New Job: Moving Up & Teaching While Still Doing Research

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a member's recent job transition to a primarily educational role while still engaging in some research. Participants express excitement and congratulations, sharing their thoughts on the implications of this new position, including teaching responsibilities and office conditions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant shares their enthusiasm about moving to a new office with better conditions, including a window and a functioning HVAC system.
  • Another participant inquires whether the member will be teaching different subjects in their new role.
  • The member indicates they will be teaching more classes and a wider variety of students, including nursing and dental students, while also aiming to learn and teach a medical neuroanatomy course.
  • Some participants express their happiness for the member's new position and the positive impact it may have on their teaching and student engagement.
  • There are humorous exchanges about the new office's window and the potential for a new handle reflecting the member's new role.
  • Concerns are raised about the challenges of teaching and the emotional toll of waiting for job decisions, with one participant humorously suggesting that teaching often feels like "bashing your head against the wall."
  • Participants discuss the need for privacy in the new office and the logistics of covering the window for changing clothes.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the positive aspects of the member's new position and express excitement. However, there are humorous disagreements regarding the nature of teaching and the logistics of the new office setup.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions touch on the emotional aspects of job transitions and the challenges of balancing teaching with research commitments. The conversation also highlights the importance of office conditions for productivity and well-being.

Who May Find This Useful

Members interested in career transitions in academia, teaching methodologies, and the balance between research and education may find this discussion relevant.

  • #31
lisab said:
When you get your new office set up, post a picture!

I'll try. It's still a small office, but it's mine, has a window, and isn't shared! That's actually a very fortunate thing in that department. MANY of the faculty are packed like sardines into larger shared offices there, so I'm among the privileged there. :biggrin: (And maybe once some of the new buildings on campus are completed, some larger offices will open up for everyone, but I'd probably be back at the end of the line waiting behind all the people with shared offices.)

I'm still contemplating the furniture arrangement. I think it might seem bigger if I move a few pieces of furniture around. I remember my current office seeming somewhat like a broom closet when I first moved in, and then after a month of shuffling furniture around every week, I finally found a configuration that worked.
 
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  • #32
Moonbear said:
I'm moving up...to an office almost directly above the one I'm currently in.
I'm glad to hear you got a raise. Have fun with your new job.
 
  • #33
jimmysnyder said:
I'm glad to hear you got a raise. Have fun with your new job.

LOL, though yes, there is a raise with this (and not just a few more feet above sea level). How much is still to be negotiated before a final contract is signed. I suppose I'll have a lot more leverage since classes will already be starting by the time that's done, and it's too late to find someone else on the list to teach all those classes. :biggrin: :smile:
 
  • #34
Moonbear said:
LOL, though yes, there is a raise with this (and not just a few more feet above sea level). How much is still to be negotiated before a final contract is signed. I suppose I'll have a lot more leverage since classes will already be starting by the time that's done, and it's too late to find someone else on the list to teach all those classes. :biggrin: :smile:
Ooh! Great timing! That's a wonderful extortion (er... bargaining) chip.
 
  • #35
Careful Moonbear, be aware of limits, a little generousity on the longer terms here may outweight a short term profit .

Also, if in the window, there are upper right colored dots or a red boxed X upper right, there is a chance that this window is merely artificial. :-p
 
  • #36
Congratulations Moonbear! That is great news.
 
  • #37
Evo said:
WOOHOO!
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7555/flowerdancepleaseal7.gif

[PLAIN]http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/228/woohoo7usih7.gif[/QUOTE][/URL]

WOW!1111 DITTO! That is just SO wonderful, Moonbear! You'll be the best teacher EVER! You make us proud. :biggrin:
 
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  • #38
Thanks. I found out that the office next to mine, which I think whoever the second person hired gets whenever they arrive (not in time for this term), is a bit bigger, but NO WINDOW. :biggrin: I got the primo office!

I spent today moving files and books and stuff into my new office. I'm going to go in this weekend to hang all my pictures and move most of the rest of the stuff...mostly so I don't drive the grad students next to me crazy with hammering when they're in their office trying to work. Then I just have to wait for them to get me a phone. :smile: Yeah, they set up the whole office and furnish it, and it seems it didn't occur to anyone to put a phone in there. :rolleyes: Once that's in, I can get IT to transfer my number, and give me internet access. In the meantime, I think I'll use one office as the one where I have my phone and computer, and the other for getting work done in a quiet room free from distractions. :biggrin:

I feel like I'm one of the professors in PhD Comics now, with two offices to hide in so nobody ever knows where to find me. :biggrin:

And the best part is that as I'm getting course schedules, it looks like they'll all be done in time to join Zz in Disney in December!
 
  • #39
Moonbear, you have to make sure you actually take some time to "look out of the window". :biggrin:
 
  • #40
Evo said:
Moonbear, you have to make sure you actually take some time to "look out of the window". :biggrin:

:smile: I definitely will, and have. It's horrible. I've been deprived of a window for so long, every time I'm in the new office moving things in, I have to stop to look out the window. The scene doesn't change, but it's just so nice to know it's sunny out. I haven't even had to turn on the lights in the room during the day...plenty of light from the window. :approve: Perfect!

Oh, and since the little window on my door is a different size from the one on my old office, I had to go out and get new paper to cover it. Some gold vellum-like paper (semi-transparent...lets light through but I can change in my office without anyone seeing in), and Mickey Mouse paper that I'll put cut-outs of onto the gold background. I know Zz will expect a picture of the final result. :smile:
 
  • #41
Moonie, can you manage to put a bird-feeder outside of that window? You don't look at new trees, etc, but the birds are enough change and variety to break up your day. I love my birds!
 
  • #42
turbo-1 said:
Moonie, can you manage to put a bird-feeder outside of that window? You don't look at new trees, etc, but the birds are enough change and variety to break up your day. I love my birds!

No, I'm sure maintenance would frown on a bird feeder. We already have bird feeders...they're called floodlights at night. :biggrin: The lights are so bright around the building and so many bugs attracted to them, the birds will be up all night feasting!
 
  • #43
Moonbear said:
I've got a new job! I'm moving up...

Good for you, on the same day you posted this, I was turned down an offer! so I guess I'm moving down:confused::smile:
 
  • #44
Desiree said:
Good for you, on the same day you posted this, I was turned down an offer! so I guess I'm moving down:confused::smile:
Hang in there! This is not a zero-sum game!
 
  • #45
Desiree said:
Good for you, on the same day you posted this, I was turned down an offer! so I guess I'm moving down:confused::smile:

Have comfort in the fact that you can't get lower than me. :-p
 
  • #46
Kurdt said:
Have comfort in the fact that you can't get lower than me. :-p

The "temperature version" of me would be "absolute Zero -1", So are you still lower than me?

Thanks for the comforting post!
 
  • #47
Desiree said:
The "temperature version" of me would be "absolute Zero -1", So are you still lower than me?

Thanks for the comforting post!
Actually, that's even hotter than being infinitely hot.
 
  • #48
Moonbear you should try to get a second appointment in the English Department. Judging by the amazing quality of your posts here, you could teach them a thing or two about writing. Seriously, have you thought about teaching a essay-writing class for first year undergraduates or something?
 
  • #49
Thanks for the compliment, ehrenfest, but I have no desire to teach English.
 

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