Never in my time at my institution do I recall being busier or more ready for fall break (though of course, I could have repressed previous traumas). I’m going to visit my High School BFF and to meet her new baby! It will be a welcome respite from what has been one of the most obnoxiously busy fall semesters of my career. Today was a 12-hour day, filled with grading, teaching two classes, meetings with three students, a college assessment meeting, and then a talk at a local library. So I don’t have much to say.
But I want to say some things, anyway, since I’m such a crappy blogger these past few months.
- Everything’s simply great with Footloose, though given both of our crazy schedules (his crazier than mine, if you can believe it), we just don’t have that much time together. But maybe that is why we like each other so much? Ha! Anyway, we both like each other, we both like being together, so now it’s just a matter of carving out some more time for each other. Which is happening, slowly but surely, at least so far.
- The promotion application wends its way through the levels of evaluation, and it is at the halfway point in the process. Unanimous recommendation to promote from the full profs in my department, and a positive recommendation from my chair as well. All of this sounds like smooth sailing, yes? Well, not necessarily. The unanimous recommendation from the full profs was… perfunctory. I compared letters with CF, who is also going up, and there were identical lame sentences, and a lack of specificity in both. In other words, while they unanimously recommended me (and her), they didn’t really make a case for either of us. And remember, two others were going up. I suspect, in spite of the differences in our records, they got similarly bland unanimous support as well. I do not believe those men read any part of my application beyond my cover letter and cv. My chair’s recommendation was better – specific, engaged, and she did clearly explain why I should get the promotion. This may make it seem like I have it in the bag, but the next two levels are our new dean and our new provost, and it is entirely unclear what they think the criteria are for full promotion. Also, since this is their first time at the rodeo at our institution, they may want to send a message with their decisions this go-around. At any rate, so far so good, but I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch.
- You know what sucks? Committee work.
- You know what doesn’t suck? My students, who are really so great this semester that I can’t even stand it. They are so engaged and so into everything we’re doing. They energize me for all of the irritating work I do outside of the classroom.
- It occurs to me that I should probably check on that journal article that submitted August 1. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll give it another month.
And that’s all I’ve got, folks. I’m too tired to have ideas or to write about them.
Glad you’re having fun with your boyfriend!
“Give it another month” is my philosophy of dealing with journals.
I think you are going to get promoted. I really do.
Thanks for your post about reading and teaching literature on the other blog.