This time of year means a new beginning for many students but also the start of a new job for a lot of lecturers too. So with a mixture of trepidation and excitement they head off to their new universities unsure how this post will benefit their careers or how it will affect their personal lives.
Archive for September, 2009
Advice on starting a new academic job
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Writing lectures: countdown to term starts!
Monday, September 14th, 2009Mid-September is often a challenging time for lecturers as they have to adapt to their other way of working for half the year: i.e. being present at their universities a lot more, preparing for teaching and most of all preparing for the deluge of undergraduates in a week or two’s time. One of the key tasks for many new members of staff is to start writing lectures.
Administration: it’s just part of the job!
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009It struck me the other day how much of my summer I have spent on what I would call ‘admin’ tasks as opposed to actual research or teaching preparation. Doing secretarial-type jobs is not what most lecturers joined the profession to do, but they are important. We are not in the good ol’ days now when academics had secretaries and administrators to do everything for them!
