Weslayen VAP (2011)

[Anony]

Has anyone heard anything on the Weslayen VAP spot for 2011?

[whatever]

search over - they hired someone, not sure who.

[whatevah]

Well, whoever got it might be their hire next year!

[Guest]

I'm actually not sure what's wrong with hiring a VAP and later giving them tenure. I can understand the frustration at putting time into an application, only to have the spot go to an inside candidate - this has happened to me *twice* - but this is how the system works, no? And from the hiring perspective, it seems to make sense to go with someone that is known and liked.

We are sociologists, we should understand that connections - and working as a VAP is perhaps the best connection - make a big difference. Is anyone here under the false impression that the academy works as an ideal bureaucratic meritocracy? Um...did I mention that we are sociologists?

[rrr]

PSA: People, please note that it is definitely not common for the VAP to get slotted into tenure track at many places. Some places do this, but at other places, being a VAP automatically excludes you from consideration. You should try to figure out which kind of place they are if you are considering a VAP at somewhere you would really like to be tenure track.

[guest]

Don't be paranoid. Like TT hires, VAPs are hired because they fit a department's need. Anybody familiar with academic bureaucracy knows that hiring visitors (outside of replacing faculty on leave) is a question of funding, not secretly testing potential future TT candidates. When VAPs are hired for TT positions, it just might be that they were the best fit for the position, hence being hired as VAPs in the first instance. This hardly seems controversial. Take a deep breath, with a little luck we will all get jobs.