next »

[h0tkeys]

I am starting this thread to welcome all of us in the new 2009 TT cohort.

I am in an STEM department in an R1, still thinking of ways to blow my start-up money.  Reappointment in 3 years; tenure comes up in 5-8.
I'm already waking up in the middle of the night thinking about grants and experiments, and I'm getting ~4-5 hours of sleep each night due to career anxiety.  But I'm excited and I love it!

So far most of my time is spent with salespeople trying to get me to spend my money with their companies. 
And 4 grant submissions.  Wrangled 3 students.


Welcome all!

[t_track]

Hi hotkeys,
  I will also be starting a tt-job this fall.  After looking up the acronym, I learned that I too am in a STEM discipline.  I will be at a SLAC in the south, with tenure coming up in 4 years. I've been spending my last remaining months at my post-doc trying to get some papers in the pipeline.  I am VERY excited about my new job, and finally enjoying a brief rest from the anxiety that consumed me during the job hunt.  Best of luck to us all!

[azv105]

Hi t_track and hotkeys
Nice to see you all. Thanks to all the forumites I found a TT position starting this fall. I am in the STEM too, at a SLAC in the North. I teach 4/4 right now and also thinking about research plan to engage undergraduate students.

I got no start up money upfront, but it is probably ok because at this place they have some instruments that are key to my research. I am also trying to collaborate with some huge R1s about 2 hrs drive from my place. Will keep you posted. My tenure comes up in 5 years.

[amiens]

I found a TT position at a nice SLAC.  I'll have a 3/3 and received some start-up money for my research.  My institution puts assistants up for tenure in year six. 

I'm lucky to have a lot of classes under my belt from grad school/VAP work.  I'll be tweaking current preps instead of creating new ones (I will have to do that during year two). 

Right now I'm planning my move and wrapping up my current classes.  I feel very lucky to have secured a good job in such a tight market and I'm excited to start! 

[porcupine]

Thanks for starting this thread, hotkeys! Nice to meet the 2009 cohort. I just got my offer late last week, and am thrilled to be posting here!

I am starting at a wonderful state university system campus in the Midwest this summer. I am in the humanities, but will be in an interdisciplinary department. I am still negotiating my contract, so I will update you on my teaching load as soon as I know what it is!

I have a 6 year tenure clock, and good start-up money, which I am already plotting how to spend.

[lurkergirl]

I am still waiting on the official papers but it seems real enough that I can post here. I'll be at a SLAC (or LAC? what's the dividing line?) and cannot believe my luck. Already been dealing with writing course descriptions for the catalog, scheduling classes, ordering books, etc. so it is very exciting.

[ristretto]

I'm happy to report that I also have a TT job in a STEM field at an R1 starting this fall.  And a few years ago that sentence would have made no sense at all to me.  I'm thrilled, terrified, nervous about a long tenure clock, and still a bit in shock that I ended up with a job at the end of the day.

Good luck to all of us!  Are people thinking about this like a series of sprints or a marathon?

[coastie]

Thanks for starting this thread!  I've been sort of hoping such a thread would appear.

I'm starting a TT job in the humanities at an SLAC; I've got a 6-year tenure clock and a 2/2 load.  Things look good, and it's suddenly become really... real, I guess, what with having to write course descriptions, order books, etc.  I can't seem to wrap my head around all the stuff that has to happen in the next few months: relocating, course planning, job planning (for my SO), and finishing the dissertation. That last one is kind of a big deal. It's going to be a long, hot summer of stress. I hope that all of you are supremely organized and calm in your relocation, planning, and wrapping up activities this summer!

Coastie

[lurkergirl]

Series of sprints vs marathon is an excellent question. I think it's got elements of both. Or maybe like an Ironman Triathlon with multiple events.

[t_track]

I like to think of it as a series of sprints.  I've got the marathon in the back of mind, but I've got to get through each thing.  Selling a house, helping my spouse find employment in New Smaller But Great Town, finishing up a couple of papers, starting a new project, hosting visiting collaborators, looking for living space in NSBGT.  These are the sprints that have to be finished in the next couple of months.  I occasionally do a tally of what I want to get done before tenure review, and I certainly keep that in the back of my head, but I try not to focus on it.  I'm easily overwhelmed. 

[nilmat]

I'll be starting in a STEM field at a large R1 in the south in the fall (1/2, 7 yr clock).  I got my offer last spring and deferred for a year to do a postdoc, so all of my negotiations have been finished for a long time.  I'm very grateful that I've had a year to do things like plan courses and figure out administrative paperwork.  Like hotkeys, I'm planning ways to blow wisely spend the (very generous) pot of startup money I'll be getting.

[everest]

Thanks for starting this board!

I'm also starting a TT job in my social sciences field in the fall. 3/3 load.

Who else is finishing up their dissertation? And have you been in communication with your future "homes" about your progress? I want to email but don't want to freak them out, you know? It'll be DONE a month beforehand, but still. I'm afraid to stir the waters with ANYTHING because of the lousy market/economy/etc. and because I'm SO IN LOVE WITH MY NEW JOB!

[motown]

Hi.

I'm also in the social sciences and starting a tt job at a SLAC. Still waiting on the signed papers.

The fun details: 2 year reappointment, 7 year clock, 3/3 load, good salary, ok startup funds, no moving funds (grrrrr...). Right now, I'm thinking about how to navigate leaving my research firm job (when to tell, how to gracefully turn down proposals, etc), how to move the family, and where to live.  It's not that I'm complaining; I'm very happy to have landed a job in this economy.  A few of the searches to which I applied were canceled due to lack of funds.

m

[h0tkeys]

Congratulations to all on the new job and welcome!  Hopefully our respective institutions will hand out gift bags with handbooks/primers, ipods, perfume, stale peeps, and of course the rules and regulations of getting tenure.  If not we can use the TT fora and its sagacious denizens for guidance.

[monkeywoman]

I'm also extending my gratitude for starting this thread.

I've landed a permanent position in the UK. No tenure system over there, but three years probation and then, something like tenure as you're "in", I guess until you leave or screw up very badly. A little less stressful, I suppose. Very good salary, especially for the UK, not bad teaching load although everyone at my 2/2 research university in the US seems to think 3 full courses a year is tough. I'm inclined to think teaching three full year courses is somewhat easier than instructing 4 different courses in one year, but I'm being optimisitic. And, I have a job so I'm not moaning. All moving expenses paid as well as good research leave and research funding.

The biggest stress is crossing an ocean to start a new job. My summer of packing up from the city I'm in, returning to the city I call home, and making the trip to another country will be a task, so I'm taking the brief break of spring and end of classes to catch my breath before the madness starts. I have adopted a new zen.

Congratulations to all who will be on the t-t in 2009. Not a small accomplishment in this economy.

Z.A.