9 in 7.5 weeks … Now 2

by Dr Davis on October 15, 2009

The first few days I zipped through 1 and 2. After a week, plus, I had finished 7, 8, and 9. Now, 5.5 weeks into my list, I have finished 3 and 4 as well. So 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9 are completed. That leaves 5 and 6 to do in the next 2 weeks.

Just in case you are wondering, I am absolutely getting burnt out. I have four relatively short projects due in the next two months and I am seriously considering stopping with those.

18th-c-woman-writing-reading11- Book review. Complete and published.
2- Article on promotion/publishing. Complete.
3- Shakespeare friendship article. Complete.
4- Religion in speculative fiction paper. Complete and have presented.
5- OE Judith, epic. (2 page outline, 500 pages of articles collected, a draft of about 1/3 of the paper complete.) BAD NEWS: The main point I wanted to make with this paper seems to have already been done. So, I have to figure out another way to go. …Such is life. This is the paper that I am giving next Friday at 8 am, if you happen to be in Austin for the Texas Medieval Association.
6- Sookie Stackhouse as gothic. (Books read. Some articles collected. Thought about.)
7- Adjunct article. Completed three different versions at the request of the editor. I don’t know whether the final one was accepted, though I hope so. There are two more weeks till it is due at the publishers. So I assume I will know soon.
8- Medical health contribution. Complete and rejected.
9- Proposal for national conference. Complete. I hope it is accepted. It is a unique topic that most people have not dealt with, probably because it is difficult to talk about.

In addition, I have sent out another series of poems to a journal, sent two papers as proposals to a regional conference that I adore (and rescinded one after I found out that I could only submit one), and graded some more papers.

{ 0 comments }

November and December Goals

by Dr Davis on October 15, 2009

1. Vampire paper for Italian journal (before Dec. 1).

2. Book Review for CEA Forum (due Dec. 1). Note: I have some good advice copied into this post.

3. Multigenerational teaching (Dec. 24).

4. Sexual trauma in composition (Dec. 25).

{ 0 comments }

Money Magazine Goofs Big on College Professors

by Dr Davis on October 15, 2009

Money says that college professors are the third best job to have in the US. I can buy that. I’d go for #1 myself.

But then it says:

Competition for tenure-track positions at four-year institutions is intense, but you’ll find lots of available positions at community colleges and professional programs, where you can enter the professoriate as an adjunct faculty member or non-tenure track instructor without a doctorate degree. That’s particularly true during economic downturns, when laid-off workers often head back to school for additional training.

1. You cannot find lots of positions at community colleges.
2. Hundreds of people are applying to each job (at least in the humanities and social sciences).
3. The jobs are going to PhDs with publications.
4. Becoming an adjunct faculty member only means that you have part-time work for part-time pay. It rarely means actually becoming a full-time member.
5. Just because cc’s have more students doesn’t mean they are hiring a lot more. The extra one thousand (1,000) students at my college means that one (1) additional full-time teacher will be hired next year. They are looking for three (3) more adjuncts, though.

They are so far off, I wonder who they talked to.

{ 0 comments }