When you are a professor at a PUI, you are constantly giving giving giving of yourself to your students. It's the best job in the world, but, particularly for introverts like me, by the end of the semester you can feel like you've been sucked dry.
Some of my PUI friends get five weeks off for winter break. I know a few that barely get two weeks.
Winter break is important. You need to rest. Get recharged. Brace yourself for the spring semester.
Is there such a thing as too much winter break? ....and what is the humane lower limit for time off of school?
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
How do you get a summer salary?
As I've written previously, I do not get a summer salary.
Would I like more money? Obviously.
I have two options to get a summer salary:
1. teach
2. Write and receive a grant that can include my summer salary.
Many of my colleagues do not seek out summer funding. They then refuse to work in the summer because they aren't being paid. I don't have that luxury. I need to work in the summer to get enough research done.
It is challenging finding funding for a PUI's summer salary. Sure, I can write and hope to get (after two or three re-submits?) a giant grant to Big Funding Agency. But are there other sources of summer money for PUI profs?
Would I like more money? Obviously.
I have two options to get a summer salary:
1. teach
2. Write and receive a grant that can include my summer salary.
Many of my colleagues do not seek out summer funding. They then refuse to work in the summer because they aren't being paid. I don't have that luxury. I need to work in the summer to get enough research done.
It is challenging finding funding for a PUI's summer salary. Sure, I can write and hope to get (after two or three re-submits?) a giant grant to Big Funding Agency. But are there other sources of summer money for PUI profs?
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
An end-of-the-semester tradition
We all have our end-of-the-semester routines.
Some of my colleagues clean their offices, dumping unneeded papers into the shredder with glee.
Others gladly share their gourmet gifts from students in the office kitchen (side note: why don't I ever get semester gifts from students?).
My end-of-the-semester tradition? I sleep for 12 hours straight.
This started in college. Once my finals were done, I would bid goodnight to my roommates and only emerge 12 hours later. In grad school, I would go home for the holidays for about a week. My family knew not to mock my excessive first night of sleep.
I thought this would change once I became a prof. On the contrary, it seems to have become even more of a necessity. N.A. thinks my semester's end pseudo-hibernation is cute. Bless him.
So I apologize if I don't get caught up on your wonderful blogs right now-- I've got some sleeping to do!
Some of my colleagues clean their offices, dumping unneeded papers into the shredder with glee.
Others gladly share their gourmet gifts from students in the office kitchen (side note: why don't I ever get semester gifts from students?).
My end-of-the-semester tradition? I sleep for 12 hours straight.
This started in college. Once my finals were done, I would bid goodnight to my roommates and only emerge 12 hours later. In grad school, I would go home for the holidays for about a week. My family knew not to mock my excessive first night of sleep.
I thought this would change once I became a prof. On the contrary, it seems to have become even more of a necessity. N.A. thinks my semester's end pseudo-hibernation is cute. Bless him.
So I apologize if I don't get caught up on your wonderful blogs right now-- I've got some sleeping to do!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The pros and cons of summer teaching
I was warned by colleagues of the many, many cons of summer teaching. Turns out, it really isn't that bad! Doctor Pion asked for some reasons that my class went so well. Part of it was luck. Although I had a pretty typical mix of summer students-- lots of course repeaters, some very weak college students, and a smattering of transfers-- they were respectful and very engaged in lecture. I was extremely upfront with the students about expectations, and I really, in their words, "kept it real." I think what my students meant was that I was very blunt about the summer workload and the failure rates. I also really enjoy teaching and getting a break from lab, so my enthusiasm wasn't forced. Even at 9 am. Grrrr.
But mostly I was successful because I had really fun students. Even this one!!
Class composition aside, here are, from my point of view, the pros and cons of summer teaching.
Pros
You can try new things in the classroom. My summer class was much smaller than my normal semester classes (20 vs. 30). I also have far fewer obligations during the summer, since committees are on break and most of the students are gone. As a result, I was able to try out some new-to-me group activities. Want to try out clickers for the first time? Dying to trade out tests for some other assessment tool? Summer can be a stress-free time for that. You have more prep time for the one class than you normally would. Also, you can quickly find out what works and what doesn't because....
You get instant feedback. If students don't understand something during the semester, they have a few options: 1. wait until the next class period (1, 2, or 4 days away, depending on class schedules), 2. wait until office hours, or 3. actually! type! an email! (students seem especially reluctant to use email here at PermaU...anyone else notice this?). In the summer, the students see me every day. Sometimes even twice a day. For multiple hours in a row. This gives them plenty of time to ask for clarification on lecture or get help with a problem set. I was able to catch problem students far ahead of midterms... more like on the second day of summer classes. As a direct result (and because the students actually did the work), my DFW rate was better than during the fall/spring semesters.
You gain new perspective on a course or course sequence. Teaching a semester's worth of material in four or five weeks really helped me to see the big picture much, MUCH more clearly. What do I really want my students to get out of my class? How does my class connect to other classes in the curriculum. It is a lot easier to see past the day-to-day details when you are only focusing on one class.
You get paid! Recall that most academic appointments at PUIs are nine month. Although paychecks might be spread over 11 or 12 months, you are really only paid for nine of 'em. While the money is a huuuuuge improvement over grad school stipends (for the love of the science gods, I would hope so), if you have a kid/house/expensive shoe habit, you can always use more dough. Note that I'm not saying it's good dough (see cons).
Cons
The pay is awesome. And in this case, by awesome I mean awesomely bad. My rate was not all that bad, especially since I had taught the class before (so no brand new prep to do). There was a catch: I didn't get any money until my grades had been submitted and then recorded by the registrar!
Two words: burn. out. If you teach in the first summer session, you probably get a very tiny break after spring finals get out. If you teach in the second session, you only have a week or two before fall classes start. Not only does this make it challenging to schedule vacation time, it does not give you a true break from teaching. Fatigue is something all profs battle, no matter what their institution's classification. Will you have enough time to recover?
There's no other place to run. During the regular semesters, I teach two or three different courses. Believe it or not, I actually teach some pretty boring shit from time to time (I know, shocking). It is rare that two classes have two boring lectures occurring on the same day, so I can always balance the boring prep or grading with another class's more entertaining stuff. When you only teach one course, you are stuck.
You get instant feedback. What? Wasn't this also a pro? Well, it goes both ways. Because everything is on hyperdrive in the summer, students don't get as much time to let the new material simmer. This can result in them taking their frustrations out on the prof. While this didn't happen to me personally, I did see it happen in the first summer session a lot.
I am sure I have left some things out. Perhaps something that I've listed as a con is actually, in your opinion, better interpreted as a pro. You know where to straighten me out.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
summer teaching: requesting time off
Turns out I was right about summer teaching: it is awesome!
I get to experience a semester's worth of inspiring successes, tearful moments, and, my personal favorite, eye-roll-worthy requests all in a very condensed period of time.
One such eye roll moment occurred today.
Undergrad: Yo, Dr. Reaction.
Me: . . .
Undergrad: I need to go on vacation next week. I'm going to miss a test and three labs.
Me: That's true.
Undergrad: So how can you work with me to get this work made up?
Me: What the hell is wrong with you?*
*Okay, so my actual response was to remind him of the course policy, which is clearly outlined in the syllabus of course, of not excusing personal travel. And that missing a week of summer class was equivalent to about three weeks of the normal semester. And that Undergrad would receive zeros for the missed work.
Undergrad: Oh. That sucks.
Yes, my dear Undergrad, that does suck.
I get to experience a semester's worth of inspiring successes, tearful moments, and, my personal favorite, eye-roll-worthy requests all in a very condensed period of time.
One such eye roll moment occurred today.
Undergrad: Yo, Dr. Reaction.
Me: . . .
Undergrad: I need to go on vacation next week. I'm going to miss a test and three labs.
Me: That's true.
Undergrad: So how can you work with me to get this work made up?
Me: What the hell is wrong with you?*
*Okay, so my actual response was to remind him of the course policy, which is clearly outlined in the syllabus of course, of not excusing personal travel. And that missing a week of summer class was equivalent to about three weeks of the normal semester. And that Undergrad would receive zeros for the missed work.
Undergrad: Oh. That sucks.
Yes, my dear Undergrad, that does suck.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Do faculty get summer vacation, too?
My students seem to think that I get the whole summer off. Since they leave for a few months, the school must surely shut down in their absence, right?
The faculty seem divided when it comes to summer work. Since our salary is for nine months, some feel that they shouldn't work in the summer (actually, they refuse to work in the summer). Others view the summer as the only time to move forward on research, and so they work even if they do not have a summer stipend.
I fall in the latter category. My salary is more than enough to live on all year (we're paid in 12 installments, after all). If I don't work in the summer, I won't have enough research done by the time I go up for tenure. That is how it works at most undergrad institutions. Is it that different in the non-sciences?
What about you? Do you work when you technically aren't paid?
The faculty seem divided when it comes to summer work. Since our salary is for nine months, some feel that they shouldn't work in the summer (actually, they refuse to work in the summer). Others view the summer as the only time to move forward on research, and so they work even if they do not have a summer stipend.
I fall in the latter category. My salary is more than enough to live on all year (we're paid in 12 installments, after all). If I don't work in the summer, I won't have enough research done by the time I go up for tenure. That is how it works at most undergrad institutions. Is it that different in the non-sciences?
What about you? Do you work when you technically aren't paid?
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Most wonderful time of the year (part 3)
Almost a lifetime ago, I though that the most wonderful time of the year was when I got to leave the lab to go to Home State for a few days. My favorite part was reverting back to solo driving, rather than sharing my commute:
A bit later, I decided that LargeU's Candidate Season, was the best time of the year. Squirming candidates? As long as it isn't me, sign me up! I wrote a trio of (very, very bad) haikus to commemorate the Season, including one I called "Haiku for an nth year":
But now I've decided that the most wonderful time of the year is actually RIGHT NOW. Grades are submitted(!!!!!), and the undergrads are (mostly) gone. Summer classes don't start for a couple of weeks, so I've sent my summer researchers away to catch up on sleep or whatever those crazy kids do these days.
Today I sat in my office for four hours straight without interruption. With the door open! Ah, bliiiisssssssssss!
I'd better not get used to this....
No more playing avoid-touching-the-undergrad on the bus. (Duh, 'cause they're a little smelly and sticky. Seriously. There's this one freshman that always smells like bacon. Ugh)
A bit later, I decided that LargeU's Candidate Season, was the best time of the year. Squirming candidates? As long as it isn't me, sign me up! I wrote a trio of (very, very bad) haikus to commemorate the Season, including one I called "Haiku for an nth year":
Feeling guilty now.
Should really apply for jobs.
Just came for the food.
But now I've decided that the most wonderful time of the year is actually RIGHT NOW. Grades are submitted(!!!!!), and the undergrads are (mostly) gone. Summer classes don't start for a couple of weeks, so I've sent my summer researchers away to catch up on sleep or whatever those crazy kids do these days.
Today I sat in my office for four hours straight without interruption. With the door open! Ah, bliiiisssssssssss!
I'd better not get used to this....
Monday, January 4, 2010
Vacation ov-ah!!
Yes, my darlings, my vacation is over. Classes start in one week. (AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!)
The students are (virtually) back, my syllabi are done (in my head), and my grant is written (down on my to-do list).
It's going to be a loooooong semester.
The students are (virtually) back, my syllabi are done (in my head), and my grant is written (down on my to-do list).
It's going to be a loooooong semester.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Holiday Awkwardness
As our holiday celebrations continue to expand each year, the potential for awkward moments expands exponentially with each added significant other, spouse, or kid. Family outsiders = people unfamiliar with our many, MANY uncomfortable family stories.
What's the most awkward holiday moment you've witnessed (or instigated)? Please, help us all feel better about our own WTF holiday moments.
What's the most awkward holiday moment you've witnessed (or instigated)? Please, help us all feel better about our own WTF holiday moments.
Friday, July 31, 2009
A question for the masses: how much vacation is too much?
Semi-recently (man, am I behind!) FemaleScienceProfessor gave her interpretation of a anonymous commenter's assertion that "if the average scientist took three months off nobody would know."
Some commenters agreed, and some disagreed.
With only one brief exception, if I (back in my grad school days) had disappeared for three months (hell, even three hours!!), no one would have known because The Boss would have tracked me down, yelled at me, made me write a grant or four, kicked me out of the group, and erased all traces of me from LargeU.
Of course, I never, ever thought about taking off without telling The Boss. The longest vacation I ever took was nine days...and that was only because the flight was 10 hours. I couldn't even take a weekend off without letting the group know.
If I disappear for three hours, weeks, or even months now, no one would care. Or perhaps notice. But we can come back to that in another post.
So how about it, grad students? Does your advisor care or notice if you aren't around? PIs, what is an appropriate amount of vacation time for your students? How about yourself?
Some commenters agreed, and some disagreed.
With only one brief exception, if I (back in my grad school days) had disappeared for three months (hell, even three hours!!), no one would have known because The Boss would have tracked me down, yelled at me, made me write a grant or four, kicked me out of the group, and erased all traces of me from LargeU.
Of course, I never, ever thought about taking off without telling The Boss. The longest vacation I ever took was nine days...and that was only because the flight was 10 hours. I couldn't even take a weekend off without letting the group know.
If I disappear for three hours, weeks, or even months now, no one would care. Or perhaps notice. But we can come back to that in another post.
So how about it, grad students? Does your advisor care or notice if you aren't around? PIs, what is an appropriate amount of vacation time for your students? How about yourself?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Weekend of firsts
Lots of firsts this weekend!
- first true three-day weekend in a loooong time
- first time since the 90s that I visited my parents without bringing work
- first 4th without checking on the lab
and my favorite:
- N.A. and I decided to get our first realtor
- first true three-day weekend in a loooong time
- first time since the 90s that I visited my parents without bringing work
- first 4th without checking on the lab
and my favorite:
- N.A. and I decided to get our first realtor
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
"vacation" priorities
My spring "break" is fast approaching.
Am I more excited about:
A. sleeping for more than five consecutive hours
B. cleaning all of my dishes
C. clearing out my DVR
D. getting ahead on lecture prep
It's a tough call.
Am I more excited about:
A. sleeping for more than five consecutive hours
B. cleaning all of my dishes
C. clearing out my DVR
D. getting ahead on lecture prep
It's a tough call.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
First real vacation
I've been talking to a lot of other first-year professors this week. All of us are sporting the same dumb grin.
You know, the kind of grin a little kid has when he's gotten away with something.
Why the silly grins? For the last many (manymanymany) years, we've had a month "off" at Christmas. For those of us who had to fly home for the holidays, this "month" meant we got to watch as the campus emptied while we ran our gels / crunched numbers / wrote more paragraphs. We flew home as close to the 25th as we dared. If we were feeling especially rebellious that particular year, we might take a whole six days off. Of course, each of those days you were (at the very least) still checking your work email multiple times a day and catching up on literature. And for at least 90% of the time, we were plagued by one of the worst kinds of guilt: lab abandonment guilt.
So this year, I've had two straight weeks of vacation. Sleep-filled, guilt-free vacation. Likewise, my fellow first-year profs have had similar REAL vacations. It's a very odd feeling. I feel completely rejuvenated (who knew that's what vacations were for!!), yet I have this (tiny) nagging feeling that I've gotten away with something.
This past week, I've been doing some low-key semester prep (one class done, one to go!) in meeting interview activities. I still have another week before classes start.
I love my job.
You know, the kind of grin a little kid has when he's gotten away with something.
Why the silly grins? For the last many (manymanymany) years, we've had a month "off" at Christmas. For those of us who had to fly home for the holidays, this "month" meant we got to watch as the campus emptied while we ran our gels / crunched numbers / wrote more paragraphs. We flew home as close to the 25th as we dared. If we were feeling especially rebellious that particular year, we might take a whole six days off. Of course, each of those days you were (at the very least) still checking your work email multiple times a day and catching up on literature. And for at least 90% of the time, we were plagued by one of the worst kinds of guilt: lab abandonment guilt.
So this year, I've had two straight weeks of vacation. Sleep-filled, guilt-free vacation. Likewise, my fellow first-year profs have had similar REAL vacations. It's a very odd feeling. I feel completely rejuvenated (who knew that's what vacations were for!!), yet I have this (tiny) nagging feeling that I've gotten away with something.
This past week, I've been doing some low-key semester prep (one class done, one to go!) in meeting interview activities. I still have another week before classes start.
I love my job.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Breaking bad habits
Old habits die hard. As a grad student, I never took Thanksgiving off. No classes meant more time for lab, not turkey. At Christmas, I took between five and eight days off, but only because travel was at least 12 hours one way. Throw in a few long weekends and a summer nine day, and you've got about three or four weeks of sporadic vacation time a year.
Not bad, right? Well, the problem was that I never truly unplugged. Even out of cell phone range, I would still locate an internet cafe, plug in a few Euros, and answer work emails. Christmas at home meant I could catch up on literature or do preliminary research for a grant.
Yet even though I made vacation time semi-productive, I always felt guilty for taking time off. I knew that it was important to take a break, to recharge; indeed, I frequently found myself pleading with younger students to take some well-deserved time off. Still, from the moment I wheeled by bags to my car to the second my plane returned to LargeUtown, I was guilty for leaving the lab. We had a saying in the group: "Every day you take off is a day added on to your time in grad school."
So this week is a milestone of sorts for me. All of my colleagues took this week off. We mostly follow the academic schedule. Sure, the little breaks from class are great opportunities to get caught up on grading or research, but Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break? You are considered odd NOT to take the chance to travel. So the milestone? I'm sitting here, typing, far away from TempCollege Village, and I have no guilt for being away from the office. My pile of grading will be finished by next week. I'll finish my lectures in the next couple of days. Today, I will do some Christmas shopping, pick up some coffee, and maybe even read a book.
Although it had become second nature for me to feel guilty away from work, perhaps this is one bad habit I can actually break this year!
Not bad, right? Well, the problem was that I never truly unplugged. Even out of cell phone range, I would still locate an internet cafe, plug in a few Euros, and answer work emails. Christmas at home meant I could catch up on literature or do preliminary research for a grant.
Yet even though I made vacation time semi-productive, I always felt guilty for taking time off. I knew that it was important to take a break, to recharge; indeed, I frequently found myself pleading with younger students to take some well-deserved time off. Still, from the moment I wheeled by bags to my car to the second my plane returned to LargeUtown, I was guilty for leaving the lab. We had a saying in the group: "Every day you take off is a day added on to your time in grad school."
So this week is a milestone of sorts for me. All of my colleagues took this week off. We mostly follow the academic schedule. Sure, the little breaks from class are great opportunities to get caught up on grading or research, but Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break? You are considered odd NOT to take the chance to travel. So the milestone? I'm sitting here, typing, far away from TempCollege Village, and I have no guilt for being away from the office. My pile of grading will be finished by next week. I'll finish my lectures in the next couple of days. Today, I will do some Christmas shopping, pick up some coffee, and maybe even read a book.
Although it had become second nature for me to feel guilty away from work, perhaps this is one bad habit I can actually break this year!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Cutting the cord
Over the years, I have taken far less than my month's worth of vacation time, partly because I'm a slightly neurotic, workaholic and partly because The Boss is reluctant to grant time off.
Over the last six months or so, I've had to go through a cutting of the cord process with The Boss. This entailed working "I'm graduating and leaving in May" into conversation at least once a week. When The Boss acknowledged this statement with rolled eyes or "I think Decemeber 08 will be a better exit date," I had to increase the frequency to nearly daily discussions about my graduation. After about two weeks of this, I finally got through.
The Boss never looked back.
The Boss has cut the cord, but now it's practically like getting kicked to the curb! I'm over-exaggerating (a bit), but let me point you to the latest incident:
I need to travel home on two different occasions this spring for two separate, two-day events. I requested 2.5 days off for each trip. The response from The Boss? "I think you should take more than 3 days." I didn't think anything of it (actually, I thought, "wow, that's nice!") until I looked at the group vacation calendar. There were 5 days and 6 days marked off for the trips! Way to get rid of me.
If The Boss is going to be so lenient about taking time off, perhaps I should just take advantage and plan a real vacation!
Over the last six months or so, I've had to go through a cutting of the cord process with The Boss. This entailed working "I'm graduating and leaving in May" into conversation at least once a week. When The Boss acknowledged this statement with rolled eyes or "I think Decemeber 08 will be a better exit date," I had to increase the frequency to nearly daily discussions about my graduation. After about two weeks of this, I finally got through.
The Boss never looked back.
The Boss has cut the cord, but now it's practically like getting kicked to the curb! I'm over-exaggerating (a bit), but let me point you to the latest incident:
I need to travel home on two different occasions this spring for two separate, two-day events. I requested 2.5 days off for each trip. The response from The Boss? "I think you should take more than 3 days." I didn't think anything of it (actually, I thought, "wow, that's nice!") until I looked at the group vacation calendar. There were 5 days and 6 days marked off for the trips! Way to get rid of me.
If The Boss is going to be so lenient about taking time off, perhaps I should just take advantage and plan a real vacation!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)