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[charlesr]

We have occasional committee meetings and and advisement duties over the summer.  In 6 years the most it has ever amounted to for me was one afternoon a month.  I would never alter travel plans to do any of this nor would I be expected to. 

[polly_mer]

We have a large number of non-TT-but-full-time-and-unlikely-to-be-non-renewed-except-for-cause folks.  The expectations for both those non-TT and TT folks are as Vox explained: nobody cares exactly what you do in the summer, but part of your annual review is keeping a professional profile that includes teaching, research, and/or service that is to the profession or a relevant community as outreach rather than being a good meeting attender on campus. 

While in theory one could keep a high-enough professional profile by working like a demon during the 10-month contract and spending the summer on vacation, in practice, people who want to continue to be employed spend a significant part of the summer doing research, teaching that is different than their academic-year teaching (running summer "camps" is popular for either reaching K-12 students or providing a college experience for field work), or other professional activities, even if those activities are unpaid.  We have very few graduate programs, but doing undergraduate research is encouraged and that proceeds much better in the summer when students don't have all those pesky classes to attend.

[mended_drum]

We have few if any expectations for summer work, and some people disappear.  If there are committee meetings or workshops, faculty almost always get at least a nominal amount of pay for the extra work.  I usually teach summer school, but that's voluntary.

There are departments and programs that demand more of faculty, but I'm not a part of them.

[geonerd]

At my university the department chairs, who are paid summer salary, are the only ones with a summer contract stipulating that they will be on campus from X am to Y pm for N days per week.

I'm on a 10-month contract. For me, working with my thesis advisees goes on year-round, with field work or lab-intensive mentoring taking place in the summer. I try to make up for lost time with my advisees in the summer, as classroom teaching during the academic year trumps my teaching-time dedicated to my research advisees.  I'm a DGS, and there is an unwritten expectation that I will meet with prospective students and give tours of the department during the summer. I'm OK with that, as it gives me a chance to evaluate candidates and match a face with an application.

I politely decline requests or hints to get involved with anything else.

[minimimi]

I answered "other." While almost everyone in my department is on nine-month contracts, and many disappear for the summer, some do stick around for thesis advising. As a member of at least one underrepresented group on campus, I've been called upon to serve on fairly labor-intensive committees. Twice I've served on summer searches for VAPs. During the school year I get to do the tt-flavor of this work. W00t. </s>

But seriously, stuff needs to get done, and my department--heck, my uni--needs to get more "diverse" right quick, since the same people keep getting tapped to do these kinds of service, which can be a bit of a drain on the other things one might need for tenure. And when you don't have tenure, it's not as if you can say "no" while continuing to squirrel yourself away in your overly air-conditioned office to revise your book.

[newhere]

Wow - shocker reading other people's experiences on this board.  My contract has no relation to the cultural expectation of my institution.  Technically I am 'not obligated' to work during summer, and am in a 9-month position.  In reality - most people in my department do not even take 2 weeks of summer holiday, and most are paid 2-3 months in summer from grants.  If you don't have the money in grants, you still sure as he** can't just take that time off or you will never publish enough (or bring in enough money) to be tenurable.  So I work, 9-5 at least, all summer, with the exception of 2.5 weeks of holiday w/ my family.  At the moment, I only have sufficient funds to pay myself 1 month off a grant for the summer work time.  So I work 1+ month unpaid.

[totoro]

Wow - shocker reading other people's experiences on this board.  My contract has no relation to the cultural expectation of my institution.  Technically I am 'not obligated' to work during summer, and am in a 9-month position.  In reality - most people in my department do not even take 2 weeks of summer holiday, and most are paid 2-3 months in summer from grants.  If you don't have the money in grants, you still sure as he** can't just take that time off or you will never publish enough (or bring in enough money) to be tenurable.  So I work, 9-5 at least, all summer, with the exception of 2.5 weeks of holiday w/ my family.  At the moment, I only have sufficient funds to pay myself 1 month off a grant for the summer work time.  So I work 1+ month unpaid.

I don't think anyone here is saying that they don't do research in the summer the question is whether they do anything else besides their own research.

[oatmeal]

Wow - shocker reading other people's experiences on this board.  My contract has no relation to the cultural expectation of my institution.  Technically I am 'not obligated' to work during summer, and am in a 9-month position.  In reality - most people in my department do not even take 2 weeks of summer holiday, and most are paid 2-3 months in summer from grants.  If you don't have the money in grants, you still sure as he** can't just take that time off or you will never publish enough (or bring in enough money) to be tenurable.  So I work, 9-5 at least, all summer, with the exception of 2.5 weeks of holiday w/ my family.  At the moment, I only have sufficient funds to pay myself 1 month off a grant for the summer work time.  So I work 1+ month unpaid.

I don't think anyone here is saying that they don't do research in the summer the question is whether they do anything else besides their own research.

Exactly. Most faculty carry out research and work on grants. I suspect a few do nothing, work related, over the summer, and that is their right too.

[science_expat]

Interesting thread.

In the UK we're paid for 12 months and hence there is an expectation that everyone works for part of the summer. But, at least at my place, some people just disappear completely and these tend to be the ones who aren't active researchers.

[southerntransplant]

We're on 12 month contracts. If we don't have sufficient summer support, it is possible to reduce it and thus get out of onerous non-research-related activity.

[sagit]

I'm on a 9-month contract and would love to just spend the summer doing research and going to conferences.  Unfortunately, I also have to advise current and prospective students in a professional program. I find this rather annoying as I am not paid for this yet most of my colleagues do not have this responsibility.  I tried to get out of it once but my Chair said I needed to keep advising over the summer.  Bleh.  I wouldn't mind if this was about something interesting, like research or a professional project.  But it is mostly about things like classes and admission requirements. 

I did refuse to go to meetings for a committee last summer.  The chair of the committee is a non-faculty, 12-month contract person.  I just said I was unavailable at the meeting time and assume the other faculty members of the committee did likewise. 

[wellfleet]

The last few summers, I've gotten internal funding to do summer research with undergrads, which has also led to publications for me. This summer, I'm taking a long vacation, during which time I'll occasionally muse about an upcoming project, and I will bar myself from campus for a couple of months. I'm tired.

[biomancer]

I'm a TT lab scientist, so I'm expected to be on campus in my lab doing work towards publication.  I'm taking on a couple students to be extra hands (and hopefully they'll learn quite a bit along the way).  Usually I'm there 4 days a week, so that I have some time at home when I can be writing (or doing other things) without student interruption.

The TT folks who are not laboratory-bound don't have to be physically on campus, but are expected to answer emails and show up for meetings.  TT folk at my campus are on 12-month contracts.