Academics Chat Thread Mark II

[SignsofSpring]

As the one who didn't look and then managed to close the last thread, I'm going to be the one to start this one! All thoughts, rants, ideas on being an academic especially in Covid-19 times are here...

I bet you can do it! Or at least most of it.

Can I just say, I love this as a mantra -- optimistic yet realistic : ) Thanks Sarah!

@GCAcademic thank you too, it actually really helps to hear other people have been in this situation and it's not the end of the world

I think maybe I'll see where I am going into the summer, rather than after. And if it looks at all dicey I'll talk to my editor.

@GCAcademic thank you too, it actually really helps to hear other people have been in this situation and it's not the end of the world

I think it's very common!

You're probably right!
In my department deadlines seem to be more of a social construct so I can't be the only one in this position

Feeling much better now!

Same here: having edited a book series I can assure you that a) we understand (especially this year), and b) we’d rather know ahead of time.

Well, I'm never going on the HE board again!
Though the mum who wonders "are the Uni letters coming to me?" was quite amusing.

It's appalling in places, isn't it?

I think my tendency to post there is a) a pedagogical drive to try to explain things, or b) a perverse form of self-harm.

I reassure myself that this is a very small self-selecting minority. But we've all had those emails, I imagine, from a parent who tells you that their PFB's essay is really worth far more marks than I've awarded it.

Or is that just me ...?

I end up posting on there because I like to imagine there's a drip, drip effect and eventually, people may take on board that 1) there are universities outside Oxbridge and 2) no, Oxbridge do not want to hear about your 'passion' and your carefully-coached 'hobbies'.

What drives me nuts (and this isn't MN specific) is the confident assumption that if something is true at one university it must be true at all of them. 'Don't worry about handing it in late, you will automatically get an extension if you applied by the deadline!' or 'you get three marks knocked off for bad referencing but you can make them up when you resit'.

I think it's worse this year because of everything being online. Not me, but I have a colleague whose entire first year cohort appear to have imbibed the same rumour about submissions and deadlines, none of which actually apply to where she's teaching.

@IntoAir my favourite was when a parent actually came in to see me (with her student daughter) to tell me that X deserved a higher mark (think it was a D I had awarded) because someone else, who was a lecturer at a different university doing a totally different subject, had looked at it and thought it was really good.

@lomaamina

Same here: having edited a book series I can assure you that a) we understand (especially this year), and b) we’d rather know ahead of time.

Thanks for this, I'm actually submitting for a book series so this is particularly useful advice : )

I will definitely email my editor in the next couple weeks I think, thanks everyone for the encouragement!

Well the mother that emailed me thought that her opinion should override mine because she was a teacher. But not in my field, and anyway ...

I had a mum think she could sit in on a meeting with a third year.

Oh yes the HE boards are a revelation. I can cap some of the stories about undergrads with some from my postgrad teaching: the one whose Dad accompanied him to the department on the first day (understandable, just, as it was his first time in the UK), the one where we had a social tea out with our cohort and someone’s husband came along, staring balefully till I found a lame excuse to waft him away, and, best of all, the reference for a PhD applicant from her father (and employer). Yes, we did ask for an additional one. The latter two were from the UK, so no excuse for cultural differences .

I administer a small research fund, open to any kind of researcher (in my field) not just university academics. Several times, applicants have submitted references from their spouses. Unbelievable - until you see people do it!

I did comment on the HE boards recently when I'd had a couple of gins, as both an academic and parent of 2 DC currently at different universities doing very different subjects.
I felt this gave me quite a rounded view.
One poster still criticised on the grounds that 'universities don't give a shit a students'.
I'd like to be helpful but not sure it's worth it.

when I'd had a couple of gins

There's one poster (not you !) who posts when seemingly inflamed by .

I should know better tbh...

Hi. Can I join and have a rant? End of a long week. Except (hollow laugh) not the end because I have to record more lectures tonight and all weekend. First lecturing job, step up to full time after long term part time postdoc position. I'm utterly miserable. No time to spend with DC (3 of them, aged 7 and under). Been thrown a load of material and had to start teaching it two weeks after my post started. No support. Any advice on how to cope by those who have been at lecturer level longer?

Frater That sounds really tough. All I will say is that it does get easier - or at least, more predictable! - after the first year. Small consolation when you're going through it, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Good luck - and try to rest and have a bit of fun with the little ones when you can. And I hope you have some family support - it helps, although not with the mummy guilt (imo).

Ha, no family support except DH. DM piles on additional demands "she hopes I can find time to admire her garden". Part of the problem is that I'm angry at them. And angry that even if I survive the next year or two Dbaby will not be a Dbaby then. I want to spend time with him now, not in 2 years time when he's a different child. Not sure next yr will be that much more predictable as I'm expected to go out to Asia for several weeks to deliver them. Which will have advantages over online, but add many stresses too.

First lecturing job, step up to full time after long term part time postdoc position. I'm utterly miserable. No time to spend with DC (3 of them, aged 7 and under). Been thrown a load of material and had to start teaching it two weeks after my post started. No support. Any advice on how to cope by those who have been at lecturer level longer?

That is pretty typical. When I started there wasn't even a recognition of a slightly lighter teaching load because it was all new preparations. How many modules are you teaching? Are you convening them, or simply teaching in someone else's courses? What teaching did you do as a postdoc or postgrad that you could draw on?

This is the job, and I assume you knew this?

Survival tip - take it week by week. This is how I've managed being HoD, covering for an absent member of staff and running a research project all at once. And use your experience - you will know more than the undergrads even if you feel underprepared.

Do you have admin roles outside of the admin related to your teaching? Seek advice from a colleague who's done the role/s to find out what's critical/crucial and what you can let go by.

Try not to reinvent the wheel. Are there slides and notes created by colleagues that you can draw on? How come you are having to record so many lectures at once? Is this a post-92?

Be ruthless with students - stick to contact hours only, don't answer emails in the evenings and weekends etc.

Yes you have to shield your off time fiercely.

Also, runs round thread with shirt over head now I can go public YO LADIES I MADE PROFESSOR!

Woohoo!

Go Professor KeflavikAirport!!!

Yay! Congrats! I am sitting here writing a report. Sigh. But yay for being a professor.

Hurrah! Congrats on your Professorship!!