Silverbacks!

So yesterday the colleague to whom I need to start saying no (we'll call him Apollo because he reminds me of Apollo as depicted in the Percy Jackson audio books) and I submitted a little internal university grant application. Since I ended up doing a lot of the heavy lifting on the other projects, he was supposed to do it on this one, and he did, for the most part, except for one thing. It's one of the most prestigious grants on campus, but at least one of the collaborators has to be from the college of arts and sciences, arts and sciences generally been seen as more academically pure than something like my school of basketweaving and leisure studies (and I'll leave that matter for another day, I think).

Greatness. So Apollo and I identified a couple of people in good ol' A&S who do similar kinds of things and with whom a collaboration seemed mutually beneficial. Unfortunately, Apollo is on sabbatical this semester, and since he lives in Far, Far Away (where Spouse and I would move, if Spouse gets that R-1 job), he doesn't come to campus very often. So Apollo wrote the first draft of the grant, and my job was to charm Silverback Steve and Junior Jerry into working with us. Junior Jerry was easy. We picked these people because we knew that together we could all save each other some work. I knew it. Jerry knew it. The American people knew it. SS was the problem because Jerry, being junior, would not sign on without Steve's blessing.

He's a fixture on campus - very senior, rumored to be getting close to retiring. Jerry warned me that he doesn't read or answer e-mail and is kind of hard to get ahold of. I dropped a hand-written note at his office and left three messages. Eventually, he e-mailed me (!), and we got together. He liked the idea, angels sang, and I agreed to get him a full draft on Monday for his blessing before we sent it in. He also liked the hand-written note.

Monday was a university holiday, so Apollo e-mailed it to him. Tuesday - no word, so I took a paper copy over to his office, with another handwritten note. Wednesday - no word, I e-mailed and left phone messages. Grant is due at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Thursday morning, early, I get an e-mail from Apollo. Parthenos, his daughter, is sick, so he's not going to make it in today, so I have to get the grant submitted. Still no word from Steve. I e-mail him that I will stop by around 1 (his office hours). At 1, I sit outside his door for 45 minutes, while the student worker keeps telling me that he doesn't know where Steve is. That Steve should be here at this time, and he is, except when he doesn't come in (!?!?!). I sit there thinking how very wrong this is. I leave ANOTHER handwritten note - Steve-o, call me, man? and teach a class. In my 25-minute break between classes, I run back over there (other side of campus) and still no sign of Steve. The regular receptionist is there and tells me Steve teaches at the same time I do (3:30), so he'll have to stop by his office before that. She'll tackle him, she promises.

4:15: I get an -mail (!) from Steve that he had to read it really quickly, but thinks it is ok. I get it submitted electronically. While teaching.

Holy cow

So Spouse had his interview at the R1 today.

It was phenomenal. I haven't seen him this happy in months.

PrettyGood was just that, PrettyGood. This school is world-class. It's a lot like where we went to Grad School, at least for his program. And it was unbelievably good for him to go to a place like that and have them treat him as a colleague, even if it was just for a day.

The location of the R1 is not great - it would be a crappy commute for both of us. But I'm definitely willing to consider it, if it could make him this happy.

He's the first interview of 3, but the chair gave him a card and told him to not accept a job anywhere else without calling him, so we are taking it as a good sign.

So. Very. Happy. for him.

Time to recover from a strange week

*Last week was craziness itself, as the girls were on Spring Break. My folks were originally supposed to come keep them while we went to our annual overseas event, but that fell through when our exotic overseas location had a revolution. So my parents were stuck with the partial value of some plane tickets that they wanted to use before it expired. So we agreed they'd come over break, which would help Spouse and I avoid the kid handoff that week.

It was good during the days, sort of, but our inability to say - Hey, you watched our kids all day today, and came here at your own expense, so why don't you just entertain yourself this evening while Spouse and I work - meant that we are both so. very. behind.

Plus, our little townhouse doesn't have a guest room, so my folks were in our room and we were on various couches, so I feel like I haven't had good sleep in a week. Which causes me to have migraines.

A co-worker's wife is having their first baby, and I wanted to have a little get together with the folks who teach in the grad program (about 9 people). Somehow in the process, someone in the bigger academic unit (54 people) wanted to help, so now we had to invite everyone, which means I have to spend this morning making fruit and veg trays. Co-worker who wanted to help's contribution? Ordered a cake from a bakery and is picking it up. Stupid me, forgetting that people on the party planning committee don't get tenure.

Working on this internal grant application with a colleague. We've done several projects together this Spring and I took the lead on many of them, so he was supposed to take the lead on this one, but it's ended up being a tonne of work for me, too. Plus it's one of those horrors that involves getting agreement from multiple people in multiple departments, and colleague is technically on sabbatical this semester, so he doesn't come to campus a lot and a lot of the negotiation has fallen on me. Grrrr. I am about to tell this colleague we are done with new things. He has a lot of terrific ideas, but between the two of us, we now have two years of projects backed up.

Spouse has his big job visit to R-1 U tonight and tomorrow. He's very disquieted, and the fact that he really couldn't sleep last night is not going to help. Today is his last day of classes (lucky bastard - I still have two more weeks!). His boss told his yesterday that they really want to keep him at his present position, but wouldn't know if it could happen until August, when the legislature finally gets its budgeting butt in gear. I see this as unlikely because a) I don't think we want to wait until August and b) he really did not enjoy working there.

So that's what I know. Time to work on this behemoth project and then get cutting.

So I wonder what they are thinking...

My parents are here helping us with the girls while they are on Spring Break and we are working.

They got here Tuesday, and I was able to pick them up at the airport at 3 p.m. because I don't teach on Tuesdays (although I did miss an office hour this afternoon). Tuesday night, I had an honor society induction where I had to go site through it and make nice nice with the parents. I got home at about 9:30. Wednesday, I left at about 8:30, did a lot of grading, taught two classes, got home at quarter of 6. Didn't do any work in front of them Wednesday night (although I did do a bit Thursday morning before work). Yesterday, left at about 8:30, had a research meeting, worked on a basket, had lunch with a colleague, another research meeting, went to a panel my department was sponsoring, and an event where the grad students show their thesis baskets. Got home at about 8. Did a bit of work in front of them (maybe 20 mins or so) last night, and about an hour of work this a.m. before they got up (they sleep about 10 hours a night here, which I think is weird, since they don't do that at home, but whatever) and maybe 15 mins after. Left for work at 9 and here I am.

They have "regular" jobs, working for other people. My dad has a very set schedule (union) and my mom less of one, but 10-hour days are not that uncommon for her. I think they are really confused about what it is that I actually do. Standing in front of students and talking, they see as teaching. Spending an hour this a.m. putting together an assignment, I'm not sure they do. My Mom said this morning "You sure do go to a lot of meetings." They also asked me if I advise students. I told them I did, and that it's a part of my job that I really enjoy. Mom's response "Well, I guess it is fun telling people what to do."

I think a lot of what I do must not seem like actual work.

So I am going to try the Jedi mind trick...

So I had to give my students an example of something explanatory, so they can mimic explaining to others. I explained how an organized professor gets ready to teach a class...

A question for you

So the end of the semester looms large, and with it, student evaluation forms. My evals were low last semester, and NewSchool is one at which student evals numbers are very high - the university mean is 4.3 out of 5. Now, I have all kinds of issues with the evals (for example, taking means instead of medians for classes of 18).

I had great evals at my old school, and they were lousy last fall. So I am *hem* concerned about how I will show up this semester (me and every other female probationary faculty member, I might add. Men do much better here). I made a lot of changes to my classes this semester, and things seem to be going pretty well, but I have a few students in each who are not doing great and might throw that mean off.

So what would you do? Or what do you do to improve your numbers? (Don't be judgy - I still taught rigorous courses and I don't give students wake up calls (as one of my grandfatherly male colleagues does).

What a great weekend

Including a full day at an attraction in New State that we haven't been to and was a lot more fun without kids.

A great dinner that was a) at the kind of place Spouse and I really like; b) under $15 and c) on 1/2-price beer night.

Another great breakfast at a place we saw on Food Network several years ago and lived up to its billing.

A chance to go hiking without having to motivate/drag small people up the mountain

This week is going to be brutal, but I feel somewhat more prepared for the things to come.

In other news, Spouse has a second interview at OddSchool AND made the short-list at nearby R-1.

We are cautiously ecstatic.

Progress

So the house closed, and I have safely socked the proceeds away in a CD for the moment. The taxes are e-filed and accepted by the relevant governments (we use H&R Block at home, formerly Tax Cut, and I have been very happy with it over the years). Haven't gotten the plates changed over, and, really, don't see that happening tomorrow. But good progress over all.

Next week is going to be really rough, as the girlies are on Spring Break, and we are not. My parents are coming on Tuesday and will stay through Easter, but even that means I need to go pick them up at the airport during a work day.

Tons of stuff due next week - a few grant applications, a big project for service, etc.

But this weekend, my in-laws are coming to take care of the girls, and Spouse and I are getting the heck out of dodge, going up to a local well-known tourist place that Spouse promised me a trip to for my birthday (last November). We REALLY need this.

So there.

Paper. Work.

One of the things that I hate most of all in life is paperwork. I hate filing. I hate keeping up with things. I hate signing on the correct lines and scanning and .pdf-ing and Fed Exing and the whole business. (Note to students - this is exactly why I HATE late work. I can keep up when everything is in the flow, but when it isn't, it's just a giant PITA, and it makes me less charitable towards your work)

Anyway...

This week is the week of paperwork. I did our taxes on Sunday (refund! Score!). Our house is closing Thursday, I think (the buyer wants to close earlier, so if I get the paperwork we had to get copied and filed and notarized, etc. sent out today, I think it will close this week). I am finally getting our cars registered in NewState (which means I will officially be done with Central State, thank you very much).

It does not make me happy, but I will be so happy when it is over.

Also, it is time for this semester to be over. Yet, somehow, I have 4 more weeks.

Not what we expected

Interview 1, which was a short telephone screener went ok. Apparently, they are talking to a whole lot of people and Spouse said he wasn't prepared for one question, but did well on the others. Don't think the chances are that great now.

Interview 2, at OddSchool. He really liked it a lot and thinks they like him. It turns out that the one faculty member they have in the new program is also leaving, so it looks like it might be a normal job, with a normal salary. He has to go back next week and meet the guy in charge of the new program.

When it rains it pours

So Spouse now has two sort-of interviews today. Last night, he got an e-mail from the search chair at another place he applied to (worse commute, but still do-able, VERY good school), wanting him to do a short screening phone interview today. All may not be lost.

Holding pattern

So Spouse is going to talk to people at OddSchool (I think they deserve their own nickname now!) on Friday. The more I learn, the weirder it gets. I finally found a page with salary info (they're not on the Chronicle page), and what they are offering is really, really low, even by the school's own standards. Plus, Spouse's discipline is a top-10 major. So, they are losing a full professor and bringing someone in to kill a popular program and offering about 40% of what that full professor made for the person who does it. Oh, and they built lab space within the last two years for this new program that they promote heavily in their admissions materials, but they don't actually offer any classes because they don't have anyone to teach them. Care to guess what field the new program is in? You guessed it - Spouse's. I am fascinated to hear what he finds out on Friday - it's gaining a "watching reality TV" cachet for me.

Making decisions really easy

Chair called to today to tell Spouse salary at potential school. It's $5000 more than what he was making in industry BEFORE HE WENT TO GRAD SCHOOL 18 YEARS AGO.

Really?

Answer my questions about moral dilemmas

II don't have enough for a cohesive post. I present instead some RBOC for your reading pleasure. I am sincerely mystified about each of these issues, so if you have insight, I'd love to hear it.

1. For my weaving baskets for the global citizen class, I had my students today go to a presentation that's a part of the diverse leadership conference. When the speaker said things like "No one has conversations about race," and that he tried a thought experiment where he spent a month where he tried to think all the time about how he has a white perspective on things, I didn't buy it. a) we had a conversation about race in the Prof household just this week AND I had one with a colleague of color just last week and b) we work hard at PrettyGood to encourage diversity, but the students we draw (affluent kids from the NE), even if they are of color, I don't think are illustrating the kinds of diversity that we think they are. Question 1: Is white, liberal guilt ever counter-productive?

2. I FINALLY got the g-d conference paper finished. We have a 3rd author on one paper who really doesn't deserve it, since he didn't do bupkis on the paper. I agreed to include him since a) he might be useful in the future and b) he ended up covering my posterior last semester when I really didn't know enough about pastel drawing and technical theatre to teach it. Question 2: Should I feel guilty about this? How about if I try to get him to do more on the re-write or should I drop him like a hot potato? (n.b. he was asked to do stuff on this version, but never seemed to get anything done)

3. Offspring's school is set up so that 93-100 is an A and there are no minuses, If she gets an A this term in this particular class, she'll make an A for the year. This will require pretty much perfection on her part. She's capable, but it requires a lot of attention to what I feel like is clearly busy work, and she won't do it without a lot of nagging from me. Question 3: Is it worth it to nag her to death for the next 8 weeks, or should I just let it go?

4. Spouse has an administrative interview at PossibilityU next week. But it sounds like they might be eliminating his program and just looking for someone to oversee it shutting down/take care of the majors still in the pipeline. Question 4: Is it still worth it, or should he look for a job in industry (his going there would mean we can keep Offspring in nerd school for another year)?

5. Offspring wants to go to this camp this summer that is really cool, but has a waiting list 40 kids deep. Question 5: Should I volunteer to help with the camp to get her into it, or is that too TigerMom?

6. I had a weird conversation with a student who is not being the most , hem, honest, that I have ever seen. S/he has not been keeping up with the work and, given an opportunity to meet with me about hir grades (with a penalty for making and then blowing off an appointment, missed the meeting and then lied about it, saying s/he was sick (I saw hir at a campus event that night, so s/he is totally busted). This student then met with me, and tried to turn the whole meeting into a critique of my teaching, including several criticisms that are just inaccurate, like saying I lecture too much when out of 16 class periods so far, we've had 5 lectures, none of them taking more than 20 minutes. This is the same student who said to me "You know, we were talking about your requirement that we all actually make a basket this semester, and that's just not the way NewSchool students learn, so I don't know what you want to do about that..." And it turns out that 2 students out of 20 haven't made progress and s/he is one of them. Question 6; Given that student evaluations and the means of responses (in very small classes) are crucial to P & T at NewSchool, what should I do about this student?

Hoping no news is no news

So Spouse hasn't heard anything, but last night told me the chair of that dept. is sufficiently poor in human interaction skills, that he would expect that if he didn't get it, he'll just never hear anything.

I would like to run a search someday just so I am not so dickish to people. This kind of behavior is apparently the norm in academia, hence things like the job search wiki, but that doesn't make it right.

In other news, I just minutes ago uploaded the conference paper from hell. It has consumed much of my time for the last 10 weeks (when we collected the data for it). Amen. Amen and Amen.