kept the quiet). I feel your friend's financial pain. However, most faculty jobs pay well enough that a second full time job is not necessary as long as you do not live an extravagant lifestyle.