Well, no. Not really. But it is the last day of classes of the final semester of my tenure as the Director of Graduate Studies for the CCR Program at Syracuse. Technically, my time isn't up until the end of June, and double technically, I'll still be executing some duties through the following year.
The main one is our annual Placement Committee, which guides our veteran students through the job search process. This was something that the previous DGS and I developed when I first got here. That year, we had our first couple of students on the market (the program was only about 4-5 years old at the time), and they had to cobble together support and advice from various sources, which didn't work as well as it could have. So we decided to set up a subcommittee and develop some procedures that, beginning in the spring, would guide those students through the process, help them vet and revise their materials, provide simulated phone/f2f interviews and job talks, etc.
Because of the rhythm of the search process, though, it's a responsibility that begins in April and runs for 9-10 months, ideally. And so I'll be sticking around this job for that purpose, as a member (but no longer chair) of our Graduate Studies Committee, for another year or so.
In honor of the fact that this is my final go-round, at least for a while, with the Placement Committee, I spent some time over the last week revising the materials we hand out at our initial meeting, which is tomorrow. The 5-page guide/overview to the market is linked below--feel free to give it a glance, and/or share the link with someone who'll be hitting the market in the fall. It's not as detailed as the various books now available, and it's pretty specific to rhet/comp, but it's worked well for us for the past few years...
That's all.
This is a really great document! I am glad I'll be getting it tomorrow. And, I am passing it on to some folks in Sociology who are trying to emulate our job seekers group. Thanks, CGB!
Good and interesting points, and it is inspiring me to write something up from the angle of someone who actually hired this past year. I have a lot of teaching stuff to get off my plate though first....
Collin, love the handout. Can I post it on my job search blog that I use with a colleague at ISU to help finishing PhDers go out? (which is admittedly a bit of a mess, but it's a growing, changing mess) www.ceball.com/jobs. It's open to anyone, fyi, and since my colleague is 18th C lit, and we also have creative writing and other fields represented by our students, the site is a bit more broad that r/c, although much of the info comes from that.
That's a fantastic handout. I'm forwarding it to some friends now. Thanks!
An excellent document. Looking backwards, much of it seems like common sense, but I remember who obscure the whole thing seemed in grad school. I'm sure something like this would have helped me.
And congrats on finishing up your DGS duties.
Wonderful handout Collin! I've passed your URL to our first 3 grad students who will be heading out in the market next fall (if dissertations go as planned of course). You also helped me make my argument to our PhD Advisory committee that the time to start prepping our students is now, not when they come back next fall. So double thanks!
Support of the Lou Zhu, Lou Zhu worked hard
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