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[22011297]

I was wondering how many people were able to finish their dissertation after accepting or starting a tenture track job?  Is it standard practice to give new hires a little time to finish? I experienced a somewhat murky communication on that matter and lost the job in question right before the fall semester started.  Does this sort of detail get put in writing (in requirements to accept offer, etc)?

[wanderer]

Say a little more... Were you offered and accepted a tt job and they pulled the offer when you didn't have dissertation done this summer?

The short answer is that it depends on the school.  At one college I had two people I know take tt jobs abd.  In the fourth year both were given notice because they did not have dissertation done.  One did ultimately finish the degree, but had to leave for another school.  If you've lost the job, just keep plugging on the diss.  It's very, very dangerous to go on the job market without the degree in hand.

[22011297]

I was offered a TT job in summer (not this year) in the field of education policy/higher ed. Conversations at the inteviews suggested that they were very hopeful that I would be finished but nothing was put in writing. I did finally finish, but it took a long time after dealing with the loss of a job and scrambling to find something else in the interim.  To make matters worse, I turned down another visiting position to take this offer.  I had rented an apartment, started to work on syllabi and then lost everything right before the semester. I'll admit I had perhaps grown complacent seeing other grad students sail through with ABD situations...and I think my record was ok - with a reasonable amount of publications, teaching experience at large state school. In other words, there was no real reason to suspect I would not complete, and my advisor went to bat for me, discussing the situation with the dean, but he was not moved.

[yellowtractor]

At my last school, successful candidates who were ABD were expected (this was explicit in the contract) to have completed and defended their dissertations by the opening of fall term.  Failure to do so meant immediate conversion of the t.t. contract to an open-ended VAP, with the possibility of the institution pulling the plug at any point.

Of course, a full-time teaching job leaves little time during the teaching term for research or writing.  Many dissertations went unfinished, many plugs were pulled.  Sometimes, due to other factors, the plug was pulled even when the individual did complete the diss.

Wanderer is right.  It depends on the school, and, within a given institution, on the culture and flexibility of any given department.

[seniorscholar]

In my department it goes in the ad and is repeated when an ABD gets as far as the conference interview. The university will not issue a contract if the dissertation is not defended and submitted by the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1). And since there are plenty of applicants in my field, we won't consider anyone unless their supervisor  provides assurance (when we telephone in December before making the conference interview list) that the dissertation will be defended by May at the latest.

Ten years ago the university did as someone has mentioned, and converted jobs to one-year VAP positions if the defense was not complete by the time the fall semester started. Turned out that several people (in other departments) were let go just about every year because unfinished by the end of their first year, and the provost decided not to waste money on searches that had to be re-done the following year.

[22011297]

That's interesting...nothing was ever put in writing about the dissertation being finished in my case.  When are contracts typically sent and signed?  It was a pretty difficult time for me, having to move (with no money and essentially no real contract) only to find out that there was an extra unwritten stipulation thrown in that would have perhaps changed my decision to take the job.  Thanks for all your comments, as I've been stewing about this for a while and it helps to put it in perspective. 

[yellowtractor]

Some schools issue contracts at the point where the job deal is made (i.e., they send a formal letter of offer and you formally accept it).  At many schools, however, formal contracts are not issued or signed until the summer immediately preceding employment.

If the requirement that you complete and defend your Ph.D. was in neither the job ad nor the contract you signed, then legally, of course, it's not a condition of employment--at least in terms of your having already served a year.  Of course, in the early stages of the t.t. many schools can let you go for any (or no) reason at all.  Frankly, it sounds to me as if you were ignoring the warning signals, though without reference to the "somewhat murky communication" you mention in your first post it's hard to be sure.

OP, I'm still not clear on your current situation.  You say you did complete the diss., lost one job, and scrambled (successfully?) to find another.  Are you in jeopardy in your new job for some reason, or are you simply looking for reassurance in terms of your former employer's conduct?

[22011297]

Yes, Yellowtractor, you are right -- I was ignoring the signs and got a huge dose of reality.  My visiting position was extended through a very generous offer, which got me through that year. I have since lost my taste for the job market and I am not willing anymore to leave everything and go where the jobs are. While I managed to finally finish my dissertation (ok, it took me longer than I thought it would) and get a few more interviews, I have successfully transitioned to grant writing.

[yellowtractor]

Yes, Yellowtractor, you are right -- I was ignoring the signs and got a huge dose of reality.  My visiting position was extended through a very generous offer, which got me through that year. I have since lost my taste for the job market and I am not willing anymore to leave everything and go where the jobs are. While I managed to finally finish my dissertation (ok, it took me longer than I thought it would) and get a few more interviews, I have successfully transitioned to grant writing.

...Oooh, how excellent!  If you're good, in the long run the schools that stiffed you will be begging you to return, in that other capacity.

[dr_zack]

All I can say - given that I'm just starting a TT position, is that there is no way I'd also want the pressure of finishing my dissertation in my life!  Ugh!  Uck.

[blue_pez]

I was hired this spring ABD.  It was a concern, but I made sure everyone understood that I would be finished on time.  The policy at my new school gave me one year from the date of hire to finish, although, I was told, I'd be in trouble if it even came close to that.  Ended up defending a few days after my official start date. 

[canadatourismguy]

At my institution, if I finished I was an assistant professor, if I did not by the beginning of the school year I would be brought down to instructor (and a pay drop of $15,000).  Man, was that an incentive to get finished up!

CTG

[22011297]

How would they have handled your tenure track progress if you had taken a year to complete and had become an instructor?  Would that have meant one less year to get tenure? I thought it a bit strange that they wouldn't have even offered me another option (instructor) --unless they already had someone in mind to fill the position.

[mended_drum]

How would they have handled your tenure track progress if you had taken a year to complete and had become an instructor?  Would that have meant one less year to get tenure? I thought it a bit strange that they wouldn't have even offered me another option (instructor) --unless they already had someone in mind to fill the position.

At my institution, you would indeed be pushed back a year if you were ABD when the position started (and therefore an instructor with a lower pay and benefits rate).  You only get converted to tt once the diss is done.