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Post by "yes" again on Mar 3, 2015 13:24:13 GMT -5
I'm no ABD. I am an advanced assistant.
I suggest that some seniors don't want juniors to publish, but not out of jealousy. It is more a pragmatic issue--they want juniors to work on what they consider more locally important, i.e. service/meetings/assessment, and they don't want folks to get a writing record that would allow them to leave. How do seniors benefit when juniors leave? They don't. Now they have to run another search, or lose a line, or scramble for class coverage for a year or two.
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Post by Thanks on Mar 3, 2015 14:34:44 GMT -5
The advice on this thread has been most helpful for figuring how to to adjust to a teaching institution. Since senior faculty may not encourage juniors to publish, how do you get around this issue without losing support from the department? Also, how does the administration perceive junior faculty maintaining an active research program? Any advice would be great!
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Post by "yes" again on Mar 3, 2015 14:42:01 GMT -5
Maintaining research is fine if you understand that teaching officially comes first, and service unofficially comes second. The biggest challenge is time management. You may end up writing in evening or on weekends, rather than seeing writing fit into a 9-5 with your other responsibilities. It is not impossible to maintain productivity, but the structure is not ideal, and it takes self-discipline.
I'm sure you will do very well learning the balance at your particular place. Good luck to you.
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Post by welp on Mar 3, 2015 14:53:14 GMT -5
The advice on this thread has been most helpful for figuring how to to adjust to a teaching institution. Since senior faculty may not encourage juniors to publish, how do you get around this issue without losing support from the department? Also, how does the administration perceive junior faculty maintaining an active research program? Any advice would be great! As I said, my senior colleagues don't care if I publish or not. Their main concern is that I do my share of teaching, advising, and service obligations. Me publishing does nothing for them. Me taking time off from teaching to do research means that they will have to pick up the slack. Administration loves active research programs, provided that they don't have to pay for it. Again, I've never experienced any sort of official barriers to my research. But teaching is first, service is second, research is third.
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Post by bitterexperience on Mar 3, 2015 17:00:42 GMT -5
The motivation is to leave. Once again, this is perhaps why "unproductive colleagues" do not want juniors to publish. This is a weird meme that pops up every now and again -- the idea that senior faculty members at non-R1 universities feel threatened by job market applicants who want to pursue research agendas. I'm sure that there are some of those out there, but the idea that there's this vast gulf between the young turks and the old guard -- where senior colleagues don't want to be embarrassed by hiring somebody who is more ambitious -- is (in my experience) largely a myth propagated by ABD candidates who have very little experience in these environments. I didn't even know this was a meme. I wish I had before I took my job; I nearly lost it for being "too" research-active and therefore threatening to a senior person who feared being replaced. This is an anonymous tale, so take it or leave it. But the personal trauma of what happened is still all too real.
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Post by samehere on Mar 4, 2015 12:10:50 GMT -5
I have experienced much of what people are saying here. Continuing research can have advantages, despite past headaches in my department and with some colleagues across campus. If there's a regime change and the new administration values research, holy heck! You should see the folks who've not done anything in 10 years jump into action. It is hilarious! In the meantime, I've received campus awards, funding, paid leave, etc. just for doing what I was "supposed" to be doing all along. If you enjoy research, don't give in to local pressures.
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Post by Advice on Mar 4, 2015 12:29:39 GMT -5
@samehere - What advice do you have for staying research productive when dealing with local pressures from senior faculty and the demands of a high teaching load?
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Post by samehere on Mar 4, 2015 16:15:54 GMT -5
I'm at a SLAC, so my advice probably only works for that context.
I have very realistic goals for myself. I'm not going to be the publishing machine that some people want to be, but instead, I'm happy with an article or so a year. Sometimes I am more productive, but I try to be realistic. That's an important first step. Otherwise, you will always be frustrated and disappointed when you fail to meet your goals. I generally spend the school year working with students to collect data (mostly qualitative interviews) and outlining. Then I use my summers to write up the article.
If at all possible, get students involved in your research. At my school, there's a reluctance to say anything negative about projects where students are involved. This holds true for research or other endeavors. It is good experience for the students, and it can keep grumpy colleagues off your back. Let these students be the face of the project at campus presentations and take students to conferences with you. In short, let students be the excuse for a lot of what you do. ;-)
The short of it is that being able to get to a place where you can be productive takes time. etting research done in the first couple years was difficult. During that time collaborations with colleagues at other schools were imperative. This way you have people to talk with, and your colleagues at work don't have to know what you are doing. Plus, it is less work than if you were working on your own. As a new associate professor, I'm only now at a point in my teaching where prep time is minimal, and I have more control over which committees/service positions I take.
Being the only person on campus working during holidays and summer breaks can be demoralizing. If you want to publish a lot, I'd suggest moving to a research school. I've considered that myself.
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