next »

[coolmist]

Hello everyone,

I am planning to move to a Lecturer position from a TT position for family reasons and just had two interviews. I am not familiar with post-interview business in this context and am hoping to educate myself before they get back to me (hopefully with good news).

Here is my question: provided that I pay for travel expenses, is it normal/acceptable to visit the univ for the second time before accepting an offer? I know this is sometimes done for TT search (in this case, paid by the univ), but I've never heard this being done for Lec search. 

I frequently visit the city the universities are located for family reasons, and it is not a problem for me to pay for all the travel expenses. If possible, I would like to visit the campus again and meet some people I didn't get to see at the interview.

If this is unacceptable even if the univ doesn't pay for this, I'd rather not bring this up at all. I very much appreciate your input.

[untenured]

A second visit is not the norm, but it is not highly unusual.  I would focus on the fact that a second interview implies a serious interest in you as a candidate.  You travel to the location and want to meet other people.  That's all the better.

Don't fret about whether this is normal.  Apparently it is normal for this institution.  Go to the second interview and close the deal.  Good luck!

[helpful]

They already had the second interview. They want to know whether returning to the campus again to talk to people (on their own dime) is ok.

[coolmist]

Hi,

I realized that my original message was a bit confusing. "2 interviews" are at two different universities (1 interview/instituion), and I am now waiting to hear from these two universities.

I'd like to know IF I receive an offer, would it be acceptable to visit the campus before I accept the offer? All the travel expenses will be paid by me.

Sorry for the confusion.

[helpful]

Yes if it was done in a timely manner. I imagine they would want to settle the position quickly.

[untenured]

Hi,

I realized that my original message was a bit confusing. "2 interviews" are at two different universities (1 interview/instituion), and I am now waiting to hear from these two universities.

I'd like to know IF I receive an offer, would it be acceptable to visit the campus before I accept the offer? All the travel expenses will be paid by me.

Sorry for the confusion.

Ok I see.  Thanks for the clarification.

If you request another 'formal' visit with a schedule and appointment times, that might annoy the search committee.  They might say to themselves, "Coolmist came to campus.  We gave her an offer.  Now what does she want?"  It puts the school in the awkward position of performing for your consent.

An 'informal' visit might not be a problem.  Quietly come to campus and meet with someone there who you know or trust.  That seems low profile enough.

Can you gather the information you need without requiring such a visit?  What is it you want to know that you haven't learned already?

Oh, and the interviews you had ... were they phone interviews or have you already been to campus?  If the former is true, then these visits make a lot more sense.  Above, I was assuming the latter.

[midwestgrad]

I'm with untenured on this, as an initial reaction.  If there is a person you really want to meet, you could just shoot that person an e-mail, say in a friendly and casual way that you're going to be in town on unrelated business and would like to buy him/her coffee and have a chat.  I wouldn't even mention the offer.

[coolmist]

A Happy New Year, everyone.

untenured, they were campus interviews, and I am now waiting to hear their decision.

I understand how a request for another formal visit may annoy people. Yes, I'd be annoyed if I were a SC member....thanks for pointing this out. I won't ask for that.

I don't know anybody personally. What do I want to know....well, for example, I'd like to talk to the person who is currently holding the position that I applied for (hu is leaving the position for a family reason, I heard); I got to talk to the person for only a few minutes during the interview. I also would like to speak to another person who has similar job responsibilities in the department; I didn't get to meet that person.

Actually, I don't really need to visit the campus. I'd be happy if I could talk to them over the phone. But I feel I should get the chair's permission to do so. 

 

[seniorscholar]

Actually, I don't really need to visit the campus. I'd be happy if I could talk to them over the phone. But I feel I should get the chair's permission to do so. 
 

This strikes me as odd. As soon as we make an offer to someone but before the details are worked out and the paperwork signed, the sc chair or dept chair puts a message on the department listserv to announce that the offer has been made to Candidate Y (e:mail  zzy@some.edu) and urges people to make friendly contact if appropriate. People in the same field or with other connections (e.g., the person who chatted with the candidate about schools while slogging across campus to the next stop on the visit list) generally do so: it's part of "recruiting" a candidate the department liked and voted for. And we would, of course, respond to an e-mail from the candidate who has received an offer (although almost certainly we would not respond if we had not been notified of the offer).

[untenured]

I don't know if contacting the chair is necessary first.  If these individuals were a part of your interview process, they are 'fair game' for brief and polite follow up contact.  This may differ from school to school, however.

Keep in mind the relevance of this information.  Assume you get an offer, is there anything reasonably possible that these two people could tell you that would cause you to reject the offer outright?  If the answer is no, then the information does not terribly matter.

[sagit]

Hello guys.....!
first of all Happy new year.I am also understand how a request for another formal visit may annoy people.
I have no need to  visit the campus. I am happy to talk on cell phone But I feel I should get the chair's permission to do so.Have a good day...@

Is this some weird kind of spam?