Short version: the whole shebang seemed to go off pretty well, and I came away impressed by the university and the surrounding area.
Highlights:
- The faculty laughed, a lot, during my job talk (which was of the reading-off-notes variety, not the formal, reading-a-40-minute-paper variety), and I was told by several members that it was one of the best/most interesting job talks they'd heard.
- The English department is in a gorgeous building with great facilities, and all the offices have windows.
- The department is very young (after a wave of retirements, they've been doing A LOT of hiring) and mostly populated with faculty members from very good Ph.D. programs doing interesting work.
- Although the university is largely a teaching school (3/3 load), there's lots of support for research, and all the tenured faculty have a couple of books to their names.
- English is one of the largest majors, and the majors I met were fun and engaged.
- Real estate is dirt cheap.
- The location is in/near a medium-sized city with a good airport and a good arts scene.
- Start-up funds!
So, we'll see if they liked me as well as I liked them. It must be said that the location isn't entirely ideal (it's the better part of a day's drive to anyone I care about; I'd need a car to get around; the area is famous for a particular kind of weather that I could do without), but it's certainly not unappealing. It might not be someplace I'd stay forever, but it seems as though it would be a warm and nurturing place to start out. And dammit, I deserve some nurturing for a change!*
*A couple of the recent hires know my advisor, and so over drinks I had to bust out my stories of early trauma at her hands. They were gratifyingly appalled
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Professing Mama commented at 4:49 PM~
Hooray! Sounds like things went VERY well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!
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commented at 5:05 PM~
Huzzah, Lecturess! We're all rooting for you!
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timna commented at 6:31 PM~
sounds good.
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Hieronimo commented at 7:28 PM~
Good luck! fingers crossed.
Do they require a book for tenure?
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La Lecturess commented at 8:06 PM~
Hieronimo: a book or 5-6 articles in reputable journals (and if one takes the latter option, half of the articles must be from a project other than the dissertation).
Everyone who's been recently tenured does have a book (plus unrelated articles), but it's nice that the institution recognizes that, with a 3/3 load and no pretenure leave, some faculty might *not* be able to get a book out in their first several years.
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commented at 8:41 PM~
Major congrats, sis... very proud of you!
spring break is over, time for another quarter..
Looking forward to seeing you at the end of May.
-scr
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Tiruncula commented at 9:31 PM~
Sounds like good vibes all around! I can't wait to hear...
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Ancrene Wiseass commented at 10:27 PM~
Hooray! Sounds like it went very well.
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RLB commented at 12:23 AM~
Woo-hoo, sounds awesome! Good luck, and hope to see you soon to hear more about it!
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phd me commented at 12:38 AM~
This is great news!! Fingers are crossed for more to come!
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Sfrajett commented at 12:43 AM~
Sounds like a perfect first job--friendly, respectful, ambitious, nurturing, stimulating. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. They'll be lucky to get you!
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commented at 11:19 AM~
That's great! Did they say when they were making their decision? Congrats!
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Dr. Virago commented at 4:28 PM~
Sounds like a job not unlike my own and I'm very satisfied so far with mine. So yay -- keeping my fingers crossed for you!!
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commented at 10:55 PM~
Fingers crossed!
