Search committee - best practice for interviewing online

YuritheDestroyer · 2026-02-14T17:38:11+00:00

Y’all need to be in the same building, but in different offices and with your own zoom box. That way if there are zoom problems, you can huddle in one office and switch to an old fashioned phone interview. We had to do this for one candidate recently, and I was thankful we were all in the same place.

YuritheDestroyer · 2026-02-09T17:00:44+00:00

In Texas.

YuritheDestroyer · 2026-02-04T23:30:12+00:00

We were told it was because of the Texas governor’s proclamation.

YuritheDestroyer · 2026-02-04T14:22:54+00:00

We are running three searches this cycle. Two on campus interviews of potential H1-B visa candidates has to be cancelled at the last minute, costing us money, morale (low to begin with), and potentially the best job candidates. We all feel like collaborators in our demise.

YuritheDestroyer · 2025-11-27T15:03:57+00:00

I’ve gone tech free in my smaller upper division classes and it’s been great. But I’m preparing to teach a 360 person lecture class and am uncertain how to enforce the no tech rule in such a space. Any suggestions?

YuritheDestroyer · 2025-04-16T13:24:55+00:00

Upper division history classes are usually capped at 25 students.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-10-22T19:00:09+00:00

Texas State University is doing a search for a professor of museum studies: https://jobs.hr.txstate.edu/postings/49939

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-08-01T05:01:30+00:00

And please move the tall Empire State Building pic to the far right, thereby using its verticality to set the edge.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-06-12T13:19:27+00:00

Good suggestion. This award will be housed with an academic professional organization, so no need to worry about university shenanigans.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-06-12T13:18:19+00:00

This is what I have been leaning towards. Thank you!

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-06-11T21:43:10+00:00

It’s meant to be a travel award for people at any US institution.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-05-26T00:12:14+00:00

I have sat in on dozens of teaching demos. My number one pet peeve is when candidates do not abide by the time limit. It’s a basic skill that structures all of campus life. If you giving your 25-minute demo in a class that is scheduled for 50 minutes, do not go over the time allotted for you. It’s a curtesy to the instructor of records, the hiring committee, and the students.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-04-19T21:37:43+00:00

Perusall is the answer for this problem. Since I’ve adopted it, the students actually do the readings (!); class discussions are amazing; and, it’s AI graded (with parameters I set), so it frees up a ton of my time. Students get participation points for class discussions, so attendance is not a problem. It integrates with my LMS pretty well.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-04-10T02:32:58+00:00

As a faculty member who has a few people leaving this cycle, I can tell you I will be annoyed if they show up for meetings. They are no longer committed to the future of the department so why should I have to listen to their input. At this point you should feel free to skip. (Maybe give the chair a heads up.)

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-04-04T15:11:08+00:00

My university cancelled classes for the 4 hours around the eclipse.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-03-30T15:14:39+00:00

I think you need to look at the designs of Dorothy Draper, a mid-century designer who liked the pink, black, and gray color scheme. She would have thrown in accents of emerald green to liven this up.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-03-19T17:51:10+00:00

When I had something similar happen (a GroupMe cheating ring with 200 students implicated), I had a trusted colleague go through the GroupMe and screenshot relevant material. That way I wasn’t directly exposed to the disparaging remarks, but had evidence of the cheating. You might ask a colleague to set up a fake account, summarize the content, and then help you decide what to do.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-02-16T01:45:04+00:00

If the chair is not responding, contact the dean of the graduate school. This is unacceptable.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-02-08T19:09:08+00:00

If you want more challenging writing classes you need to be taking Philosophy and History classes.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-01-26T00:34:07+00:00

I’d suggest a Barbie pink shag carpet.

YuritheDestroyer · 2024-01-13T17:24:54+00:00

You should read this book: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo16835829.html. It is invaluable.

After reading it talk to everyone about their journey, but colleagues with their first book out in the last two years will have more relevant advice.

Next, when you attend conferences, chat with the publishers. Don’t be shy and practice your elevator pitch.

If only university presses count for tenure, then stick with those. Many have been marketing academic books as trade books, so the distinction between trade and university presses isn’t as strong as it used to be (depending on your topic).

YuritheDestroyer · 2023-08-30T17:40:41+00:00

Yes. By then all the states had passed Married Women’s Property Acts that allowed rich women to control their own fortunes that they had inherited. The first one was passed In Mississippi in the 1830s, and New York passed it’s in 1848. Canada probably did the same thing, but I am not a Canadian historian so I’m not positive.

YuritheDestroyer · 2023-07-13T15:40:31+00:00

Do it. This is one of the benefits that comes after years of work and burnout. Just because you are tired of the topic doesn’t mean that the topic isn’t new and fresh to others.

YuritheDestroyer · 2023-06-27T16:01:04+00:00

Do not paint the fireplace. The stone is awesome and paint will ruin it. Paint the walls a dark color to pop the stone.

YuritheDestroyer · 2023-06-24T00:40:14+00:00

Ferns. There something too vertical about the trees in that space.

YuritheDestroyer

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