Visiting Vixens

Last year, as many of you know, I was a visiting ass. at a small college. Now I'm well into my first year on the tenure track at a similar small college. I know that this year has been much, much easier as a direct result as my year as a V. ass. (Although it still sucks. Boy, does it suck.) While I wouldn't recommend a visiting position for someone who wants to go the R1 route, it could be a really good fit for someone wanting to go the small undergraduate college path.

Being a visiting prof (see * below) has all the advantages of being on the tenure track without most of the crap.

Crap that comes with the tenure track that you avoid as a Visiting Vixen:

- Committees. It is very rare to be assigned to a committee as a visitor. Do I really need to elaborate?

- Advisees. Yes, we all love advising students on how to find a path other than pre-med (insert eye roll here). They are also a huge time suck. It is very, very rare for Visiting Vixens to be given formal advisees.

- Faculty meetings! While some schools might think it's a good idea to attend, the presence of Visiting Ass.es is not usually required. Again, I don't think I need to explain why not having to attend faculty meetings is AWE-SOME.

- Research pressure! Research is rarely an expectation for a visiting prof. I got very little done beyond thinking and sketching out of a few research plans. If you want to go to a top tier small liberal arts college, you are going to want to get significant research done while a visitor. If you are aiming a little lower, and research done as a VV will be viewed as a bonus.

-Teaching pressure! A Visiting Ass. is just that. Visiting. Unless your position somehow can convert into a tenure-track situation, your teaching evaluations will never really be used for anything. I'm not saying that you should go in there and completely suck. BUT. Since you aren't going to be evaluated on what your students write, it can really give you freedom in the classroom. Try something new without worrying about what will show up on your teaching evaluations.



Again, if you want to have graduate students and do NIH R01-worthy research, visiting positions aren't for you. Do a post-doc. with someone awesome and get lots of publications. If you are wrapping up your PhD and want to work with undergraduates at a mid tier PUI, a Visiting Ass. position can be a great fit. If you are like me, having a year to work on your teaching and really sort out your research goals will greatly benefit you once the tenure clock starts.



*IF you have supportive, enjoyable colleagues who are willing to give you mentoring. And understand that you will be on the job market, like, the SECOND that you arrive at your temporary home. And will hopefully be traveling for interviews during November, December, January, and maybe even October and February, too.

Benefits to moving

I hate moving. I don't deal well with change or surprises. Although I'm very flexible professionally, the circus tricks stop at work.

But last night I realized that there are a few perks to packing. Obviously, it's a great chance to go through old crap, pare down your life, blah blah blah. But here are two perks I actually care about:

1. Money! I've found $15.68 in loose change going through boxes that I never fully unpacked. I've also found $3.42 in Canadian money and about four Euros in change.

2. I (re)found my thesis! It's not like it had gone missing, but I don't exactly keep in in a very accessible place.



Anyone else going through the moving process? Care to share other bonuses to relocating?

I can has internets?

...well, at least for this moment. Although I'm in primarily faculty housing, apparently one of my neighbors hasn't password protected his/her wireless internet. With my cable/internet hookup appointment still four days away, I am very excited for this fact (which I just discovered this morning, lying in bed-- only place I can get a signal).

So much to post about my big move, but I am overwhelmed with unpacking and the newness of it all. I'm also insanely behind in reading all of your blogs. I'll catch up soon; I'm going to take the next couple of days to figure out the area (it is COUNTRY) and what all TempCollege Village has to offer (not much).


Quickie: my apartment is gorgeous-- part of a Victorian house, so I have 12 ft ceilings and wood floors. TempCollege Village seems to be full of mostly helpful people, and here is the best news of all for this super-isolated area: a Walmart is opening 10 miles away later this month!! (yes, I do know that Walmart is evil, but the only shopping options here are the grocery store, farm equipment shops, and Dollar General).

Finishing up

Part of my family is in town to help me move to TempCollege Village. It's a little strange; I haven't had their moving assistance since my boarding school days. Of course, the added manpower is more than welcome.

Today I conscripted my little brother into Unbalanced Reaction's Laboratory Forces. We invaded the lab and tag-teamed glassware cleaning. We were undeterred by the fact that former Coworker snuck quite a lot of his dirty glassware onto my bench. Whatever.

"Wow, Coworker sure has posted a lot of passive aggressive notes around the lab," my brother noted. "They'd be great for that website. Ohhh...that's my favorite: 'Put things in the bleach bath or I will SCREAM!!!!' "

Too bad I couldn't have had more coworkers (or Coworkers) like my brother!!

planning it out

I've been referring to my new job location as TempCollege Village because that is what it is: a freakin' village. A "city" of approximately 8,000. There are some traffic lights, but there is no target within a two hour radius. There is a McDonald's but no Walmart closer than 30 minutes. I know this thanks to google maps but also warnings from the Unofficially Faculty Handbook, which details all the retail and cultural offerings in TempCollege Village (hint: it's shorter than some of my undergrad papers).

So as a result, I've had to get very organized about what I will need when I move. I'm used to being able to pop over to the store whenever I need a trash can, wine, or a light bulb. Sure, the TempCollege Village grocery store will carry some of those items, at a price. I've begun compiling my (rather extensive) list of items I will need for the bathroom and kitchen once I move. I've also already bought the bare essentials like a shower curtain, a roll of toilet paper, etc.

But my favorite purchase so far is my day planner. I used to put everything in my planner. I vividly remember one spring break where I thought it had been left behind at a hotel. It wasn't pretty (lucky, it had been accidently stashed in my brother's luggage). My first year of grad school, I heavily used the standard LargeU day planner. After I got done with classes, I moved away from the planners, mostly using iCal. But no matter how many hours I'm in front of a computer, I still like to write things out. I can see them better, and I can take my day planner out at meetings while my laptop is a little more obtrusive. So I went to Target and picked out a plain, 8.5 x 11" spiral-bound day planner.

I'm a control freak. Now that I have some semblance of control over my move, I'm much calmer about the whole event. N.A. is pleased with the result, although a little bemused at my joy at possessing such a basic day planner.

Why I don't watch commercials

I have a DVR (like my iPod, I'd probably marry it if I could), so I rarely watch commercials. Earlier this evening, I watched the N.H. debates live, while chopping away at some thesis text (deleting large chunks of text at a time is so depressing). I caught a commercial during the post-debate news for one of those dating websites.

"This new year, put falling in love at the top of your list."

After rolling my eyes, I started thinking about my list of things to do in 2008. Then that got to be a little overwhelming, so I started thinking about the things I want to do before May. Falling in love didn't even make the top five:

1. Write a thesis.
2. Finish volunteer project I committed to back in Sept.
3. Get some (the fact that this is #3 on my list is probably the reason why I've yet to get some lovin' in 2008...yeah, yeah, I know it's only the 6th...but still!).
4. Accept a teaching position I'm happy with.
5. Find a fabulous place to live that includes two bedrooms, washer/dryer hookup, no undergrads, and a large kitchen (all falling within my likely-to-be-underwhelming teaching position / faculty position salary).


What's on the top of your "list"?

(For a post on the fabulousness of making lists, check out Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc)