My application for promotion to full professor has officially advanced to the office of the provost. At all levels to this point, my promotion has been recommended. I was not surprised by the positive evaluation of my materials in the early (department-level) stages, but I am, apparently and irrationally, somewhat stunned that my dean supports my application. Obviously my promotion is not yet a done deal – the provost needs to approve, and the board of regents needs to approve. But barring some unforeseeable glitch, the likelihood that I actually will be promoted is much higher today than it was yesterday. And I’m a little… confused by that.
This is the thing: I have been, I now realize, bracing myself for a denial. This isn’t false modesty on my part. First of all, I had really wanted my second book to be at least under review when I went up for full. The manuscript isn’t even complete. Second of all, administrative turnover and a complete lack of mentorship toward full meant that I really had no idea what the expectations were when I put together my application. I mean, I did my best, but I was definitely going into this process blind. So I guess I had figured that I’d submit the application and that the feedback I got would tell me what was missing, and then I’d resubmit my application next year or the year after. While I really want full promotion, and of course that motivated me to put the application together, that’s not the reason I applied this year. I applied because I figured that it made sense to do it given the other people who were applying from my department. I applied because it was a way to showcase the work that I do to new administrators who don’t know me. I applied because there are changes coming to our processes for promotion and tenure and I figured that I might as well try to do it under the current (admittedly less rigorous) system. I applied because there was nothing to lose in doing so. But I realize now that I did not apply because I thought I would actually maybe get promoted. And now it looks like there is a good chance of that happening, and that feels, frankly, weirder than I thought that it would.
I mean, there is no next promotion after this. There is no next hoop to jump through. I mean, I can create goals for myself, and I can create hoops for myself, but at the end of the day, this is IT. That is so crazy I can’t even talk about it! I mean, who is at the end of the line when she is just 40 years old?!?! That is INSANE. And so I feel a bit lost because of that possibility, frankly.
But you will all laugh at this. So I got my letter, and I was shaking I was so anxious as I opened the envelope. I couldn’t even really read it – I just raced through to look for the verdict. But then I was like, “OMG!!! IT’S HAPPENING!!!” and I wanted to tell my department best friend, CC. She was just about to start class down the hall, and because I’m an impulsive weirdo, I barged into her class and was like, “I HAVE TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING!” And she, who has been almost as impatient about things as I’ve been figured out what I was talking about, and was all, “IS IT GOOD?” and I was all, “TOTALLY!” Now, a lot of her students in that class know me, and they were all sitting in there, and they were like, “WHAT’S GOING ON?!?” and as I was making my exit, I said, “It’s a secret!” And the moment I walked out I heard them enthusiastically questioning CC. She didn’t reveal my secret intel, and then later I ran into one of those students in the elevator, and she told me that CC wouldn’t tell and she tried to get it out of me, and I said, “you will know, but not yet! nothing is certain!” My student then said to me, “well, even though I don’t know what it is, congratulations!”
I love my students. LOVE. THEM.
So this leads to the “other news” of the title:
- I have a (former) student who has made it to the interview process for Teach for America, which is awesome. I also have a student applying to be a Rhodes Scholar, and students applying for internships, study abroad, law school, and grad school. All of them are freaking amazing.
- I heard from a non-trad student whom I had thought dropped out who in fact just needed to stop out in order to get the money to finish and she wants to come in for advising!
- I had a student burst into tears in class yesterday (not good, except) which led to the student coming in for a meeting today and figuring out stuff with her research paper (GOOD!).
- All but one of my modernism students actually showed up for library instruction and they all seemed to be stoked about how much they learned! And I even learned some new things (which I admit is part of the reason I do library instruction – so I can find out the latest features that will make my life easier).
- Critical theory in the intro to the major class! I so love introducing what “theory” is when I don’t actually assign them theory to read! It makes everything so much better when I actually do teach them theory!
And then, in non-student “other news”:
- Footloose is wonderful, deals perfectly with my high-strung-ness because he is like the most low-strung person in the way that he interacts with the world (though he is totally high-strung in his own way but he just internalizes it rather than externalizing it), and he totally doesn’t REACT when I freak out, which, yes, is kind of annoying (because, DUDE, use your words), but which also, yes, is exactly what I need in a person
That’s enough for now. More soon,
Woo!
and also Woo^5 and
Woo!
Yay! Congratulations! You know my philosophy: every level of approval you pass is worth a bottle of champagne. Here’s to you!
Fantastic! Congrats on having your excellent work recognized
Sweeeeeeeeeeet! Congratulations!
Congrats!! BTW, you do get that you are a superstar scholar and teacher at your school, right????
Congratulations! You ask, “Who is at the end of the line when she is just 40 years old?” I know what you mean, but maybe if we are tenured or tenure-track and we look at our careers we ought to think of being a full professor as the norm; we ought to think that we have not entirely realized our goal of being a college professor until we have made full. (Obviously, this isn’t a helpful attitude if you know you are never going to make full, or if you will make full so late that it is merely frustrating.) As you’ve explained in earlier posts, making full has real advantages for you. And making full as early as possible is a good career goal simply because it is best for financial reasons to spend as much of your career at full as possible (percentage raises are better when added to a higher base, etc.).
I am not surprised, but I understand how you approached this. Congratulations, and enjoy the good things. And I like EngLitProf’s approach… Once you’re a full professor, you are free to do what you know is right. And while some people use it to do what serves them, you have already developed an institutional conscience!
In any case, now you can enjoy the good things.
Congrats! I always, only half jokingly, say that being a prof is a dead end job. Two promotions possible and then your done!
Wow! This is great! I’m in the early stages of waiting for my feedback on my promotion file. I just heard from the department, which is great. College level, though – that’s the hurdle, isn’t it? And you cleared it, probably with colors more flying than you give yourself credit for.
Congratulations!
Woohoo, congratulations! Let the terror commence! 🙂
Earthling…
Q: You gonna live forever?
A: Yes, depending on where.
Q: How long do our lifetimes last?
A: 1-outta-1 bites-the-dust, child.
When our eternal soul leaves our body
and we riseabove to meet our Maker,
only four, last things remain:
death, judgement, Heaven or Hell
according to the deeds WEE mortals
have done in our finite existence.
So… find-out what RCIA is and join!
PS° Im a re-boot NDE:
if you’re RIGHT,
you’ll see the LIGHT.
Follow that to the Elysian Fields;
let’s be tethered2forever Upstairs.
PS…
Google+: kold_kadavr_ flatliner