Academics Chat Thread

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

I believe the old Chat thread has fallen off the front page of this section, and I thought it might be time to reinstate it. I know it's only sporadically useful, but sometimes it's nice, right?

I am a lowly postdoctoral English Lit type. Finished my PhD in 2014, teaching associate for a couple of years, and now part-time while DD is a baby. I'm currently working frantically to get my book manuscript to the publisher by my deadline (October), and also trying to regain enthusiasm for the job market.

Who else is lurking around here?

Wow, I'm impressed you all manage to avoid lunch meetings. Here, nearly all seminars are traditionally at lunch time. Then the other type of lunch meetings are research centres, where they used to cater lunch and we'd all have a nice chat while eating to "build community", plus administrative meetings that were again catered (some actually having "Lunch" right in their name). When in person all these are pretty okay, in fact the catered ones are quite nice :) , but with the online format the times (and names) have remained the same, but there just isn't lunch. I can't really 'refuse' them - well, I do in fact skip a lot of the seminars and research centre meetings, but am required to go to most of the admin ones. They have joked that they'll take us all out for a fancy meal when the pandemic is over, but they haven't actually changed the times of the meetings.

Sorry, me again with another interview anxiety question. Should I acknowledge the Covid crap of the last year that saw a downturn in research, or gloss over it and pretend it was all fine?

, me again with another interview anxiety question. Should I acknowledge the Covid crap of the last year that saw a downturn in research, or gloss over it and pretend it was all fine? It would be a bit weird to interview at this moment and not mention covid, it isn't over yet is it? I'd speak about how this has changed the research landscape in terms of possibilities and funding and how this impacts your own plans.

For whatever reason, we haven't traditionally had many lunch meetings, more afternoon ones, but they are annoying for those doing school pick up. I think lunchtime is actually a good time, say 1-3, but it does block out the whole afternoon with some seminar that isn't your thing.

If I’m forced to attend a lunchtime thing I jolly well make sure to take 45 minutes beforehand to for an early sandwich.

looking at how fast vaccinations are going, will staff and students be back before summer do we think (or even in September)? Or will there still be social distancing, face masks, and outbreaks in halls?

my uni are promising PG students that they ll be back in labs for summer dissertations.

Fools

Ours are still telling non-lab MSc students to come back in a WEEK. My HoD told me they won't but the Uni won't say till the last minute.
My phone just autocorrected HoD to God.

Laughing at HoD/God mix-up. Our HoD is very nice, and doesn't have a God-complex, but a couple of previous ones have!

Back on drafts- I don't review drafts of student work. I say they are welcome to bring or send their work to me before a 15 min office hour meeting and I will skim it briefly to see if there looks to be any major issues, but I'm not reading and editing student work, and we are not supposed to- it does create inequity issues and is a complete waste of time. It is their responsibility to meet the learning outcomes, go to the library, go to study skills tutoring (hardly any do, but there's lots provided), not mine. The exception to that is for dissertations (UG) where this is a part of the steps to completion set out on the course, but very few hand in a full draft anyway. I wouldn't have time to review over 100 drafts of essays per term anyway, in addition to the dissertations/PhD drafts to read, it's bad enough marking them!

Our senior management have told colleagues who have been working from overseas during lockdown to start making preparations to return to the UK and have completed quarantine by 8 March.

Interesting GC as I have two colleagues in that situation, but all our exams are online so I don't know if they will be told the same.

We will be so far into the term by 8th March, I don't feel like there will be much appetite amongst the students to be back for a couple of weeks, though more are in the area than we thought would be. I can't think it's worth it really, for mine, all exams are online, and we would have to run online classes anyway, so it would be two/three weeks on campus tops. I don't mind going in for two/three sessions in an entire term if that's what they really want!

what university is that @GCAcademic

I'm professional services, in Scotland, still not really got a clue how long I'll be WfH for. I can't see all staff back, academic or non. How could it possibly work with social distancing measures.

loads of us, where i am, do work which technically does not need interactions - beside teaching.
Even when i teach loads, it s only 15hrs (max 20) of F2F - which (technically again) works with distancing measures.
research labs - no issue either as we re a high risk high security lab with loads of restrictions year round

the only non conceivable thing is project students swarming the place in the summer, with no fixed bench or desk

@jabbathebutt

what university is that *@GCAcademic*

I'm professional services, in Scotland, still not really got a clue how long I'll be WfH for. I can't see all staff back, academic or non. How could it possibly work with social distancing measures.

In England. Don’t want to out myself further! The instructions to return to U.K. were just for teaching staff, I think. We were doing a lot of f2f in the autumn. All of my teaching back then was f2f; I only started online teaching this term once the lockdown started.

We are looking ahead to September 2021 with an expectation that blended learning will still be needed due to the ongoing need for social distancing. I’m in Scotland

I'm at a university in the West of Scotland but so far it appears to only be Edinburgh who has come out and said for definite that it will be online learning til the summer.

Arrrgghh. How do you bounce back from grant rejection? First one I'd put for in ages, for a year off to research and write, and got rejection. Just feel so fed up. Was longing for a year without having to do all the crappy endless stuff this job has become. Worrying it is because I am now later career and thinking maybe I will never have another chunk of funded time off before I retire in 15 or so years. Grrrrr. Also thinking nasty thoughts about how I will just reject all the grants I am asked to assess. I am senior and sit on research council panels and am just so fucked off I spend my time assessing others and when I am assessed on what I thought, of course, was a brilliant project, I get knocked back. I needed to vent. I have no one to talk to.

how are staff managing with open windows on campus in this weather? (if you aren't WFH)? Has that been abandoned or are windows still open? I am someone who really feels the cold, even in summer!

down apply for loads? I think I've had 14 rejections in the last 6-7 years. I'm relying on my next sabbatical.

I think the problem in my humanities field is that there are no loads and everyone is going for same things. I know at least 4 in my dept of 40 went for this same one and I know I will be so jealous if one of them gets it. Oh what a shitty system. But yep, repurpose, try again etc. It is hard not to doubt for a moment one's project. Ego is fragile!

not loads of grants, I mean.....

Ugh I her you. I spent the morning working on an application for funding to build a network with a view to applying for funding 🤯

Downriver we have an internal selection process now for pretty much everything, even small grants right up to centre bids. We don't compete with each other. It's very frustrating when you don't make it through even internal selection, but you only have to submit an outline, so you haven't wasted a whole huge amount of time if yours isn't selected. The internal selection people usually also sit on the grant panels so they have a good idea of what's at least likely to get funded (there's no definites of course).