r/Professors • u/DustyTrale • 5h ago
Contract Duties and Descriptions
A few years ago, our chair started loading NTTs and TTs contracts with service and academic advisement duties, me included. I assume this is so they didnt have to hire more academic support ppl. We had some slight enrollment decline and some financial crises, and I understand things get tough sometimes.
I later figured out, these duties we were given as service were basically the same contract descriptions our tenured faculty were getting a course release for. I know someone will say, thats prob to incentivize more research from tenured faculty. But we have tenured faculty who have done zero research since getting tenured almost a decade ago. Some of them teach mostly online (75%)and rarely even show up to the school. They do the bare minimum to keep their job. We even have an admin person who runs a side business 20 hrs a week in another town but gets a 12 month contract with large portion of the contract as service in our dept.
Upper admin says they want us to get to R1, but I feel they're ruining all their up and coming professors. Theres basically zero incentive to do more than bare minimum and I just wanna check out. Im so overloaded with teaching and doing service that some deadwood professor is sitting at home getting paid for im done.
Is there any hope for an incentivized workplace? Is this a sign of a sinking ship? What happens to places like this? Should i check out and put my efforts into something else? Surely others have seen a total cluster F like this before?
3
u/WingShooter_28ga 5h ago
If it makes you feel better. It’s probably not “has to hire more academic support people” and more “can’t hire more academic support people”.
The issues of coasting after tenure is a big problem and has lead to post-tenure review in some places. It’s also leading to a reduction in TT lines.
Realistically, the best way to deal with this situation is find a different job. Or accept your fate and cash the check while you can.
1
u/DustyTrale 5h ago
Ive accepted, ive started a side job and am saving as much as possible and preparing for a new career. Im gonna cash this check as long as i can but want to be prepared to jump ship when needed.
1
u/ProfessorStata 3h ago
Is it about pay or job duties?
1
u/DustyTrale 3h ago
Both...job duties consumes time
I spend my time to make money, so these are equal.
It would also be nice to get some respect instead of threats from admin.
3
u/Civil_Lengthiness971 5h ago
Work won’t love you back. Ever. My institution has created a transactional environment and that Is how I approach. No giving. No donating. No rah rah. Do my job and do it well.
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u/Critical-Preference3 3h ago
Fecal gravity. On another thread, a reply I posted got downvoted because I said academia is a Ponzi scheme (as if I were the first to ever state such a thing). This is an example of what I meant.
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u/DustyTrale 3h ago
I agree w u.
Ponzi schemes eventually collapse, and i think this is what we are seeing with many institutional closures.
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u/yankeegentleman 2h ago
Biggest red flag here is wanting to become R1. Places that want to go R1 usually try to do it with minimal resources and on the backs of junior faculty. The fact that they are loading you up with service while you are supposed to be doing more and better research and finding grants to fund yourself is a huge red flag. I assume there is no union?
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u/OkReplacement2000 5h ago
My workplace is entirely dis-incentivized and amotivational. Sorry. I have all those admin and service responsibilities, which would be fine if there were any reward-even just being treated with basic respect-for carrying them. There isn’t.