Looking for other professor mamas - Page 13

[kerc]

Originally Posted by ASusan

We're not unionized.

yeah, I was really surprised when the dean called to ask dh to pick up other prof's classes.

There has been precedent in the dept for "squishing" up classes for a maternity leave.

and really not a bad scenario. I think your plan sounds decent.

The dept chair really believes that it is the department's "responsibility" to cover classes, and that people will just step forward and pull through to do this once I ask them.

maybe if chair thinks that then chair can fill in.....

DH is taking parental leave in the spring semester. He won't be doing any teaching, but I expect that he will still want to spend time in his lab.

yah dh for being home with kidlet. Every dh deserves some bonding time with the wee lad. Every kid deserves some time with their dad without mom around, right.from.the.start. (will that get me kicked off mdc?)

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by kerc

and really not a bad scenario. I think your plan sounds decent.

Thank you for saying this. You brought tears to my eyes. A lot of people have been so negative about this, "good luck" "it sounds like a ton of work" "you need more than a couple of weeks with a newborn" "what if you have a c-section" "why don't you get more of a leave?" and on and on and on. Listen folks, this is the hand that I've been dealt. I'll play it if you'll let me!

yah dh for being home with kidlet. Every dh deserves some bonding time with the wee lad. Every kid deserves some time with their dad without mom around, right.from.the.start. (will that get me kicked off mdc?)

I totally agree with you. I think fathers don't get to climb that steep learning curve with mothers, and then we wonder why they don't play an "equal" role. And, I also agree that the time has to be without mom hovering around. I do expect that DH and I will have different "styles," and I also believe that he is completely capable of caring for an infant. (I don't have as much confidence in his ability to dust or vacuum on a regular basis...)

[kerc]

one more post and then really I'm getting back to my writing

what if you have a c-section"

well then they (i.e. dept) figure it out. right?


I had my first dd when the university didn't even offer 2 weeks to its graduate students Yeah, cause you can take unpaid leave when you're a graduate student who is having a baby.

With 2nd dd I got 2 weeks paid leave and they hired someone to replace me.

And baby #1 was an unplanned section. I couldn't even drive myself to work. But you know what? We worked it out.





I really like the idea of having an independent project for students to do with you while you're on "leave."

ok must.write.about.geology.

[ASusan]

My last post, too.

I want to say, "Yippee!" Hospice just called me back and a social worker will do a guest lecture for both classes in late October. I can do this!!

[Geofizz]

I missed that whole conversation --- I agree with you both. ASusan, you're in a tough spot, and it seems like you're dealing with it well. A 10/1 due date is a tough one timing wise, but that's just what it is. I would certainly recommend paying a personal visit to each person in the department to follow up after the email. Offer to prepare materials for them if necessary/appropriate.

You're teaching 2 days a week, right? Have you taught this class before? Honestly, I think that's totally doable with a 6 week leave.

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by Geofizz

I missed that whole conversation --- I agree with you both. ASusan, you're in a tough spot, and it seems like you're dealing with it well. A 10/1 due date is a tough one timing wise, but that's just what it is. I would certainly recommend paying a personal visit to each person in the department to follow up after the email. Offer to prepare materials for them if necessary/appropriate.

You're teaching 2 days a week, right? Have you taught this class before? Honestly, I think that's totally doable with a 6 week leave.

Yes, Tues and Thurs, 2 classes each day. I have taught Adult Development every year for 12 years. Health Psych is a new prep.

Just had someone reply to my email - she's doing 2 classes!
I've taken care of a week, just in the time I've been posting.

[KalamazooMom]

ASusan, do your classes require research papers? If so perhaps you could send them to the library for at least one class period and have an instruction session from a librarian? Another thought is that you might get someone from your Career Services to come talk about careers in psychology or what you can do with a psychology degree or something like that-- here the career advisers do those kinds of presentations. It might be worth asking.

[namaste_mom]

ASusan -
I had my last DS on Jan 15. I didn't take anytime off after the birth, officially. But I didn't start teaching until March 15; I taught a graduate class at night mostly in 3 hour blocks 3 times a week to make up all the contact hours.

I was wondering if you could pursue your 2 weeks off idea by asking the class to meet and extra day for a month (or whatever) even if it is at night. That way you would get the required contact hours but at least a couple of weeks without stress (the stress of managing a class even though you are not there). Because you said that these are small classes, I think you could manage to do that.

d.

[KalamazooMom]

Originally Posted by namaste_mom

I was wondering if you could pursue your 2 weeks off idea by asking the class to meet and extra day for a month (or whatever) even if it is at night. That way you would get the required contact hours but at least a couple of weeks without stress (the stress of managing a class even though you are not there). Because you said that these are small classes, I think you could manage to do that.

That sounds like a great idea. I know sometimes with grad classes here they opt to meet over Spring Break week to get out a week earlier. I bet students would be flexible about this.

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by namaste_mom

ASusan -
I had my last DS on Jan 15. I didn't take anytime off after the birth, officially. But I didn't start teaching until March 15; I taught a graduate class at night mostly in 3 hour blocks 3 times a week to make up all the contact hours.

I was wondering if you could pursue your 2 weeks off idea by asking the class to meet and extra day for a month (or whatever) even if it is at night. That way you would get the required contact hours but at least a couple of weeks without stress (the stress of managing a class even though you are not there). Because you said that these are small classes, I think you could manage to do that.

d.

Yes, this is a part of the plan. I'd like them to meet an extra time - maybe in the evening - each week for the month of Sept. (assuming that I don't deliver early). That would make exactly 2 weeks right there. This isn't completely unheard of here. Some profs give exams in the evening so as to not take up class time. I will be doing on-line exams.

[SweetTeach]

Dariusmom, dctexan and flydale: THANK YOU so much for your advice. You've all given me a lot to consider on top of what I've already been considering. I joined the ABD moms group and will read up a bit there.

I think I could easily come back to academia if I chose to (Education) for few reasons, but honestly now that I'm jumping ship into non-profit corporate America, I'm not sure that I'll ever want to! I'm getting a HUGE pay raise, great vacation time (real vacation, no work required!), benefits and a family friendly environment (70% of the staff is women- many with children) and the job is pulling together many parts of myself that I enjoy- teaching, research (lite), working with people, writing, and effecting change on a large scale level. If I leave this job, I think the next step would be to start my own company.

About the degree losing it's value: A doctorate is not required for this job but if I complete it, it will allow me to move upward in the company/field. Not sure if I want to do that, but I guess I will figure it out soon enough.

I am going to keep thinking and will come back to let you know what I decide.

Thanks again!

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by ASusan

I am due in early October. I am teaching 2 small undergrad classes in the Fall semester. The dept chair suggested I send out an email to colleagues soliciting help for course coverage. (I do not qualify for maternity leave, just 6 weeks FMLA, but I still have to get the classes covered during those 6 weeks.) The chair feels that the department faculty will be more than willing to help out...

It will work out eventually, it really will.

I think it's great that you are setting up guest lecturers in addition to a few movies.

I am a department chair, and when I had my baby, I also had to figure out how to cover the classes myself as well. That's because, not only were they my courses, but also because I was department chair and the buck ultimately stops with the chair.

I guess it depends on your particular institution and department, but in the end, the department will scramble to cover. It's great that you're planning it all out now in advance. I and my fellow department chairs have had to scramble on one week's notice and your situation is certainly much more advance planning.

The email is a good place to start, however, I don't think it is the complete solution.

I have some suggestions. Have your department chair call a department meeting ASAP. It would be better for you to have the meeting before school starts because then you will have a syllabus ready, but that might not happen because I'll bet everyone is off campus right now. You might have to have this meeting on the first week of classes and delay getting out your final version of your syllabus. Have the department chair tell everyone to bring their calendars/dayplanners. At the meeting, have a sign up sheet, and have them sign up on the spot. I think that will be very effective.

I know your husband doesn't want you to ask your department colleagues in person, but I think you should. Face-to-face will work when no amount emails will.

If your husband has tenure, then I guess he knows the politics of your department far better than I do. But I have to say that when I had to get my classes covered in anticipation of my maternity leave, my best results were to just go up to each colleague individually and say, "Look, can you help me out here? I have a class on so-and-so date and it doesn't conflict with your teaching schedule. Can you cover this for me?" More than likely, he/she will say yes.

Just keep in mind that pregnant women professors are not the only faculty who need to get their classes covered for FMLA. Most of the people whose classes I have been scrambling to get covered have nothing to do with delivering a baby. The guy who took half of my teaching load for half a semester ended up having me pay him back the following year when he had to have surgery for prostate cancer. I had another guy who had to have eye surgery. Then there was guy in the math dept who had to be covered on very short notice for nearly an entire semester before he passed away. The guy in the office next to mine is in the biology dept and the had emergency appendicitis operation. He looked so terrible but was too stubborn to admit that he should not teach that his department collegues kept begging him to let them sub for him. I think you will find that everyone will be more than willing to pitch in to help you. Someday you will find yourself scrambling to cover one of your colleagues classes.

I also videotaped one or two lectures, and burned them on DVD. That way the person covering my class didn't actually have to do anything except be present to operate the dvd player. If you structure the class so that there is no prep required for the sub, then you will find it a lot easier to find help to cover the class.

I had a colleague who tacked on an extra ten minutes to each class meeting time in lieu of a make up. He had to get the prior agreement of the class, of course.

Our school has some of the infrastructure in place for on-line courses. We have a web-based course management system like Blackboard (it's actually Sakai), that has chat capabilities, etc. So once in a while, an instructor holds the class on line. Might that be an option for when you are almost recovered but not yet cleared to come back to work?

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by kerc

maybe if chair thinks that then chair can fill in.....

I don't know about Asusan's institution, but at mine, chairs always fill in. I've done it many times myself.

[famousmockngbrd]

Hey mamas,

I am not a professor, but a professor's wife. He just accepted a tenure track position, teaching developmental reading classes - NOT his area of study, BTW (he has a master's in Philosophy) but he has been teaching adult ed. for the state for the last 6 years (GED classes), so it's nice to get back into a collegiate atmosphere, have regularly scheduled classes, etc. He's been in a "lab" setting for the last 6 years, teaching for 8 hours straight each day, to students with all kinds of learning obstacles, and I think he's a little burned out!

Anyway - his tenure clock is only 5 years. Plus he took a pay cut to do this. I hope it all works out.

It's nice to read all your stories - I must run but I do have a real question! Will post later -

[flydale]

self-assessment statement for review

so I am writing my personal statement for my 4 year review. I had a baby this past Feb. I did not take a dead year. Do I even mention having the kid in the statement? I mean, they'll probably know 'cause 1)it's a small place and 2) my teaching schedule looks very odd (I took a one course release instead of 6 weeks off of the three I was supposed to teach and then taught an overload in the fall - so I taught a 4/1 that year). then again, I'm sorta proud of all I've done and had a baby... but then again, will it seem like I'm asking for extra consideration? probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme . Just curious what others would do? (and I'd rather ask you guys and read replies than actually write my statement )

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by flydale

so I am writing my personal statement for my 4 year review. I had a baby this past Feb. I did not take a dead year. Do I even mention having the kid in the statement? I mean, they'll probably know 'cause 1)it's a small place and 2) my teaching schedule looks very odd (I took a one course release instead of 6 weeks off of the three I was supposed to teach and then taught an overload in the fall - so I taught a 4/1 that year). then again, I'm sorta proud of all I've done and had a baby... but then again, will it seem like I'm asking for extra consideration? probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme . Just curious what others would do? (and I'd rather ask you guys and read replies than actually write my statement )

My guess is yes, you should make a very brief one-sentence mention, but it depends.

Who is going to read your statement? (I ask because it varies from institution to institution.) In my university (maybe 200 faculty total), it is true that department members, college members, even right up to the president and VPAA (provost-like position) knew that I had a baby because it was the talk of the entire semester among the faculty in my college. (Both the president and VPAA even sent the baby gifts!) So you know that I work at a pretty small place too. The VPAA prides himself on being able to point at every single faculty member in the university and rattle of their names.

However, when I went up for promotion to full professor, I put a one sentence mention in my CV (we turn an entire portfolio including the CV in addition to the statement) with just the dates of my leave to have the baby. I envisioned the VPAA reading my portfolio. He's got 36 other ones to read because he is looking at portfolios for all of the faculty that are going up for sabbatical, tenure, and promotion. When he sees something irregular in my teaching record, as in there are some contact hours missing from one semester of teaching, he's not going to rack his brain to try to remember that I just had a baby. Instead, he'll think I'm hiding something. So I put it in the first place he'll look, whether it is the CV or in the personal statement. I don't make it lengthy, just a few words. I don't see it as asking for extra consideration. I see it as saving the reader the trouble of pawing through all of the documentation to try to figure out what accounts for the gap in teaching contact hours. If, instead of having a baby, I had been granted a teaching load reduction with release time from teaching or experience credit for any reason, I would have stated it the same way. This is just a variation.

You, on the other hand, might be different. Maybe absolutely no one higher up than your department members will ever open up your personal statement. Or maybe no time at all elapses between when you have your baby and when you go up for tenure. But even then, from the perspective of a person that has been on the reading end of these personal statements, I can tell you that I don't see a mention of having a baby as asking for extra consideration.

[XanaduMama]

Originally Posted by ST

I think I could easily come back to academia if I chose to (Education) for few reasons, but honestly now that I'm jumping ship into non-profit corporate America, I'm not sure that I'll ever want to! I'm getting a HUGE pay raise, great vacation time (real vacation, no work required!), benefits and a family friendly environment (70% of the staff is women- many with children) and the job is pulling together many parts of myself that I enjoy- teaching, research (lite), working with people, writing, and effecting change on a large scale level. If I leave this job, I think the next step would be to start my own company.

Um, can you get me a job there too??? please???

[famousmockngbrd]

Have any of you heard about the annualized income tax increase? I read somoething about it in the news recently... is it only in Texas or is it national?

[Sleepymama]

I'm just getting back online after moving 3000 miles to my new job, and trying to catch up.

I'm late to giving advice, but for CJ--hire someone, definitely. IF you try to work it with DH you're going to be utterly worn out and have absolutely no time for yourselves to recharge. I found working at home was doable when DD was tiny, but once she became mobile (around 9 months) it was impossible. And then when she turned into a toddler--worse! So expect to have your home work situation change as your baby gets older. And it was the opposite with DS--as a tiny baby there was no way I could do anything at all at home with him. It wasn't until he was much older (2ish) that I could leave his side and even check my email or something.

So...we are here finally! I have a 2 year "scholar in residence" in humanities position here in VT. The move was utter hell, but I really am liking my new institution (I'm moving from big State U to tiny regional liberal arts). I'm actually being treated like a colleague instead of a servant. My office is right in the middle of everything, and everyone who walks by introduces themselves instead of ignoring me. I've been asked 100 times if I need anything! It's just bizarre! And we just love the area. The kids are having a rough adjustment though. DS (who is special needs) is actually having an easier time than my 18 month old. Poor DD is having a lot of trouble with sleep (she is still on pacific time) and is just generally being a giant pill. I found a fantastic small, alternative preschool for DS and he went to their summer camp right after we got here, and it is just perfect for him. DH is home with them right now and is sort of looking for work (he's not an academic) as we still have not sold our house back in CA and are having trouble paying the mortgage on my salary (my housing here is provided thankfully).

Classes start Monday--wish me luck!! I'm teaching two new preps; one is very similar to a class I've taught before for graduate students so I'm trying to "freshmanize" it. lol. I'm so happy to be back on semesters at least though.

Happy start of the new year to everyone!! I definitely do NOT recommend moving coast-to-coast with two kids under five (and two cats), however. Do not recommend it at ALL. Lol.

[rock_dr]

Wow, sleepmama - congratulations on surviving the cross country trip! Your new spot sounds like heaven.

flydale - What did you decide to do about mentioning the baby in your statement? I am about to start working on my tenure statement so am curious...

We took the advice, hired a nanny who starts 20 hours/wk next week. We're having some bottle troubles so I think it's going to be rough for a little while. fortunately I can be home in 5 minutes if things get really bad. I also lugged in a playard for her to sleep in at school.

I am starting a faculty mom's group at school. I'm so tired of feeling isolated. Do any of you guys have such a thing - formal or informal? If you do, or wish you did, what kinds of things would you look for in a group like that? Mostly I'm looking for social networking and support, but then I start thinking like an activist too...