What Professors Wait For

Ambitious professionals often wait to learn if what they have accomplished will be enough to move one step forward in their career path. Would-be university professors are no exception.

I survived the Ph.D. hazing activities (dissertation/ defence/ oral exams), which allowed me to enter employment as a psychologist. When I learned how little my advisor earned compared to my starting salary, I did not pursue an academic career and turned down an early offer from a small college.

Eventually, after a professional career, I decided to leave fulltime work as a clinician to enter academia. I have thus been a participant-observer in a very different environment than the world of the self-employed. I had to learn to wait on others who sometimes moved at a snail's pace. I often wondered if the slowness was the reason for universities' "nonprofit" status. I couldn't imagine making patients or consultees waiting for answers or decisions as happens in academia. I used to think insurance companies were slow in paying their bills until I entered the world of academia where 60-days is like warp speed.

Adding to the stress of waiting is the fact that there is so little return on investment. That is, many things professors wait for are tied to funds. But to have a chance at obtaining a few more dollars, you often have to invest considerable time to write a book proposal, complete a grant application, or submit documents to move up another rung on the academic ladder.

And, there's zero pay--not one cent--in royalties for those dense time--consuming articles you publish in a peer reviewed journal.

Here's my list of things university professors wait for. And I offer this list as something to consider by those thinking about entering academia. I should point out that the items in the list are not experienced by all professors. Surely, the waiting experiences vary with the discipline, school, individual, and the macro-economy to name a few waiting-game factors. By the way, I retired and appreciate my Emeritus Professor status. Now I wait on myself.

Some things American professors wait for...

• approval to be eligible to teach as a low-pay-no-benefits adjunct professor--hoping for a course or two to help make ends meet
• the availability of a course to teach as an adjunct instructor--hoping to build a CV and prove one's worth if a fulltime position becomes available
• a phone interview in response to an application for employment
• an in-person or video hiring interview following a successful phone interview
• the results of a hiring interview, which can take weeks to months
• reimbursement for travel to hiring interviews
• a fulltime position as a professor--hoping to accomplish enough to reach the next step
• Fall break
• end of the Fall semester
• Spring break
• end of the Spring semester
• Summer school contract -- learning if you will get a contract to teach a summer course for a few more dollars
• the results of teacher evaluations that might influence someone in the bureaucracy about your worthiness to teach a thing or two to 18-year-olds
• the results of a mini-grant to do some research or offer a great experience for eager students
• students to turn in their work so you can complete grading and live a little until the next assignment or school break
• feedback from a professional organization on whether your proposal to deliver a paper at a conference has been approved or if you will be sent to the trenches (a poster session)
• funding to attend a conference to present your latest work to a few eager young graduate students
• feedback from peer review on your latest journal article based on countless hours of research, writing, and re-writing
• feedback from a book publisher on whether or not they like the proposal you spent weeks trying to prove it will be a best-seller
• a response from administration on a modest proposal from a committee you and your colleagues considered the next best way to make university life better in some important way
• news of getting a new contract for the following academic year
• the response from old-time professors to your presentation of accomplishments required for promotion to the next level of professorship
• approval for a sabbatical
• the response from old-time professors on your application for tenure and a smidgeon of peace of mind that you might have some job protection 
• news of a raise

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I wish you well and hope you find creative ways to reduce wait-time and engage in meaningful activities while waiting for others.

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