After the ECCTYC experience
At this point, Op has generously contacted the editor(?) of inside english about the possibility of publishing an article about the material we presented. I hope we are still considering pursuing this option, as it might be helpful information for adjunct faculty and graduate students alike. Let's begin our discussion about how we will formulate said article and what this article should include, what the formatting will look like, and what each of us will contribute individually.
posted by Emalsam | 11:31 AM
19 Comments:
In the beginning, I proposed a multi-vocal approach to an article on getting hired to a full-time gig, in the hopes that we could retain our singular, stylistically unique voices. I still back this approach; however, we need to discuss how this approach will be applied to our content. Will we continue on our chosen paths? Will we comment on each other's materials? (I fully support both: we already know our own material, but we also may be able to contribute to each others to provide more fully developed content.) What say you all?
This group is doing a fantastic job of practicing what it preaches. I remember that one member of your audience at the conference expressed that she simply doesn't have time to build her CV. You're showing people like her that you can take one idea, the "How to Land a Full Time Gig" idea, and present it at a conference, create a blog, write a report for the division newsletter, write an article for a journal, and get your voices (through your blog) out there via the ECCTYC website and blog. Additionally, I suggest that this group gives a "How to Land a Full Time Gig" workshop shortly before this division plans to do another big round of full time hiring. I surely won't say your efforts are minimal--clearly you've done a lot of work--but you have gotten the most and shown others like the busy member of your audience how to get the most out of a single effort. All of your efforts make you heard and being heard is what most job seekers want. Excellent job of modeling your message!
This is an extremely active set of bloggers! It's impressive how new knowledge can be built upon collaboratively on a simple blog. Hopefully we can begin to build the same amount of energy and enthusiam on the ECCTYC blog. Good work here!
I found this blog through the ECCTYC blog...and I just wanted to echo Gary's kudos to this insightful and energetic group of faculty. I perused the previous posts, and I am glad to hear that the conference seemed to be rewarding for each of you. The future seems bright at MJC -- and for our profession in general.
Bravo,
Lee
Material that I'll cover:
*innovative education (including blogs, webspace, and alternative pedagogies)
*curriculum development (basic three step approach to getting involved in curriculum development and implementation)
Hopefully, we'll do a little cross-over as well. I have a few things to say about the invisible cv (as Op put it), resources, letter writing, and the teaching demo/interview. Perhaps I'll blog back a few of these ideas here.
I'll write about fact collecting at two crucial junctures: when completing the application packet, and after advancing to the short list.
Should we each plan to contribute two or three pages? Emily, you suggests that we comment on each other's material...how might that work on paper?
Perhaps we could collaborate on a brief introduction to our five contributions (or we could ask Patrick to write it), and in that intro explain that what follows was first presented at the ECCTYC conference before it became material for this article and a blog which we invite others to join.
Yeah, commenting presents a bit of a formatting/organization problem. If we're going to go with the multi-vocal format, the commenting would be pretty natural, but if we go with a traditional/linear format, we'll have to simply create a thesis driven paper where we all contribute a portion of the material. I'm game for either.
I agree with you Deborah; regardless of format, we probably want to collaborate on the intro/conc (to create a unified voice to introduce/conclude).
I probably should have dropped this in earlier, but it is worth sharing what Darren Chiang-Shultheiss, editor of ~inside english,~ said about our article idea:
"This topic proposal would be great and a really needed one at that. So I'd encourage you
and your colleagues to work on this draft and send it in.
Regarding the muti-vocal format, just keep in mind the need for clarity from the readers'
point of view for our inside english audience.
I'd estimate that the length would probably be between 12 and 15 double-spaced pages.
The earliest this article could conceivably be printed would be the spring issue, but by that
time most colleges have completed the hiring process. I'm imagining that a fall publication
would be better positioned so that it's as timely and as relevant as possible to the greatest
number of readers."
I like the idea of the multi-vocal format, in general, in which each of does our primary writing about the topic(s) we covered in our presentation. But I particularly like the idea of chiming in for categories that are not necessarily "ours." This seems more natural, more seminar-like, and it reminds of the great published conversations I've read between Paulo Freire and Ira Shor, among others.
Op, do you know what kind of deadline we're looking at for fall publication?
I'm thinking we should set up a meeting for early next semester (maybe after the first division meeting) to which we each bring 5 or 6 copies of our 500 word contribution.
Op, perhaps you could bring a copy of one of the Freire/Shor conversations. Then we can toss around some ideas for the organization, who will write the intro and conclusion, etc.
I'll write about the application packet and the purpose it serves. Maybe we could write this thing in a modified "double-sided notebook" format. My initial idea was the two-columned approach, but then I thought that wouldn't work very well in publication--especially in a journal the size of i.e.
So maybe it could show up in "chunks" with added commentary?
At any rate, I'm game for a first meeting at the beginning of next semester.
Patrick, you suggested that we do a workshop shortly before our division does another big round of hiring . . . who do you envision as the audience of this workshop?
I'll inquire with Darren about what kind of deadline we're looking at. Having a target date would certainly help me, especially because it's so busy right now. I work a lot better and more when when I have to.
As for meeting, I'm not sure when the first division meeting will be, but I'd like to meet in the first or second week of classes. For me, that's the calm before the storm. Once the semester gets rolling and the papers start piling up, I'm not going to want to work on our article; or writing the paper will just be a distraction from what should be my primary focus.
I'm game to start whenever we're all free. For me, this will be a nice distraction from the otherwise non-stop student-driven semester.
Back to Adrienne's comment about a workshop, I'm assuming that a high percentage of the adjuncts at our campus would be interested in a "how to" workshop on getting a full-time gig. In addition, many grad students at CSU Stanislaus would likely check it out, and perhaps from even further if we advertised. Finally, I would also argue that it could be useful even when MJC is not hiring. After all, some people are willing to relocate or commute. Me, I'd be glad to provide this service, especially since everybody can't get to the conferences where these types of workshops take place.
This sounds like a great idea. I'd certainly be up for a "how to" workshop.
If we were to do a workshop early next semester, when and where do you think would best allow for the most people showing up?
Sorry Op, I don't have an answer to your question; however, I did want to ask about another. Personally, I work much better when I have dates, goals, and concrete ideas in mind; therefore, my question is this: do we want to set individual goals for finishing material over Christmas break or does everyone need a break from scholastic endeavors?
I think our first division meeting is Friday, January 13th. If we want to end up with 12 to 15 double-spaced pages then we should each write about two of those. Should we aim to have our parts drafted by the 13th?
First, I'm willing to commit to having a draft of my part ready by our first meeting in the spring semester, whenever that may be.
Second, I want to pick up the converstation about leading a workshop. Patrick suggested that we lead it shortly before the division does its next round of hiring, but that sort of suggests it would just be for MJC adjuncts, and I'm not at all comfortable with that narrow of an audience and purpose. Op suggested that our audience is likely to be adjuncts at MJC and grad students at Stan State. We could probably pull adjuncts from Delta and Merced, too, if we publicized it enough. I'm much more comfortable with the wider audience and more general purpose. If we decided to hold such a workshop, I'm thinking the best time for it would be some time in late spring or early summer. That way, the workshop would take place well before the beginning of the next "hiring season."
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