The Little Professor

Exciting life of a professor at a regional comprehensive, Spring 2016 edition

I don't think I've ever itemized what a typical semester looks like.  Spring will be my first semester as a full professor doing professor-y things, as opposed to being on sabbatical.

Teaching:

  • Three courses: freshman composition (just dropped to 21 students from 22, but I expect another will show up), Victorian Childhoods (25 students--full capacity), and a graduate seminar, 19th-c. Gothic (6 students, although another may appear).   I teach MWF, with M being the longest day: two office hrs, two back-to-back afternoon classes, night class, with academic senate (below) every other week between the first two classes and the night class--so on campus from about 9:30 or 10 AM (to get a parking space) until 9:15 PM.  
  • Four office hrs per week, all on-site.  

Service:

  • Academic senate, every other week.
  • A senate subcommittee.  I...have not the slightest clue which one I'm on, so will have to ask the person who was filling in for me during my sabbatical! Time commitment varies according to the subcom.
  • The department's curriculum committee.  I'm doubled up on service this semester because a lot of faculty are on leave.   This commitee tends to be fairly busy (I've served on it before), especially because of required assessment exercises.
  • Advising near the end of the semester.
  • I usually work on one of the department's essay prize/scholarship committees around mid-semester.
  • I generally say "yes" when asked to referee something, so...

Research:

  • Two conference papers, one for March, one for April.  I'm about 3/4 through my draft of the March paper, which I intend to finish before the semester begins.
  • Then things get interesting.  I have a short article for BRANCH due at the end of the semester, so that comes first, followed by two more commissioned, longer pieces, one due in September and one in November. The BRANCH and September articles aren't research-intensive, in the sense that I'm up on pretty much all the relevant scholarship and don't need to do any additional primary reading, but the one for November is going to take some more time.  BRANCH comes first, and then we'll see about how much I can accomplish with the other two (I certainly can't finish them, but I at least can start sketching them out and doing November reading).
  • A book review.
  • Book 3 1/2-related reading.  
  • I expect to have another proof to read (just signed off on one).
  • Possibly another conference proposal to write. 
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