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[cw4ca]

While I'm very happy with my first year of teaching and working, the town and larger metropolitan area is very bland and has not been conducive to any sort of social life. There is a more dynamic and culturally rich metro area about 60 miles away and I'm thinking of commuting next year. I know the driving will be a pain, but the trade offs seem worth it, at least for now.

My question is how the school will look on this. I don't want them to think I'm unhappy with the position. My commute would be about an hour, which because of traffic is the same in minutes as many other profs but much further in terms of miles and a distinctly different metro area. The administration talks a lot about building a campus community and my cultural life would certainly be a different focus than the school community.

Any thoughts, wise ones? Am I worrying too much about nothing? Is it none of their business where I live?

[glowdart]

I suspect that this is one of the answers that depends quite a bit on the peculiarities of your school and possibly your department.   

What do the rest of your colleagues do?  Does anyone else live in this metro area?  Ask around campus. 

And then through some of the other discussions we've had on long commutes; I remember many of them end up with tips on how to counteract perceptions that your distance from campus makes you a service slacker. 

[prytania3]

60 miles door to door is no hour. You be dreaming.

[aside]

If others find the contrast between Blandtown and Dynamictown to be as significant as you say, then some of your colleagues will have been lured to live in Dynamictown.  They should be able to advise you about your particular administration.  You likely will get mixed reactions here.

[brixton]

Just make sure you don't use your commute to get out of department requirements.  We cancel classes for registration, and profs who live out of town sometimes use that as an excuse to not come in and help with advising.  Others try for a two-day/week schedule, which makes scheduling meeting times for the commuting profs a bear.  In other words if you carve those 2+ hours from your time and not college time, there shouldn't be a problem.  It does wear on the locally based profs, if the commute becomes an excuse to dump on them, though.

[profreader]

60 miles door to door is no hour. You be dreaming.

When you say an hour's commute, are you thinking just of living somewhere closer to the metro area? Say, on the outskirts of that area? Because of course, if it's a 60 mile distance, that's not an hour door to door.

Although I like roadtrips and driving, I go bananas with a long commute. Some people don't mind it - I have a friend who has a similar drive for his job, and he uses it to catch up with audiobooks and other things he would not ordinarily have time for.

You also need to think about what your specific desires are regarding the move - is it housing, nightlife, friends? If it's the cultural factor - are you going to go out when you've driven home after a long day? Or will that be reserved for weekends - in which case, why not just make the drive then?  And I assume you're also factoring in the basics like gas, wear and tear on the car, and so on.

[larryc]

Just make sure you don't use your commute to get out of department requirements.  We cancel classes for registration, and profs who live out of town sometimes use that as an excuse to not come in and help with advising.  Others try for a two-day/week schedule, which makes scheduling meeting times for the commuting profs a bear.  In other words if you carve those 2+ hours from your time and not college time, there shouldn't be a problem.  It does wear on the locally based profs, if the commute becomes an excuse to dump on them, though.

This.

I once knew about a guy who decided to move across the state from where he taught, 4+ hours away. (He had really compelling personal reasons to do so, but still!) The administration told him he was prohibited from doing so, he threatened a lawsuit and moved. He put as many of his classes online as possible and made the others hybrid. He often cancelled the few class meetings, didn't come to campus for weeks at a time, and even slacked off on his online courses. Huge s*** storm ensued, the administration announced that all faculty had to be on campus five days a week and department chairs were to walk the halls a couple times a day to make sure it was happening--my God what a mess.

On the other hand I recently met someone who works at a research institution on the southern plains. He didn't like the town, so he lives in Los Angeles. He just published a big book and I am sure he will easily be tenured. So who knows what will fly at your school?

So 1) talk to some colleagues and see how this might be perceived, and 2) if you do this, continue to fulfill ALL of your departmental responsibilities. If there is an evening reception in the middle of the week, you are there. Finals week? You are in your office, at least as often as your colleagues. Your office hours? Inviolate. Some hall monitor types will be just watching and waiting for you to slack off, don't give them anything.

[thrillcheese]

What about the local weather? Will you be forced to miss days in winter due to bad driving conditions?

[galactic_hedgehog]

I know a number of colleagues who have hour-plus commutes, but as long as they're here when they're supposed to be, there're no problems.  Except, there's now a state law that prohibits public employees from living outside the state (if you lived outside when the law was enacted, you're grandfathered in).  Technically, there is a proviso in the law allowing the state to make exceptions, but the school needs to request one for you.  It was a major reason HP's favorite children's librarian left her job at the local public library.

[itried]

I agree that it depends upon the culture of your institution. The main thing is not to let it inconvenience your colleagues. Many of my colleagues live up to four hours away, so we are often forced to set up the conference phone for faculty meetings so they can call in. It's very, very annoying, because it adds time to our meeting prep, the phone cuts out and we have to interrupt the flow of discussion to redial (and redial), the person on the phone interrupts because (s)he can't see our body language, and we all talk at a higher volume so the phone person can hear, which is strained and false. It builds resentment... so, if you move, make sure to show up.

[snowbound]

It should be nobody's business where you live, so long as it doesn't interfere with you fulfilling all of your duties and generally being an active presence on campus.  One would think this would be related to whether or not one has a long commute, but this isn't necessarily so.  Few of my colleagues are truly local; many live more than an hour away, some several hours.  It is very annoying when colleagues use their commute as an excuse to minimize their days on campus and expect the rest of us to organize meetings round their teaching schedules.  Please don't do that! On the other hand, some of the most active members of my department (TT and long-tenured) have some of the longest commutes.  In my department at least, there is no consistent relationship between active presence on campus and commuting time.

Don't ask around for advice (except maybe from one or two trusted colleagues).  By making general widespread enquiries, you are publicizing your move and setting it up as the university's business.  If you move, don't make a big deal about it.  Just do it, record your change of address with HR and the dept secretary.  I'm not saying you should keep it a secret--just that you shouldn't make a big deal about it, and should resist talking a lot about things like packing, moving trucks, decorating the new place, etc, even if you are obsessing about those things.  If someone asks why you are moving, try to make the conversation about, say, maintenance or lease problems with your current place, rather than "I can't stand this one-horse town that the rest of you call home!"

Most importantly, never make the distance between school and your new home an excuse for not doing work-related things, including important social events like dept parties.  If you live in a region where snow might be a problem, keep a bag with toiletries and a change of clothes in the trunk of your car.  Be prepared to spend the night in a local motel, or even on the floor of your office in an emergency.  Hopefully that will never be necessary, but being prepared will give you peace of mind.     

If you will definitely be happier in the distant location, go for it!  I do recommend that you rent, rather than buy.  If few or none of your colleagues live in this more desirable location (which is only 60 miles away, after all), then maybe it's not as desirable as you think.  Renting gives you some flexibility.

[untenured]

All of what snowbound said, fine advice.

I suffered this problem.  I lived one-hundred minutes away from campus when traffic was perfect.  Traffic was rarely perfect because I had to drive through (not just into, but through) a major metropolitan city to get there.  Think distant western suburbs to distant eastern suburbs.  My tolls alone were $12-15 each trip.

In an interview, I was asked point blank about distance.  I even remember the exact moment, the department chair and I were walking briskly up a long flight of stairs when he asked.  Usually in an interview I'm chipper, but at that moment my voice was firm.  There was no way I would let my commute interfere one bit with my obligations.  Absolutely not.  I'll be here and participate like an active faculty.  I got the job, so it must have been sufficient.

Fortunately, the school was located in a high priced area, so many faculty drove long distances to get to campus.  I also made sure that during my on-campus days that I was very visible.  No closed door unless absolutely necessary.  I walked the halls and poked my head in and said hello to people.  Whenever a face to face conversation was possible, I did that instead of emailing.  Almost never did I complain about the distance.

Stay 1) visible, 2) positive, and 3) effective and you should navigate the turbulent waters of distance.

[zharkov]

In the northeast megalopolis -- northern VA to southern ME -- a hour commute is not unusual.  So for example, I was recently talking to a prof who lived in Cambridge Mass, and taught at a suburban SLAC.  There's your hour commute.  Pretty typical.   As would be someone who lived in the burbs and taught in Boston.

And to chime in, your commute should not get in the way of your duties.

[profreader]

In the northeast megalopolis -- northern VA to southern ME -- a hour commute is not unusual.  So for example, I was recently talking to a prof who lived in Cambridge Mass, and taught at a suburban SLAC.  There's your hour commute.  Pretty typical.   

That's very true - but (not to over-analyze) the original commute described was 60 miles, which doesn't always translate to an hour. I live in the northeast and it can take you an hour to go 20 miles - just so many factors involved. It's a case of evaluating "length of commute on a perfect day" and "length of commute on a bad traffic/bad weather/road construction" day.

I like the comment from untenured: making sure you are very visible in the halls, popping your face in to say hi as you pass someone's office, etc. I make sure to do that whenever I'm at work. Some of my colleagues - you'd never know they were there at all. Out of sight, out of mind.

[untenured]

I like the comment from untenured: making sure you are very visible in the halls, popping your face in to say hi as you pass someone's office, etc. I make sure to do that whenever I'm at work. Some of my colleagues - you'd never know they were there at all. Out of sight, out of mind.

Right, and they may just be in their offices all day but are not visible.  So much of this is perception as much as reality.