Stunner!

I got an email this morning from my department chair saying that he was stepping down at the end of the semester and that he would be leaving my university to accept a job at another university. I was stunned. My chair has always had a rebel/cynical side to his personality, particularly as he talks about administrators, but I never saw this coming. During one of the retreats over the past couple of weeks, we were talking, and he asked me if I felt appreciated and if I ever thought about moving to a more research-intensive university. That conversation makes much more sense now, since I'm sure he had an offer at that point. It's interesting to think who will be taking over in January. We have a new Dean as of this summer, and so to have a new chair also makes the future a little uncertain. I feel like my university carefully balances teaching and research. While most people respect that balance, I know that there are people in my department that would prefer a stronger teaching bias, and I hope that the new chair does not fall into that camp.

But more than being destabilizing, it's a little sad. Nobody's perfect, but for all his faults, I really liked him. He was dedicated to our department and would "fight" for us if resources seemed scarce. More than that, he supported me in my research and teaching, and he understood my sense of humor (slightly sarcastic and cynical).

Dr. Chair, you will be missed.

Classes Under Way

All of the classes I'm teaching meet on Mondays, so Monday was a pretty hectic day. Especially given the students that were also begging to be let in to the first class. My other two classes went really well. I think Mondays are going to be pretty long days throughout the semester, but it makes the rest of the week a little easier.

Yesterday, I met with the director of a nonprofit in the area who I was hoping to recruit for my organizational communication analysis class. This director was great, and when she heard about the professor who had given me her contact information, she was especially enthusiastic about participating. So, I've now got two nonprofits on board for that class, which is exactly what I was hoping.

All in all, a great start to the semester. I meet one class today and the other two tomorrow. Then a long weekend. The universities that I attended for my undergraduate and graduate degrees didn't take Labor Day off, so it's nice to be at a place that does. Especially with all of my classes meeting on Mondays!

Wait Lists

I met with my first class this morning. I am teaching a class that is required of all of our majors in the most popular time slot of our schedule, which means that I had the students who were enrolled plus those that were on the wait list and were smart enough to show up in case there were any open spots. Interestingly, I actually ran out of chairs today. Part of the problem is my departments because they only create enough sections for the number of seniors that year, which means there is little room for maneuvering by students. Most of the problem is that everyone wants to take the class in the fall so they can have an easy semester in the spring of their senior year. And most of them want this time slot. The class is enrolled to the limit, but I'm probably going to allow at least 2 of the students that are wait-listed to be in the class. Besides, I have too much free time this semester--I need a couple of extra papers/assignments/tests to grade!

Finally!

The marathon wait is over. Just shy of 12 months, the manuscript that I had under review since last September has received a decision. And the decision is a great one, by my standards. One reviewer torched the paper and said that it should be rejected. The other reviewer really liked the paper and recommended that it be revised and resubmitted. The editor told me that she agreed more with the second reviewer and that if I revised the paper, she would only send it to that reviewer. Not only that, I don't really think the edits will be that substantial. The reviewer pointed out several things that I had not noticed, and I think the end result will be a much better paper. While this paper was under review, I collected more data, so the sample size will be larger as well. It's nice when it all comes together. Finally.

New Graduate Students

I get to meet with our new graduate students today at their orientation. I'm kind of excited about it. We've got a pretty large class this year--11 students (which is larger than we've had since I've been here). Three of those students are part of our accelerated Master's program, where students take graduate classes during their senior year and finish a bachelor's and master's degree in 5 years. At first, I wondered if this wouldn't be seen as the easy way to get a master's degree, but having watched students go through it last year, I think it's quite a bit tougher than the traditional way. Whereas a traditional student might be taking a minimal load and adjusting to the increased expectation of graduate school, these students are taking 15 or 16 hours as well as completing graduate requirements in some of those classes. I teach a communication theory that is usually the first class that our master's students take. I'm not particularly looking forward to grading that many papers for the class, but I am very excited about the prospects for discussion--from everything I've heard, it should be a pretty lively group.

Classroom Technology

I am interested to know what other people do about students' use of technology in the classroom. I'm not talking about the obligatory use of PowerPoint by professors. I'm referring to practices of surfing, IMing, and texting during class. I know other teachers who say "no laptops allowed" in class. Being untenured, I'm not brave enough for that. I have a statement in my syllabus that discourages electronic distractions and says that I reserve the right to forbid them. I heard about one professor who became Facebook friends with his students so that he could find their IM screenname and send a message to stop IMing (without missing a beat from his teaching). The IT people at my university have indicated that I may soon have the ability to "switch" on or off the wireless access in my classroom. (I would love to be in the middle of teaching and switch off access--it would only be surprising once, but the looks on students' faces would be priceless!) This morning, I read this syllabus statement about "multi-tasking" in the classroom that I really liked. I've already printed my syllabi for the Monday, but I'm thinking about circulating this statement.

Almost through "Orientation"

I just read this wonderful post on the word “retreat." I wonder if they teach you at "adminstrator school" that calling an all day meeting a retreat makes people think that they are not at a meeting. At any rate, most of my retreating is done now. I had a breakfast training session to discuss how to effectively mentor new faculty, which was actually a productive and important discussion. The only thing left for this week is my presence at a series of new student orientation exercises. This afternoon, there is a time for communication majors to meet with professors. I don't think there's much value at all in me going, but it seems like it would be "noticed" if I do go. Then, Friday there is an orientation for new graduate students, and since I am teaching one of the first classes the graduate students in my department take, it seems like a good idea for me to go.