- I am so unbelievably thrilled that I am NOT teaching my big freshmen class with multiple lab sections this semester! Hooray! Hallelujah! Woo hoo! It's such a treat to teach only classes that students are actually (at least somewhat) interested in. I also had crappy evaluations in that class last semester, so the break will give me a chance to get over the bitterness of that. (also remember this: that was my semester of three job interviews and two conferences and I tried to make the class more interactive and used a new book!)
- I am teaching two upper-level classes: one small (<10) and one medium (<30). They are both on subjects that interest me and I have taught both of them before. Did I mention that I am not missing those freshmen?
- I have TWO research projects getting underway- one is The Big Grant, the other is an internal project that I was asked to contribute to. I am supervising one grad assistant this semester and will have two in the spring. This is a first for me, as I've only had TAs in the past. Just yesterday, I realized how completely awesome it is to have a grad student doing a lot of the computer work that I would usually be doing myself. He does some work, checks in with questions, we resolve issues, he goes back and does some more. I hadn't considered what a huge time saver this is!
- I am going up for tenure! I should be saying "arrgghhhh!", right? As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's all done. My current accomplishments are what will be used to evaluate my performance, so all I can do now is wait. I shouldn't have anything to worry about, but I am not assuming anything or taking anything for granted. There is still a sense of relief that the frantic part is over, though.
scientiae carnival
2 comments:
So you went on the market your tenure year? How did that work out?
Hi MommyProf: I went the market my last year before tenure. A series of things pushed me to do it: missing my grandmother's 80th birthday because all of my family is on the west coast (and I'm not), being fed up with some things at work, and also feeling like it was my 'last chance' because associate positions are so rare (assuming I get tenure). I ended up with one job offer (if you look in March, April & May archives you can read about the offer and the subsequent interview elsewhere). I am actually still a bit bitter about the last rejection, but happy to not be moving (it's such a nightmare!) and hopefully I'll be tenured this year, anyway. I haven't totally ruled out applying for jobs this year, but it would have to be something really amazing, like an Associate job in the Pacific Northwest!
Post a Comment