Month: June 2014

David D. Perlmutter. “Why You Wait.” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 16, 2014. Why You Wait May 16, 2014 Our communications college recently filled a staff position. Total time, from the job coming open to the contract being signed: about one month. On the other hand, as we all know, searches for tenure-track faculty lines take a long, long time to initiate, conduct, and conclude. Because I write about academic careers, I spend a considerable time reading the essays, rants, and tweets of academic job seekers. Their “frustrage” about the state of tenure-track job markets in most fields is matched only by their stupefaction at the search process itself. Among the premier complaints: Why does it take so long to conduct a search? (more…)...

David D. Perlmutter. “Why Search Committees Go Radio Silent.” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 16, 2014. Why Search Committees Go Radio Silent June 20, 2014 Author's note: This essay focusses on searches conducted by faculty committee without professional search firm involvement. Practically everyone who has ever suffered through being a candidate in an academic job search has made a variation of the same vow. “One day, when I am signed and sealed in a position, I will send this notification to the search committees who never got back to me: I’m sorry to inform you that I withdraw my candidacy…” In my case, some 20 years ago when I was ABD and on the job market for the first time, I applied for a particular tenure-track position … and I still have not heard back. Every once in a while I am tempted to “inquire about the status of the search” or formally withdraw. Maybe after I retire. Searching for an academic position is hard and stressful....

David D. Perlmutter. “Know the Vital Players in Your Career: Senior Administrators.” Chronicle of Higher Education, December 13, 2013, pp. A26-27. When are deans, provosts, and presidents most likely to reverse a tenure decision? Jon Krause for The Chronicle Enlarge Image By David D. Perlmutter During my first semester as a dean, I established a monthly lunch with assistant professors to discuss their concerns about promotion and tenure. At our initial meeting, I stated that new faculty members should be careful about taking on too much service. But I also noted that, as dean, I would most likely be the chief culprit asking for their time on search, curriculum, and other committees. So far in this series about the people who affect your tenure case, I've focused on thedepartment chair, the head of the department's P&T committee, and the faculty factions influencing these decisions. In this month's column, I turn the spotlight on the powers-that-be outside your home department—the dean of the college, the vice provosts, the provost, and the president. Just...

David D. Perlmutter. “Know the Vital Players in Your Career: The Campuswide Committee.” Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 2014, p. A32-33.   These professors are the faculty guardians of the gates to tenure Tim Foley for The Chronicle Enlarge Image By David D. Perlmutter Rudyard Kipling’s poetic declaration that "there are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right!" refers to the Neolithic Age. It could apply equally to promotion­-and-tenure procedures in academe today. We move people along the tenure track in a wide variety of ways, and each approach has its champions and detractors. But the one element common to every tenure system is the human factor. In this series I have tried to identify key people who affect your tenure case. I’ve covered the department chair, the head of the department’s P&T committee, the faculty factions, the senior administrators, and the external evaluators. Now let’s turn to a group that many assistant professors usually know little about and certainly don’t hobnob with: the campus promotion-and-tenure committee....