University Faculty Crushed by Workload

“I’m currently an non tenure Assistant Professor at a university that does not have a tenure system, with both teaching and research responsibilities. I’m considering a Research Assistant Professor position at a larger academic medical center/university-affiliated program. It would be primarily research-focused with stronger research infrastructure, but it is also non-tenure-track. If my long-term goal is eventually getting a tenure-track faculty position, which would be better for my career? Wou”

“Mostly the title, and this of course will vary, but I see a lot of job postings where a relevant bachelor's degree counts for 4 years of experience and a non-relevant bachelor's degree is worth nothing and you don't meet the minimum requirements even with relevant experience. But a degree in (x) is pretty much 75% what everyone is doing+underwater basket weaving+whatever random things fit your schedule and then a year's worth of credits of that actual degree. Obviously for someth”

“New TT humanities professor at a smallish state uni in the Northeast U.S. I saw a post the other day where a newish professor was overwhelmed with 5 classes. Some context. Zero publications. Only 2 adjunct classes I taught years ago. I have 5 classes I've never taught before (all different). I also assumed a director role in the department. From my understanding each of those issues is unusual (TT with zero publications, 5 new classes I've never taught, and a director role), but now I&#3”

“I work full time, have two kids, and my wife has a very demanding job. Since my funding finished, PhD has been the bottom priority. I always thought it would sort itself out. It did not. I submitted it yesterday. I had tried to chip away at it here and there. I had only 4 days to get it into a finished state. By this point I had loads of written content, but none of it was really structured. And the thesis itself was an overly long intro, 3 almost written chapters, 2 chapter outlines, no conclus”

“Applying can be so exhausting and demoralizing sometimes. I am personally trying to find a research focused position at an R1 or R2. And I would say it is about 1/20 positions that will post teaching loads. Note Salary has gotten WAY better. Probably a third or half of schools post salaries now (ironically only due to states forcing them to via the new transparency laws that have been getting passed). But teaching load is probably the most important deciding factor for me. And it is NOWHERE to b”

Sorry I meant another stem. I fixed it

But this is science...i.e. the S in STEM

submitted by /u/unorthodoxambassador [link] [comments]

“I'm in my second postdoc in the UK, the PIs in my first postdoc still bother me constantly about publishing the papers from my first postdoc - it lasted 2 years, we already have one paper under review, they want two more. This, alongside my current postdoc, and other projects, just makes me feel like I can never catch up, I can never be on top of things, that I'm always failing. I feel tired and drained and like a horse that keeps being beaten to produce some more papers. It just created”

“First of all, thanks to everyone who contributes here, it’s incredibly insightful. I read the subreddit a lot. I’m about to enter a 7th year of PhD. That sounds like a slow pace, likely someone who has struggled or had some life situations get in the way. Nope, neither. I entered PhD from an industrial masters which is basically like a direct entry PhD because I had no traditional research background. I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship which in my university meant 23K CAD a year for 4 y”

“Hi everyone! I just started my PhD in humanties social/sciences (interdisplianry but focusing on philosophy most) at the top school for my prorgam in the US. I am finding myself in a completley hopeless situation. I don't even know how I got in. I had good grades and steller recommendations from certain work expereinces and professors I worked with. But tbh I spent much of my life in survival and I was studying for good grades and not learning per se. And now I am finding myself at such a di”

“Hello everyone! I'm just beginning at the bottom of the ladder. I got a (very rare) position as a TT teaching-focused lecturer in a university in Taiwan; accepting it was a pay cut, but I like the idea of working in academia and want to try it out. I previously taught juniors and seniors in high school so the level is just a little bit higher than I am used to. Our semester starts next week. Just two days ago I finally got my finalized class schedule; I'll be teaching 8 classes this seme”

“Hi, I’m a new grad, but I hope I don’t come off as arrogant or conceited or.. presumptuous when I tell my story and why I thought I could handle this. I have a previous BS in biochem, I was a TA for 5 different undergrad courses including nursing anatomy/phys and major’s anatomy, I worked as a tech on a busy medsurg / covid floor during the pandemy, I was a scribe in the ED worked as a tech in ortho, did academic research, etc. Basically I thought I knew what I was getting into. I heard all the”

“I am a NTT math faculty. This semester I am collecting paper homework, instead of the usual online platform submittal. I asked them to have a notebook for class and one for homework. I collect the homework notebook once a week. However, I did not plan very well because I had no strategy in place to carry that many notebooks to my office. And then I have to carry them back to return them. So, do any of you lug tons of stuff across campus and how do you do it? I was thinking that maybe a rolling c”

“I am wondering how your campus makes early retirement offers. Mine has made a general announcement with a new official policy and procedure but HR won't say what the actual offer is--they want faculty to make the first move. This seems suspiciously dodgy to me. I'd love to hear from anyone with experience; is this normal? Is there a non-shady reason not to announce the terms of the offer? I actually may qualify this time... submitted by /u/ProfDoomDoom [link] [comments]”

“So I joined PhD with my master's supervisor and he changed a lot after I joined. He didn't seem interested in projects, started laughing whenever I admitted that I am not sure of something and needed reading in this area and would want me to help other students constantly. My project was not moving forward because he was racist af and wouldn't give me resources for my projects. (We were both immigrants). But he would want me to work on his former students (from his own home country)”

“And it starts with the old bats at the top who mandate curriculums and refuse to let go of having undergrad students spend multiple semesters on “theory” and other nonsense bullshit that has zero application in actual nursing employment. They’ll have two entire semesters of fluff theory content and self reflection about your personal nursing practice (how the fuck can you have self reflection about how you’ll be a nurse when you haven’t been one yet??) and then shove all of pharm and patho into”

“Hi everyone! Burner account because I truly am embarrassed to write this. I am beginning my second year as TT faculty at an R1. I’ve struggled with impostor syndrome as long as I can remember, but it’s really starting to feel like it’s eating me alive. I feel horribly unqualified to do pretty much any of the research I want to do. I have plenty of research ideas and interesting questions, a laundry list of grants I’d like to apply for. But when it comes to executing these ideas, I feel so cluele”

“Things are very different from when I started in academia in the late 1990s. Bigger class sizes, research funding is harder to find, bureaucracy has grown. ELI5--why? Some simple explanations come to mind: more people are getting college and graduate degrees, but resources haven't kept pace. And negative attitudes about academia from politicians have created a culture of extreme caution among administrators, leading to burgeoning rules. Does that explain things? What are other causes?”

“7th year in a STEM field started yesterday and it's been nothing but kicks to the face the entire way. I switched advisors midway through (he left for a new school) and this new lab has just been a poor experience. When switching, I took on an offshoot project from one of the lab's main projects, which wasn't exactly what I wanted to do but was close enough that I could see me graduating in a reasonable time frame. I've been stuck on a stalled project. I've published nothing”

“Morning, everyone. I’m a tenure-track researcher in Italy. Officially, I’m supposed to do a MAXIMUM of 120 hours of face-to-face teaching. In practice, I’m being forced — and I do mean forced — to do around 200 hours. Exam season is hell, and I get basically no support. Part of the reason is that I got this position almost by accident: there simply wasn’t a suitable internal candidate available at the time. I’m not local, I’m nobody’s protégé, and I didn’t get the job by sucking up to the right”

You are the former Professor. I will assume you know.

“I've never had a prof that I've taken for more than one semester, but I did my best to get to know my biochem professor during second sem of sophomore year. I went to office hours, asked lots of questions, and answered questions during class (in a room of ~300 students). I even helped other students who visited her office hours when the prof wasn't available to help. At the end of the sem, she sent out a TA application to the entire class (not just those in office hours), and I thoug”

“Hi all, I fear I’ve hit a bit of a stand still. I’m a 33 year old full time HS teacher, adjunct professor, and I’ll be graduating at the end of this academic year. I’m a qualitative researcher and I’m finishing my PhD in human development and family science. When I started, I intended on going into academia, but I’ve been hearing about the difficult academic job market more and more. I have some publications out with my advisor, but not nearly as many as much of my cohort who was able to pursue”

“As if there isn’t enough hierarchy already within higher education! Referring to a colleague as “junior” after they have completed a PhD and successfully navigated the job market is demeaning. submitted by /u/Eric33co [link] [comments]”

“Hello! I'm being considered to step in as chair of my division next year after the current one steps down. I'm trying to arrange a meeting with the Dean (at my chair's encouragement) to get information and I have a few questions. I'll be asking him what his expectations of me would be in that role. What other questions could I ask? And how soon is too soon to ask about things like course release and pay? I haven't made a decision but want to get information first (I am leanin”

“Hi all, I fear I’ve hit a bit of a stand still. I’m a 33 year old full time HS teacher, adjunct professor, and I’ll be graduating at the end of this academic year. I’m a qualitative researcher and I’m finishing my PhD in human development and family science. When I started, I intended on going into academia, but I’ve been hearing about the difficult academic job market more and more. I’ve considered applying for a post doc but I’m struggling with the thought of leaving something permanent ( my t”

“Tagged humanities because my area of study was philosophy. Based in the USA. Several years ago, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and was planning to attend graduate school with the goal of earning a PhD so I could teach philosophy at a college level. However, during my last year of college my mental health took a massive nosedive, and while I did manage to graduate, I had a lot of trouble finishing my degree and struggled a lot with work immediately after graduation. Now, after a”

“I just started a Post-Bacc certificate program. My advisor is meant to be the head of the department. When I was first accepted I emailed them asking to set up an appointment (I was told I had to do this), and I followed up 2 times over the course of a month. I never received a reply and thought I might have the wrong email. I was able to register for my fall classes, but I reached out again politely reintroducing myself and asking to set up a meeting. I’m 28 and this is the start of a career ch”

“Hi everyone, I’m a junior faculty in the humanities and recently have been asked by a PhD student from another university to be the external member on their dissertation committee. I’m wondering what usually the incentive is for faculty to say “yes” to these requests, given that reward is minimal (as I understand it)? Would appreciate some advice about this to make an informed decision. Thanks in advance! submitted by /u/Valuable_Durian1636 [link] [comments]”

“Hey everyone! I'm a late-20s (F) PhD student in Ireland, trying to figure out media x farmers x behaviour. The question about the ideal routine is pretty common I know, and at some point in our phd, we all have resorted to adopting phd-influencers' routines showcased on the gram/YouTube. But let's be honest, we don't have that flair? I have 40 minute commute to my office - and there isn't any specific log in/out time because it's not a lab that I work in. I have a dauntin”

“We have five fewer school days in our calendar this year, and our pay is decreased accordingly.”

“For context, this happens to be a visiting professor who was invited for a talk. When one of the organisers were introducing them to the audience, this person received a call, attended it for 4-5 mins and then told everybody in the room that their master’s student had a defence scheduled at the same time. He admitted not having it on his calendar, which made him forget about it and that the student is refusing to proceed with the defence without him. After a few seconds of silence, one of the or”

“I’m in Louisiana and work at a University in a student facing office. For the first 3-5 weeks of the semester I work 12 hour days and am regularly working with students who don’t want to be there throughout the semester- I make $46k. My partner and I are moving to a new parish in our state that has alt certification program that I’m considering, there aren’t many jobs in that area that aren’t teaching that I could get with my background. I’d make $41k during the uncertified years and then $55k o”

“Hi everyone, I’ve just started the first semester of my PhD program. I’m in the humanities. One of my classes, which is also taught by my academic advisor, has writing due multiple times in the next three weeks. My advisor is aware that I’m about to miss my classes this week because of an impending death in the family. My whole department is being really supportive, and saying to focus on my family. I’m trying to stay on top of my readings despite the crying so I don’t fall too far behind. I’m g”

“I teach at a Swedish university. The most students i have in a course is about 25 (master's program) and the least is 6 (PhD program). I don't teach at the bachelors level but the numbers there are not that big either, usually 50 students. These numbers are very typical of small universities in Sweden and other Nordic countries. Just wondering how different the numbers are in other European and American universities. submitted by /u/signuptopostthis [link] [comments]”

“A lot of times you take a pay cut when you move to a new school. Unless you are science or math. I took a $8,000 pay cut because they wouldn’t accept all my grad credits. I teach music though so not as highly valued. Luckily at my new school it’s very easy to move on the pay scale so I was able to recoup that pretty fast.”

“Please let me know if this is not appropriate sub-reddit for this. I was unsure on where to post. For some context: I've been adjuncting at this particular University for over a decade teaching online. Over the years, they've contacted me here and there about adding an additional student over the cap to the course. If it's just one student- once a year or so- and they really need to get into the course to complete a super important deadline, I'm okay with accommodating. However,”

“What is the best option for transitioning into retirement for professors? In another thread ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/1w1gu05/older\_profs\_who\_can\_retirewhy\_stay\_on/ ), there was a discussion about why it is so difficult for professors to retire. Many described how hard it is for them to let go of their personal identity, which they have drawn almost exclusively from their work as professors. Others mentioned that they have maintained few social contacts outside of the”

“I'm doing a postdoc in a lab that's making me miserable. My PI is DEEP in the AI-psychosis. They have no real background in any of the current projects so all of their ideas are inputted and outputted by AI, as are timelines. For example, they wanted a complete novel protocol from conception to implementation within six months because AI told them this was feasible. Preliminary data analysis is fed into AI to speed things up. On top of all this, they pile more and more work on all the po”

“I found their information on their websites conflicting, and that they asked for different things. I emailed, and they told me they need two science faculty. I only have one science faculty and one research pi. At this point in the cycle, is it worth asking for another LOR? Or do I just submit and see what happens? I'm stressing a little, and I'm not sure what to do. I'm a ga resident, so to me this school would increase my chances of getting in somewhere. Thanks! submitted by”

“Summary: Does earning full professor at my current institution make me less competitive for other jobs? I teach at a small regional university in the US with below median salaries and small raises (that don't keep up with inflation). For earning tenure/promotion we get a 5k salary bump and for earning full professor we earn a 6k salary bump. Neither of these raises have been adjusted for years. I earned promotion and tenure a few years back and now I can start preparing to apply for full pro”

“So I was browsing some articles from last year and found a really interesting quote: “One of the closest guarded secrets in American higher education is the average teaching loads of faculty.” -Richard Vedder The quote was in a piece arguing US faculty should teach more. It then goes on to explain how little actual public / published documentation exists referencing actual data. When you look at it in comparison to things like salaries it is indeed rare. It then brings up several other intriguin”

“hello, I'm sorry if this isn't the right subreddit and would be grateful if someone would guide me to the right one if it isn't so but I'm desperate rn I really wanted to pursue pol science for my bachelor's, then masters and PhD to ultimately go into teaching in any scandinavian country. the situation in my country is bleak when it comes to pol sci education and if I don't go abroad for masters, the situation will not be favourable to say the least. my parents have curre”

“The first year at a new school is the worst. I want to do it as few times as possible. Plus moving usually cuts pay and puts you at the bottom of seniority and tenure. If the school needs to make cuts they cut newest to oldest. Constantly being on the chopping block is really stressful. Once you have some years in you can kind of breath and so start asking the questions you really want to ask at the faculty meetings.”

“Throwaway account. So, this is my 3rd year as a professor on a tenure track. Not with a University but with a CC. Overall, I have truly enjoyed it. Being a Comp Sci professor has been fun and fulfilling, knowing that I'm supporting the next and upcoming CS industry workers. What's not been fun, is the pay. This semester, I have 4 overloads that I'm teaching. Which is the most overloads I've ever had tbh. (Yes, overloads are fairly common for me, just not this many) Yet, my payche”

“I often hear applied research for edD or DBA are easier. Reading all those sad posts about Ph.D makes me wonder how many hours/week those professional doctorates require and how hard they are compare to regular Ph.D. for someone has a full time job and family. submitted by /u/MomofThree555 [link] [comments]”

“I wish I could NOT agree... but I've had a similar experience with my alma mater. I'll never forget when I was living in Europe and I was applying for a graduate program in the 2000s, and needed my transcripts. I won't go into the full story, but that's why I don't donate to my alma mater (yes, I formally complained: no apology). I can think of dozens of ways they could keep alumni engaged - and it's not just telling us about the homecoming football game (which I never we”

“i’m a high schooler thinking of going the phd route for humanities. but i need the harsh, no sugar coated realities. (also, the end goal is to be a university professor) submitted by /u/L_ychouchou [link] [comments]”

“I’m newly tenured professor at a cc with a few adjuncting gig on the side. I have been teaching full time 4 years and 8 years overall. I teach summers/winters and pick up extra classes whenever I can to pay the bills and live a normal decent life. However, I’ve noticed that my patience with students is beginning to decline. I am little more snappy with overly chatty students that don’t others chime or get a word in. I can be crabby at the very beginning of class and can respond sarcastically. Al”

“And to think that by the time this person finishes their PhD we are still somehow going to have the same capabilities as today is ignorant and bad advice. I didn't state that we'd have the same capabilities as today. I stated that generalization of common operations is what constitutes progress in computer science / engineering. That isn't something that LLMs are able to address as it isn't their intended purpose. The entire point of LLMs is to get around that need through brute”

“It's honestly so frustrating on how science has been politicized over the past 2 years and its so sad to see many professors choosing to retire and close their labs due to the state of science. It's great that there are things like SUFS, but honestly I don't feel like anybody in the government is supporting the scientific infrastructure. The bureaucratic mess of the NIH/NSF and all the rule changes aren't helping either. I email and leave a message for my local representatives an”

“Hello! I previously posted in here about email etiquette for cold emailing about adjuncting opportunities and got very helpful feedback. I was wondering when adjunct hiring is typically/ideally done. I know that there are a lot of horror stories of last minute scrambling, but when are chairs typically looking at this? And also was wondering, how common is it to be hired then have the class cancelled? I’m in the US. submitted by /u/ParsnipTricky6948 [link] [comments]”

“What does a doctorate degree entail? Could someone tell me what affects doctorate student life the most? I heard your supervisor is quite influential. Could you pick your own topic or it is sort of shaped by the department ? How much the quality of school affect your research ? If the admin staff are bad and school reputation is not so great, does that affect your study? What is the pitfall and what you need to look for before applying? submitted by /u/MomofThree555 [link] [com”

“Just what it says. Niche field, big school, smallish department. I'm embarrassed to say I left that program about 7 years ago but am still working through it in therapy. I genuinely believe this person shouldn't have students anymore and was fortunate to have one new student reach out to me. I could warn her, but am not sure how else to report the horrific experience I had to future prospects. I was too suicidal at the time to do anything about it. Is there a 'rate my professor'”

“Just venting using my throwaway. Junior faculty member here. Having a huge backlog of tasks (related to my teaching and research) I wanted to finish. Most are "soft" tasks without a specific deadline to meet, like reading a textbook I'm interested in, or exploring a research direction. Summer seems to be a good time for them. But when summer really came, I was SOOOOO tired and only wanted to rest and do nothing. And every single day I still have five things to take care of despite”

“It is a stressful field, but it also has a lot to do with how the organization views IT. It is a field, like engineering, that attracts a lot of people on various edges of the spectrum. We try really hard but we can only handle the high stress for so long before the burnout sets it an we melt down for a bit unable to maintain the mask.”

“I’ll try not to make this long because, well, it’s week 1 of classes here and nobody has time. I’m FT NTT at a small college in the midwest that’s checking all the “will we close?” boxes. Debt, huge endowment draws, deferred maintenance, hiring & salary freezes, half the number of incoming freshmen we need to survive. Admin mandates to reduce the number of students failing, a free-for-all AI policy. I was bullied by a colleague so viciously that I filed a report that resulted in even more re”

“I’m at a mid-sized regional comprehensive university. I joined the faculty in 2012 and obtained tenure in 2018. Elections are conducted by qualtrics poll or similar. In all the time I’ve been at this university, vote tallies for senate candidates are not disclosed — only the names of the winners. I have run for senate twice - winning once and losing once. I asked those running the election what the vote tallies were - I’d like to know how hard I’d have to work the next time to get elected. The l”