58
votes
I have been asked to be on a tenure evaluation committee during my sabbatical, how should I respond?
There is nothing to "think through", the answer is very clear from your short description of the situation. Just say no. And use this as an opportunity to develop the skill of saying no, ...
- 185k
56
votes
Is it appropriate to ask an interviewing institution to reimburse nonrefundable hotel costs after flight cancellation?
I think it is your responsibility to try to get any possible refund for the hotel (that is, contact the hotel and discuss your circumstances, even if their cancellation policy would seem to not allow ...
- 105k
48
votes
Backing out of a signed tenure track offer due to changing legislation that alters tenure and abolishes DEI
I'd guess that the administration will sympathize with you. There should be no problems withdrawing, especially if you point out your reasons. A tenure track position is supposed to lead to tenure and ...
- 345k
38
votes
Accepted
Masters advisors want me to become a Phd Student, but afraid he won't get tenure before I finish
I suggest that you have a conversation with him and ask what the consequences would be if he leaves before you finish. You don't need to raise tenure as a reason. People leave for other reasons. If he ...
- 345k
33
votes
Accepted
Applying to a tenure track job at the same school two years in a row
You should apply both this year and next year. So many reasons:
The university might decide on not opening the second faculty line. This might happen up to the day before the expected announcement.
...
- 10.9k
27
votes
Is it common for the head of a department to be able to reduce a tenured professor's salary to 0?
Very clearly, this is not common practice or we would all know such cases.
It is, then, an apparently exceptional case to which a university has applied exceptional measures. I don't know any of the ...
- 91.1k
27
votes
Academic job market: applying for an associate or full professor position if I am not an assistant professor?
Sometimes people who are employed outside of academia, say in senior industry positions or at research labs, may be hired as associate professors or even full professors if they have impressive enough ...
- 185k
23
votes
Accepted
Do faculties look at h-index including or excluding self-citations?
Hiring committees typically do what they want. Actually, it is the individuals on any hiring committee that do what they want. Some will do this, some will do that. Some will ignore such numbers ...
- 345k
22
votes
Accepted
In Germany, does an academic position after PhD have an age limit?
There is no actual age limit.
However, there is a limit of the number of years on which you can be employed in academia in Germany before and after your PhD on positions with a limited-duration ...
- 14.8k
22
votes
Tenure Track at a Small Liberal Arts College, but bad at research, how do I improve?
Try taking time out to just play with your field for your own enjoyment
The physicist Richard Feynman went through a similar period of "burn-out" in his research where he was not making ...
- 64.2k
21
votes
Furlough at university's contract for tenure-track position?
My institution, a US state university, has had at least two rounds of furlough while I was there (about 15 years).
One was due to state government austerity, the second was due to the COVID-19 ...
- 105k
20
votes
Are decision making processes for a tenure-track position totally transparent to all members of its search committee?
A selection or hiring committee is not an ISO-specified machine, certified by an external evaluator. It is a collection of people with their own motivations and preconceptions, and as a consequence if ...
- 91.1k
20
votes
Is it too much to create a book cover for a potential book for an interview?
In your question, you say that you are "proposing" a monograph. This suggests that you don't actually have a contract signed with a publisher yet. If that is the case, I think it is a little ...
- 3,847
15
votes
Backing out of a signed tenure track offer due to changing legislation that alters tenure and abolishes DEI
You are perfectly permitted to have an opinion about the ongoing changes in Texas laws.
It is ethically acceptable to back out of an acceptance due to changes outside your control that decrease its ...
- 2,526
14
votes
Is it common for the head of a department to be able to reduce a tenured professor's salary to 0?
No, it isn't "common" for a department head in the US to have such power, but it might be possible for them to (at least) start termination procedures for some faculty, especially untenured ...
- 345k
14
votes
I have been asked to be on a tenure evaluation committee during my sabbatical, how should I respond?
You should feel free to say no.
If the ask is for you to serve on the committee, attend meetings and vote then given your time constraints, do say no.
If you are just being asked to write a letter in ...
- 32.9k
13
votes
Accepted
Should I (and, if so, how) signal refused offers to a tenure committee?
I guess that I wouldn't put such things on a CV. But one option is to make it generally known around the department that you've turned down a few offers. It doesn't need to be more specific than that ...
- 345k
13
votes
Furlough at university's contract for tenure-track position?
Well, in most universities in the U.S., public or private, whether or not they give explicit contracts, whether or not those contracts mention "financial exigency"... unless you are quasi-...
- 86.5k
13
votes
Accepted
Is the German 6-year long position of "researcher for habilitation" (called "Habilitationsstelle") a senior or junior position?
One is not supposed to be employed on temporary positions at German universities for more than 6 years after the PhD. While there are exceptions to this rule, this indicates that such a position ...
- 41.2k
13
votes
ABD status and tenure-track positions hiring
More generally, not just for tenure-track positions, jobs that require a PhD typically require you do have a PhD before starting work. That doesn't mean they won't go through the hiring process ...
- 105k
11
votes
Is it common for the head of a department to be able to reduce a tenured professor's salary to 0?
Is it common for the head of a department to be able to reduce a tenured professors' salary to 0?
No, department heads do not have that kind of discretion anywhere as far as I know.
I actually don't ...
- 185k
10
votes
Accepted
Tenure Track at a Small Liberal Arts College, but bad at research, how do I improve?
For the record: I am a pure mathematician. I never worked in a SLAC (only in reasonably large, 40-50 faculty, research oriented math departments). Nevertheless, your struggles are not at all ...
- 4,231
9
votes
Academic job market: applying for an associate or full professor position if I am not an assistant professor?
It could mean a person currently on tenure track, but it might mean, and is more likely to mean, someone who is already an associate or full professor elsewhere. Someone eligible for a mid level or ...
- 345k
9
votes
May the spouse of a tenure-track candidate accompany them during their lunch with the head of the department?
In general, the rule is:
During the interview (prior to an offer, as in your question), don't bring your spouse or partner to any events. Many people don't even mention their spouse, because it can ...
- 10.1k
9
votes
Backing out of a signed tenure track offer due to changing legislation that alters tenure and abolishes DEI
I am a tenured full professor in life sciences at a state university in Texas, and a former department chair. For all I know it could be MY department that has made you an offer and we might have ...
- 91
9
votes
Tenure Track at a Small Liberal Arts College, but bad at research, how do I improve?
One of the issues about being at a small college is that the local faculty in your field is also small with fewer opportunities for collaboration.
My main suggestion is that you find ways to increase ...
- 345k
8
votes
Backing out of a signed tenure track offer due to changing legislation that alters tenure and abolishes DEI
Sorry to hear you are in this position. In the end, only you can decide what's best for you (both rationally and in line with your own moral compass). That being said, a few things to consider:
I ...
- 2,890
8
votes
I have been asked to be on a tenure evaluation committee during my sabbatical, how should I respond?
Before you say yes or no, make sure that you know the parameters. How long is the process, how intense, travel required, zooms, what should be evaluated, ...?
Note that such a thing would be a plus on ...
- 345k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible