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[grendels_mother]

I wondered if anyone might have any advice or experiences to share about making the transition from adjunct to tenure-track at the same school.  I’m about to do it this fall and I’m somewhat nervous about beginning my tenure track job with adjunct baggage. Frankly, I’ve  felt quite looked down upon during the past few years I’ve spent adjuncting here, but I don’t want to let all of that history get in the way of my starting off on the right foot or participating as fully as I might.   This particular position will have me split between two departments.  In my “home” department I feel like I can make a fresh start (I haven’t really had the chance to interact with anyone there before), but I’ll have to interact with/teach in my current department pretty frequently, too. 

[ursula]

I wondered if anyone might have any advice or experiences to share about making the transition from adjunct to tenure-track at the same school.  I’m about to do it this fall and I’m somewhat nervous about beginning my tenure track job with adjunct baggage. Frankly, I’ve  felt quite looked down upon during the past few years I’ve spent adjuncting here, but I don’t want to let all of that history get in the way of my starting off on the right foot or participating as fully as I might.   This particular position will have me split between two departments.  In my “home” department I feel like I can make a fresh start (I haven’t really had the chance to interact with anyone there before), but I’ll have to interact with/teach in my current department pretty frequently, too. 

BTDT. Here's what I learned:

1) get out and do service, on committees outside your department.  Many people there won't know about your shameful past and will act like you're a regular professor.

2) Work like a maniac; you'll want to better than anyone in your department at teaching and research.  It may not be 100% necessary in your case (it was in mine) but you want to be unassailable in case your department has or hires anyone who looks down on former adjuncts.

I'm sorry I can't tell you it will be all rainbows and kittens.  It is a tough situation, although it's better than unemployment or staying an adjunct.  Once you have tenure, though, the kittens will just start falling from the sky for you.

[svenc]

I wondered if anyone might have any advice or experiences to share about making the transition from adjunct to tenure-track at the same school.  I’m about to do it this fall and I’m somewhat nervous about beginning my tenure track job with adjunct baggage. Frankly, I’ve  felt quite looked down upon during the past few years I’ve spent adjuncting here, but I don’t want to let all of that history get in the way of my starting off on the right foot or participating as fully as I might.   This particular position will have me split between two departments.  In my “home” department I feel like I can make a fresh start (I haven’t really had the chance to interact with anyone there before), but I’ll have to interact with/teach in my current department pretty frequently, too. 

I'm not saying this impression isn't valid, but the proof is in the pudding: Your current institution and colleagues thought highly enough of you to offer you a tenure-track position.  Even if your home department is different from the one where you have done the bulk of your adjuncting, you can bet your donkey that the search committee sought out feedback from your current colleagues.  If it weren't good, you presumably wouldn't have the tenure-track job for the fall.

In any case: Congratulations!

I'm sorry I can't tell you it will be all rainbows and kittens.  It is a tough situation, although it's better than unemployment or staying an adjunct.  Once you have tenure, though, the kittens will just start falling from the sky for you.

So much cute animal death around here these days.  Sigh.

[ursula]

I wondered if anyone might have any advice or experiences to share about making the transition from adjunct to tenure-track at the same school.  I’m about to do it this fall and I’m somewhat nervous about beginning my tenure track job with adjunct baggage. Frankly, I’ve  felt quite looked down upon during the past few years I’ve spent adjuncting here, but I don’t want to let all of that history get in the way of my starting off on the right foot or participating as fully as I might.   This particular position will have me split between two departments.  In my “home” department I feel like I can make a fresh start (I haven’t really had the chance to interact with anyone there before), but I’ll have to interact with/teach in my current department pretty frequently, too. 

I'm not saying this impression isn't valid, but the proof is in the pudding: Your current institution and colleagues thought highly enough of you to offer you a tenure-track position.  Even if your home department is different from the one where you have done the bulk of your adjuncting, you can bet your donkey that the search committee sought out feedback from your current colleagues.  If it weren't good, you presumably wouldn't have the tenure-track job for the fall.

In any case: Congratulations!

I'm sorry I can't tell you it will be all rainbows and kittens.  It is a tough situation, although it's better than unemployment or staying an adjunct.  Once you have tenure, though, the kittens will just start falling from the sky for you.

So much cute animal death around here these days.  Sigh.

No, I didn't mean the kittens would die!  I pictured them parachuting down from a hot air balloon to land gently in the OP's lap and cavort in the grass around hus feet!

[svenc]

No, I didn't mean the kittens would die!  I pictured them parachuting down from a hot air balloon to land gently in the OP's lap and cavort in the grass around hus feet!

Well it's too late now, at least for my poor traumatized imagination.

Splat, splat.

[prof_smartypants]

Now I'm having visions of the WKRP thanksgiving episode... you know the one. Thanks.

My current diss adviser did this. Obviously, I don't know your personal baggage, but the good news is that your students already know you, you're classes, and your style. You know that you are successful, because otherwise you wouldn't have gotten the job. just do your best to remind your colleagues that you "count" and don't let them bully you. You already know the system, so you're way ahead of most new TT profs.

[glowdart]

We have hired probably five or six of our adjuncts into FT lines in the past few years.  I was not one of those people, but I can tell you that one potentially awkward thing that I can see from my obviously limited position is that they have now become the unofficial "voice of all adjuncts" when people need to know what the adjunct pool might be thinking about a particular topic. 

Oh, and the ones who were hired with me got an ovation at new faculty orientation for having gotten off of the adjunct merry-go-round.  Actually, we on the new faculty pumped that pair for a lot of information since they knew the ropes and the campus. 

Everyone we've hired since then has had to deal with a certain amount of "isn't it nice to not share an office?" and "what do you do with all that time now that you're not driving around the state to four different campuses?" ribbing, but that's all been good natured. 

[aneumey]

In some ways it might now be as bad as you think.  I was adjunct at my current school, left for a year, and came back TT.  It was amazing hwo many people who acted like I didn't exist or were extremely condescending came up an introduced themselves as if they had never seen me before.

[sinenomine]

I went from adjunct to full-time at my current school, and was welcomed warmly.  I did make it a point to be seen in my office and at campus events (very important in this school's culture), rather than hightailing it off campus as I had when I was an adjunct.  I found the transition to be quite smooth, since I was already quite familiar with the school, its resources, and personnel.

[charlesr]

I made this transition a few years ago and it has never been an issue.  Honestly, I never even thought about it until now.

[grendels_mother]

It really helps to hear that other people have been through this and survived.  Thanks, guys.