Fall is in the air!

With the first fall in the new house comes a load of fun (and work). Our yard is full of trees meaning our yard is full of leaves. On this fall day, the leaves were too wet to mulch so we decided to rake and play. The kids may not have snow to play in this year so hopefully the leaves will be an adequate substitute.

Notes from the Tenure Track: Part II

When I started working at Saint Xavier University, I was welcomed with open arms. But later the first year when I received my first annual evaluation from the chair, I was shocked. It seems that one student out of the nearly 150 had a problem with me and wrote comment stating that i was "arrogant and talk down to students." It seems that my annual review focused on this one point and did not mention all of the other positive reviews or the comments of the faculty reviewers. When I spoke with the chair, she said that it looked like more than one student due to the way the forms were transcribed, she acknowledged that it was only one student from the original forms, but she did not change her letter before moving on to the dean. When I asked what my rights were in terms of sending a response, she said that "was just not done." This continued throughout my time there with the additions of many factual errors leading to my next 2 pieces of advice:

Advice #2: Be sure to check annual reviews for facts and be sure to speak with your supervisors about positive and negative items.

Advice #3: Do not be intimidated and stand up for yourself during your probation period. If you don't, who will?

I believe that if I had challenged each review at the dean's level with a rebuttal letter, I would have had a better case against the tenure committee. Do not forget advice #1 about documenting everything.

Halloween Mayhem

Another Halloween has come and gone with cuteness all around. It seems though that Halloween has become a weeklong (or more) festival. We had school carnivals, parties and trick or treating that lasted most of the week. We even had a party in my night classes which make for more fun than the typical lecture.

I am not one to change it though as it is my favorite time of the year.

Notes from the Tenure Track: Part I

Having recently undergone my first tenure and promotion review as an assistant professor, I find myself full of thoughts and some ideas which may be beneficial to those starting a tenure track position. First, some background.

I graduated with a Ph.D. in microbiology and Immunology in 2001 and faced a choice of how to proceed career-wise. I knew that my main focus would be teaching, so I chose against a post-doc and looked for positions at smaller schools with a more teaching focus. I applied at many schools and ended up at St. Xavier University in Chicago. The ad asked for qualified assistant professor with teaching experience in microbiology and/or immunology and a desire to start a small undergraduate research program. Sounded perfect, so I accepted an offer and moved to Chicago.

During the interview, both the Biology Department chair and the VP for Academic Affairs touted the Universities desire to increase its research program and get more students involved, but also seemed realistic as to the lack of resources to do this. The school was (and still is) extremely behind in science support and had very little grant experience. I could not get a well defined statement as to tenure standards so I operated on the information I had been given verbally. This leads to my first piece of advice:

Advice #1: Be sure to get a written statement of tenure/promotion standards as well as clearly defined (in writing) criteria on how you will be evaluated.

Stay tuned for more advice with a little bit of my story coming soon.

Opie, Andy and the Fonz for Obama!

If you haven't seen it yet, here is a great video endorsing Obama for President.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Cost of Living

We are finally starting to see the lower cost of living here in Decatur. Coming from Chicago in Late August with gas prices at $4.25, we are now getting gas here for $2.49/gallon. So besides trying to pay for an out-of-state move and a delay in getting my prior experience approved for my contract, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Milk is still expensive and food prices not much lower, but housing cost is significantly lower.

Ashley's First Report Card

All A's for our little 1st grader! We are quite proud of the little academic superstar.