The Replacements

I went to my first Composition meeting yesterday, where all the folks currently teaching 101 and/or 102 get together and cover the necessary information. Since I've been on campus so long, I already knew most of the people there, so that was kind of nice.

Among all the news, Katherine gave us a set of dates. These are the dates when candidates for two faculty positions will be coming to campus and giving presentations (this is who I am, the scholarship I've done, and how I teach) to staff and students as part of the process of applying for the positions. The folks coming are those who made it to the short list and Katherine spoke positively about all of them, so it'll be neat to see them. I'm pretty sure I'll meet all of them, one way or another, as I'm certain they'll all get a tour of the SCWP office.

The whole process is fascinating. First you have the collection of applications which come in, then the faculty committee narrows that collection down to the candidates they most prefer, then there's some kind of interview, then the committee narrows the list down again, then they invite their top choices to visit campus, then the committee decides on their top choice and makes the offer to that person, then they wait for the person to accept or decline the offer, and then they announce to the public who'll be the new man/woman on campus. All-in-all the process takes a couple of months. Whew. And that's how you get a job in academia. I'm getting worn out just describing it.

Anyhow, over the next month or so the top candidates will be visiting. I'll be saying "Hi" to them, visiting the presentations, and possibly doing a few of the lunches/dinners where the candidates get to meet some of their potential colleagues and students informally. Last year, during the search for a new David, I went on a dinner with one of the candidates and it was quite fun. Depending on how much room is left at these dinners and lunches, I might end up going on a couple. I hope there'll be room.