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Leaving on a High Note

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By Michael Dalton

Just as the musicians start another verse of Pomp and Circumstance and the faculty are preparing to enter the packed gymnasium on graduation day, a colleague turns to me and asks, "Are you feeling nostalgic about this being your last graduation ceremony here?"

Leaving the college after 19 years of teaching evoked mixed emotions. As readers of my previous columns know, I am a tenured associate professor of accounting at a small, private college in the Midwest. I had watched as my dean hired new faculty members at salaries $10,000 to $20,000 higher than my own. And when my dean was unable to raise my salary, I was forced to look for a better-paying position elsewhere. The end result: I will be starting this fall as a tenure-track faculty member at a state university. I will have to go through the tenure process again, but my new position offers a higher salary, a lighter teaching load, and a department of 11 faculty members in my field.

When my colleague asked if I was feeling nostalgic, my short response was, not really. I had attended so many of these ceremonies and may someday attend another, as my daughter hopes to go to college here. But given a little more time to think about his question, I would have responded like this:

My last year had brought me three accomplishments that had eluded me for my entire career at this college. The first one was being named the college's Educator of the Year. It's the final award presented at our honors banquet and is given to the teacher who has been creative and effective in the classroom and has developed a good rapport with students. Needless to say, it's a great honor. Our college really builds the excitement (and attendance) by informing faculty members only that they have been nominated and should attend the banquet in the event that they are the winner. At the banquet the dean builds the suspense further by reading the glowing comments of four or five nominators before announcing the name of the winner.

Some institutions might not grant such an award to a departing faculty member. I am happy that was not a factor here. It was amusing, however, that all of the press releases about my award included everything about me except where I would be teaching next year.

The second accomplishment was not directly mine, but one I take great pride in nonetheless: One of my accounting majors was named valedictorian for the class of 2002. It had been at least 20 years since a student from our department had earned the honor. It showed that someone with an accounting major could achieve a 4.0 grade point average -- finally.

The third accomplishment I shared with my department, which produced this past year the largest number of accounting graduates in 10 years. At this small college, increasing the number of majors in your department is one of your "unofficial" job duties. Trying to keep the numbers up has a lot to do with getting enough full-time staffing and budget to keep your department running effectively. This can be a Catch-22 situation in that it is difficult to build a department without enough money, yet it is hard to get additional dollars until you have shown that you can increase the size of the department. We had done a lot of work to bring technology and an active student-centered pedagogy into the accounting classroom. It was great to see it pay off.

So I'm actually leaving on a really high note, but I have a tremendous opportunity to both advance my career and support my large family. I have made some close friendships with colleagues and students during my time here. Honestly, if I could afford it, I would have stayed here through my retirement. It is a great place to be. For me, starting over on the tenure track is a mixed bag. It would have been nice to have been awarded tenure coming in, but that is not a common practice. Having certain guidelines to meet each year will keep me focused and provide a framework to keep me motivated. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

The only sad moment came when I told my students that I would not be returning next year. I wanted them to find out from me before the grapevine did its work. The faces of the juniors and seniors showed betrayal. I had not anticipated that. I told them that they would be involved in the search process for my replacement.

Nothing was quite the same with my students for the next few weeks. They seemed to look at me a little differently. Students passed me in the hallway without the typical greeting. They did not attempt to make eye contact. The usual fluid give and take of the classroom discussion seemed strained. In short, they were angry with me. In a small, liberal-arts college, I would probably have had each accounting major in at least three or four of my classes over the course of their four years here.

Our administrative assistant told me that some students thought that I should stay for at least another year so they could finish their majors. They had mastered my teaching style and were comfortable and successful. They did not want to change.

I am the type of teacher who tells my students that if they work hard enough they will be able to compete with any other graduate from any other college or university. I follow this promise with substantive class discussion, challenging exams, and encouraging comments to each student in and outside of the classroom. The students know I am not there to dump information on them but to help them get the tools they need to be a professional accountant. Most importantly, they know I believe they can do it.

By graduation time had come acceptance. My students had sponsored a going-away barbecue for me. They gave me a nice commemorative plaque. When the senior accounting majors exited from the gymnasium after receiving their degrees, I received a warm embrace or a hug from each of them.

So is parting such sweet sorrow? Not really! It's a new adventure, a future full of new opportunities.