UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

JOBS WORKSHOP PLAN

English 595A-004: Professional Studies: On the Job Market Fall 2006

Prof. Edward M. White Th 3:30-6:00 p.m.

Office: ML 373 Classroom: ML 313

Email: emwhite@u.arizona.edu Tel: 520.626.0768

Texts

Kathryn Hume. Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt: Advice for Humanities PhDs. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

English Showalter et al. The MLA Guide to the Job Search: A Handbook for Departments and for PhDs and PhD Candidates in English and Foreign Languages. NY: MLA, 1996.

Additional required readings will be drawn from other sources, including The Chronicle of Higher Education. Good advice from Hume, p. 4:

“Read The Chronicle of Higher Education faithfully throughout the year.

You may well be asked your opinion on hot issues, and will want to know

any problems related to the schools you are considering.”

As soon as the MLA Job Lists appear, you will want to consult them and stay current as they are revised, weekly. Last year the list was up around September 15:

Dept. code: 5349 Password: jobs4u

If you are not already on the WPA listserv, consider joining it. Many of the best jobs are first announced there. You will also be able to listen in on the current conversation in the field. Subscribe at WPA-L@listserv.asu.edu

Overview

This will be a workshop for advanced doctoral students completing their dissertations and seeking professional employment for the following year. Most of our attention will be on the job market in higher education in the US, where there is a continuing demand for assistant professors of English or Communication Studies, particularly for those with a specialization in rhetoric, composition, and the teaching of English. At the same time, we should stay aware that there are also many opportunities outside of academe for trained writers and researchers.

During the first two weeks, we will review the history and present situation of American higher education, with an eye to how faculty work differs from one kind of institution to another. The ruling question here will be for you to envision the right match of institution to your career goals. At the same time, using D2L (and Stephanie Vie as administrator), we will begin to review and revise the basic documents needed for the job search, such as a vita, application letter, teaching philosophy statement, teaching portfolio, and the file to be placed at the career center, including letters of reference. By mid-September, we will be reviewing the advertisements for jobs posted on the MLA jobs information lists and in the Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE), considering what they are really asking for and to which ones you may wish to apply. All documents must be substantially complete by the time of Amy’s visit to class on October 26. By the end of November, you will be establishing an interview schedule at the December meeting of the MLA, where the first round of interviews normally takes place. We will also practice telephone interviews, which are becoming more common. You will have the opportunity to do a mock interview (around exam week) with UA faculty, who will offer suggestions for improved interview performance.

Be sure to keep in touch with your dissertation committee chair as the year moves along, for several reasons. Keep in mind that the RCTE faculty voted to provide letters of reference only to those who have completed two chapters of the dissertation. Without those letters, you have no chance of getting a job. But aside from that major matter, your chair is a valuable source of information. Seek his or her input on your documents as a supplement to the workshop and draw on the special knowledge of people and institutions your chair has. And don’t hesitate to talk to other faculty about your job hunt. We are all committed to helping you get the job you want. The more advice you get, the better position you are in to make your own decisions.

After the new year, the workshop will continue, since good interviews at MLA will lead to invitations for on-campus interviews, which usually take place in January and February. We will consider best practice for such interviews and you will have the opportunity to present and have a critique of a “job talk,” which is usually a component of them. Actual job offers usually arrive from late January through the end of February and sometimes into March, with additional interviews possible at CCCC. As offers come in we will consider contract negotiations and criteria for deciding among possible job offers.

In past years, our last meeting has been in the second week of March, though listserv talk actually has continued right into the summer, with issues of moving, fitting into the new academic and social communities, and the tricky business of being a first-year faculty member worth talking about. Last year, the bonding of the workshop participants was so strong that that workshop has set up its own listserv, so they can continue the supportive network established here.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

August 24, 2006

Recorder:

Welding a small community

Presence and Absence

Job hunt this year or next? Options.

The value of a support group

Quick history of American higher ed and its institutions

Why are they so different?

How is life as a faculty member different in different kinds of places?

What would be the right “fit” for you? Why?

Who will you be in five years?

Moving from grad student to professional colleague

A difficult psychological leap

Reports from the CHE

The rhythm of the job hunt

Preparing documents: vita, application letters, transcripts, teaching

portfolio, letters of recommendation, etc.

Reading the job ads rhetorically

Applying

Preparing for interviews at MLA, then for CCCC

Campus interviews

Covering missed classes

Juggling job offers

Negotiating contracts

Plan for the workshop: topics and guests

Topics: Note the two books I abbreviate as MLA and Hume. Read

appropriate sections for each week. Read as much as you can digest.

Guests:

Career Center

RCTE faculty: Amy, Anne-Marie, Roxanne, Ken, Theresa,

Tom

Others? Recent grads in the area? Deans?

August 30, 2006

Recorder: Kristen

Chronicle update

Roster: Who is on the market for 2006, who for 2007?

Future meetings: When and where?

D2L: Stephanie

Discuss Hume, Chapter 1

September 7, 2006

Recorder:

The Vita: Read Hume sample vitae, pp. 141-50 and discussion pp. 7-9

Also MLA, pp. 24-26

Drafts on D2L for discussion

September 14, 2006

Recorder:

Guest: Anne-Marie Hall: Teaching Portfolios

Reading job ads rhetorically

September 21, 2006

Career Center: Shaping the dossier and handling of documents

Guest: (?) Barbara Foster bfoster@email.arizona.edu

Letters of recommendation

September 28, 2006

Recorder:

The letter of application

Bring (or have on display on D2L) letter drafts for specific jobs (bring copies of the

ads)

Read Hume, pp. 9-11, MLA, pp. 8-11

Guest: Roxanne Mountford

October 5, 2006

Recorder:

Job applications and handling responses to the applications

Read MLA, pp. 18-21

Guest: Ken McAllister

October 12, 2006

Recorder:

Other documents:

Syllabi

Teaching evaluations

Dissertation description

Writing sample

October 19, 2006

Recorder:

Taking stock before the deluge

MLA conference plans and registration

Arranging your conference time

Updates on dossiers, letters of recommendation, numbers of applications, etc.

October 26, 2006

Recorder:

All documents must be in final version, ready for a last critique

Guest: Amy Kimmehea

November and December

Weekly updates from everyone about conference interviews

Mock telephone interviews

Mock conference interviews

Guests: Theresa Enos, Tom Miller: conference and interview advice

January and February

Presenting job talks

Handling campus interviews

Negotiating contracts

Guest: Larry Evers

March

Celebration of success

Continuation of networking