Science resolutions at a PUI

Happy last day of 2010!

Some of you might be super happy to see it go, while others had a fabulous year (hmm...I smell a blog roundup/carnival?).

Now is the time when we make our resolutions for the upcoming year.  My life is split up into three main categories, Teaching, Research, and Life.  (I'll save how they each make up my day for a later post...I don't want to freak out any of you considering PUI positions....it is the holidays, after all.)  Because of this, I always make resolutions for each area of my life.

In past years, my teaching resolution has been let's just get through this.  Now that I'm more established, I feel like I can start focusing on specific areas.

For research, I just want some damn publications.  To get publications, you have to just suck it up and write up your stuff.  While this might sound very easy, particularly to those of you at research institutions, I assure you it is not.  Doing research at a PUI brings in many new issues with respect to publishing.*  The pace of research is much, much slower.  Funding is a huge issue.  Just getting your institution to agree to matching funds can be a giant hurdle.  And how are you going to write a grant when you have two new preps?  Something I didn't expect was how intimidating it would be to submit publications under my new institution rather than LargeU.  Call me crazy, but work done at small PUI is viewed differently than work completed at Big Name Research U.

For Life, I usually resolve to keep a better balance between life and work.  Ha.  For 2011, I'm going to keep it more attainable.  I am going to read more (Any!!) non-work books.  I have a number in my head that I'd like to reach by Dec 2011, but I'm going to keep it there, for now.


Have you made any resolutions for 2011?



*while perhaps these issues aren't specific to PUIs, I never encountered them as a grad student.  Maybe this is because I wasn't the PI, but I believe it has more to do with institution reputation and the emphasis on research at R1s.

My winter break gift to you

I know you have been curious.  "Whatever will UR give us this year?" You wondered.

Here it is, my friends.  My 2010 gift to you: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/ 


I laugh so hard I cry.  I hope you do the same.

You guard so hard!

"Dr. Reaction guarded the class too hard."


Ah, course evaluations.


The time of year when we get to see our students' perceptions of our teaching.  Personally, I find course evaluations extremely useful.

But really what I live for are the typos.  Students fill these suckers out at the end of the semester.  They are exhausted, so occasionally the wrong word gets substituted.  Even better when this changes the meaning of the sentence.

So yes, apparently I guarded the class a bit much this semester.  I had a feeling building that moat was a mistake.



What was your best eval response for 2010?

28 is the magic work number

You can take the workaholic out of the office....

For as long as I can remember, December 28th has always been The Day.  

The Day that I start getting twitchy about not doing work.  The Day that I can no longer justify sleeping 10 hours a night because "I need to catch up from the semester."  The Day that I crack a textbook/paper/whatever to try to make some (teeny tiny) progress towards my massive winter break to-do list.

In college this typically consisted of working on essays for summer research applications.  In grad school it varied, depending on the year.  Some December 28ths I needed to study for prelims, others I worked on a paper. On one Very Special December 28th, I worked on job talks.

Now my December 28ths generally consist of picking at syllabi.  I really do enjoy the syllabus writing process, so it isn't that bad.  This December 28th I am working on a new prep.  This class promises to be very, very fun, so I am greatly enjoying picking out course readings and suggested problems.

N.A., of course, thinks I'm insane, but he has learned not to question my need for December 28th.  His magic work number typically falls some where between Jan 2 and 6th, depending on the year.

Do you have a magic work number?

Best lab decorations ever: conference poster snowflakes!

Have you seen the snowflakes made out of old conference posters? There's a great example over at Better Posters. I believe Dr. Becca originally tweeted a picture of it.


I guess I need to take my undergrads to some more conferences. Once we can replace the posters currently on the walls, just imagine the possibilities. Large-scale origami cranes with references on their wings. Paper dolls made out of data. Graph-filled snowflakes.  


Do you think my dean will use "I need more snowflake material" as a good reason to fund my travel requests?

Happy..uh...Merry....ah, screw it.

What do you greet people with this time of year?

Some people argue that Jesus is the reason for the season.  "Merry Christmas all the way," they say. Others emphatically state that we all must stick to the politically correct "happy holidays."

What to say in the classroom?  I completely skirt the issue by sending my departing students off with a "happy winter break!"

After all, I believe that a month off from students is the reason for MY season.

The syllabus stands alone

When a problem arises with a class, very frequently it can be traced back to the syllabus.  Without crystal clear course and grading policies, there can be wiggle room for students to complain about an eye-boggling array of course-related issues.

Some of my colleagues rely on syllabus amendments.  At some schools, you must have a class vote to make modifications to your syllabus.  Other institutions require department head or dean approval.

I don't make changes to my syllabi.  I ensure that they are air-tight by running them past colleagues, the head of the department, and faculty outside of my department.

I've learned from my syllabus mistakes from the past, and I haven't had any syllabus-related problems in the last year.  With some new preps for me on the horizon, we'll see if I can maintain that streak.