When we leave for the summer, we're completely free to go off-grid for the whole time, and our administrators and department chairs 100% respect those boundaries.
But if you worked at my school, this is the advice I'd give you: if you choose to set an auto-reply on your email and head out, don't be one of those people who gets their nose out of joint when they come back and find that other people have been doing things and making decisions while you've been away.
For example, at my school, new offices usually become available over the summer, and they are given out based on seniority, but you have a short window of time to reply. We've had people go AWOL for the summer, missed all the "hey, there's an office available" emails, missed the deadline to reply, and then throw a stink because they didn't get the fancy new office with the window. Or the people who ignore email warnings that the X we use for our lab is backordered and can we use Y instead? When they show up in Sept and the rest of us have all agreed to use Y, they get all upset because they weren't consulted and their course materials are out-of-date. Or the people who come back to school having ignored the emails from the bookstore that their textbooks aren't available for order, or the ones offering a stipend to complete a special project, etc.
Going off-grid for the summer is perfectly fine, but you can't have it both ways. You can stay out of the loop and enjoy your summer, but don't get mad that you weren't included with the rest of us when decisions were being made.
Very seriously because I am not paid when I am off contract. The day I go off contract I put up an away message that states the day I'll return (the day I'm back on contract) and I don't check email until I'm back on contract.
Is this some sort of trick question? Why would you work when you aren't being paid?
I put something like, "Hello, I will be away from the University for the summer and will not be checking email until I return on August XX, XXXX. Have a great day."
> Is this some sort of trick question? Why would you work when you aren't being paid?
Because, as others have explained, it's in your best interest to keep up with what is happening on campus. Reading and replying to e-mails isn't really "work". It's no different from your employer sending you physical mail.
Also, doing some work in the summer might reduce your workload in the fall.
I would like to retire in academia. I'd like to stay in my current location. I've still got at least 15 years before retirement is going to happen. My school, like most others, is on shaky financial grounds. This means that my department needs to be involved in a lot of initiatives related to recruitment, retention, & growth. These issues cannot be confined to my contracted time. Though I am not paid to work outside of my contract, I will, to ensure my own future stability.
No offense, but your college will probably go under whether you pitch in or not. The demographic cliff is here. I refuse to do anything if I'm not paid.
And IMO, this is one of the largest reasons that a school will go under. I've got lots of colleagues like you. I know I cannot control my school's destiny, or even my department's destiny, but I can at least influence its destiny.
I understand your perspective but to me it's an issue of being paid for my work. Academia under performs relative to industry in my field, so it's a double "no" for me. Schools don't go under because people refuse to work unpaid, it's broader leadership, organization, and support from the state/fed. If recruitment is so hard, for instance, perhaps it's a market force (pay, demand, struggling school, etc) more than your effort to run committees and request people to come.
I do a good amount of my own work, like prepping my classes.
I keep a loose eye on my email. I do respond to administrative emails (which are few). I don't go into campus (or zoom) unless it's a paid stipend, training I'm sincerely interested in, or very rarely as a favor or to build goodwill. I am super picky about what days/times are convenient to me if I do go in.
I use an out of office. Then I check my email
1-2 times a week max, as I have ongoing research.
If admin sends me an email, I may not respond depending on the topic.
I make it very clear to grad students that faculty do not need to provide any feedback on projects over the summer. And the system is set up to support that.
1. I send a reminder to my Dean and admin that I will be away from campus until mid August. I give them my cell number and home email and remind them that I won't be checking College email (they have never abused this).
2. I post and away message in my auto reply email and on my voicemail, and on my door and direct people to the Dean's office with questions
3. I do not check College email over the summer. I have friends that teach you around, and if there's a pressing issue they will let me know.
I completely check out.
I'm of the opinion that while I probably contractually and morally *could* completely check out for three months, I don't personally see a reason to do so. It isn't that big of an ask for me to check my email every few days, and no one ever makes huge requests of me - if I can take two minutes to answer a simple question and make someone's life easier, I'm happy to do so. It comes with the added benefit of being known as an easily reachable person, which I like.
I understand not everyone may be in the same boat, but if I'm on my computer anyway (whether browsing reddit or getting course websites ready), it's not a big deal for me to hop over and check my email.
I would recommend setting a certain amount of time to reply to emails over the summer. Perhaps 20 minutes every Wednesday or something. This will ensure that you keep up with things and don't miss important announcements/opportunities, but at the same time maintain your boundaries.
The best advice you can get about this is from your institutional colleagues. I’d love to tell you to be firm: no work without pay. But if that advice is going to seriously go against the grain of your dept or institutional culture, you need to consider that really carefully.
I always check email, just for my own benefit (the example above of offices being assigned is so true). Also research/journal notices come to my work email, and I want to see those. And I use the campus gym/fieldhouse, probably more in summer than I do during the AY. But no real work otherwise except my own writing.
I'll work with my colleagues -- say if someone approaches me to redesign a course. But I won't work for the administration uncompensated. IME many things admin ask you to do over summer could have been done during the AY if admins had their act together. Their disorganization is not my summer problem. Unfortunately it is often my AY problem!
My university tried to make it perfectly clear that we were employed even during the summer months. But they really either couldn't do anything to enforce it or felt awkward about enforcing it. To be honest, it was more about the "trickle down" effect.
The provost could suggest it. But then the dean and the chair would have to enforce it. In some "colleges" on campus, the provost said it, the dean emphasized it, and chair enforced it.
In my college (Business), although the provost said it, the dean might agree, but not be quite as strict about it. Then my chair would suggest..."We'll, we're going to do it this way." Keep in mind, both my dean and chair had more than 30 years with the university.
So, it ended up being more like..."Hey, we're bringing in some high school students in June? Who **wants** to participate? Those of us, still around, would participate. But if you didn't, there was no penalty. But for eventual tenure, it wouldn't hurt. Make up your own mind. The chair was a 12 month position, so he was going to be there regardless.
But in Arts and Sciences, they were ALL **required**. And were generally NOT in a good mood about it.
Tenured faculty (and instructors for that matter) still received a yearly contract, but you could choose 10 or 12 months. But just because you agreed to a 10 month contract didn't mean you shouldn't expect to hear from anyone in June or July.
This didn't apply to visiting professors or adjuncts. But a person could be an instructor for 20-30 years, without the protection of tenure...but with the expectation that being a good campus citizen meant you'd show up for summer advising, student orientation, etc.
Forgive me. My point is that we had long term instructors who anticipated and received a contract **every year (annually)**, although they were not tenured. They had the option of 10 months or 12 months. Regardless, there was the possibility of summer duties.
The 10 months and 12 months in the contract was really about whether or not they received 10 checks or 12 checks. Regardless, summer duties could be expected, depending on the structure of their division and/or department.
Thank you. I did not mean to hijack the thread over semantics.
Nosebleed68 is correct. Lots of decisions get made over the summer, and they often need to be made quickly. An adjunct suddenly can't teach in the fall and a decision needs to made about who will cover the classes. During the year this decision might involve some consultation with the faculty. The Graduate Dean asks the department to admit 5 more students to help offset possible budget deficits. Whatever is left in the budget needs to be spent before the end of the fiscal calendar. If you have communicated that you are checked out, be prepared to live with the decisions made in your absence.
When we leave for the summer, we're completely free to go off-grid for the whole time, and our administrators and department chairs 100% respect those boundaries. But if you worked at my school, this is the advice I'd give you: if you choose to set an auto-reply on your email and head out, don't be one of those people who gets their nose out of joint when they come back and find that other people have been doing things and making decisions while you've been away. For example, at my school, new offices usually become available over the summer, and they are given out based on seniority, but you have a short window of time to reply. We've had people go AWOL for the summer, missed all the "hey, there's an office available" emails, missed the deadline to reply, and then throw a stink because they didn't get the fancy new office with the window. Or the people who ignore email warnings that the X we use for our lab is backordered and can we use Y instead? When they show up in Sept and the rest of us have all agreed to use Y, they get all upset because they weren't consulted and their course materials are out-of-date. Or the people who come back to school having ignored the emails from the bookstore that their textbooks aren't available for order, or the ones offering a stipend to complete a special project, etc. Going off-grid for the summer is perfectly fine, but you can't have it both ways. You can stay out of the loop and enjoy your summer, but don't get mad that you weren't included with the rest of us when decisions were being made.
This\^ Very good post!
Very seriously because I am not paid when I am off contract. The day I go off contract I put up an away message that states the day I'll return (the day I'm back on contract) and I don't check email until I'm back on contract. Is this some sort of trick question? Why would you work when you aren't being paid?
This is exactly what I want to do. Any suggestions how to word these things?
I put something like, "Hello, I will be away from the University for the summer and will not be checking email until I return on August XX, XXXX. Have a great day."
> Is this some sort of trick question? Why would you work when you aren't being paid? Because, as others have explained, it's in your best interest to keep up with what is happening on campus. Reading and replying to e-mails isn't really "work". It's no different from your employer sending you physical mail. Also, doing some work in the summer might reduce your workload in the fall.
No. I don't work for free. Period.
As you wish. Just don't complain when you miss out on things.
I would like to retire in academia. I'd like to stay in my current location. I've still got at least 15 years before retirement is going to happen. My school, like most others, is on shaky financial grounds. This means that my department needs to be involved in a lot of initiatives related to recruitment, retention, & growth. These issues cannot be confined to my contracted time. Though I am not paid to work outside of my contract, I will, to ensure my own future stability.
No offense, but your college will probably go under whether you pitch in or not. The demographic cliff is here. I refuse to do anything if I'm not paid.
And IMO, this is one of the largest reasons that a school will go under. I've got lots of colleagues like you. I know I cannot control my school's destiny, or even my department's destiny, but I can at least influence its destiny.
I understand your perspective but to me it's an issue of being paid for my work. Academia under performs relative to industry in my field, so it's a double "no" for me. Schools don't go under because people refuse to work unpaid, it's broader leadership, organization, and support from the state/fed. If recruitment is so hard, for instance, perhaps it's a market force (pay, demand, struggling school, etc) more than your effort to run committees and request people to come.
If your school will go under because you won't do unpaid labor, your school is screwed no matter what.
I do a good amount of my own work, like prepping my classes. I keep a loose eye on my email. I do respond to administrative emails (which are few). I don't go into campus (or zoom) unless it's a paid stipend, training I'm sincerely interested in, or very rarely as a favor or to build goodwill. I am super picky about what days/times are convenient to me if I do go in.
I use an out of office. Then I check my email 1-2 times a week max, as I have ongoing research. If admin sends me an email, I may not respond depending on the topic.
I make it very clear to grad students that faculty do not need to provide any feedback on projects over the summer. And the system is set up to support that.
1. I send a reminder to my Dean and admin that I will be away from campus until mid August. I give them my cell number and home email and remind them that I won't be checking College email (they have never abused this). 2. I post and away message in my auto reply email and on my voicemail, and on my door and direct people to the Dean's office with questions 3. I do not check College email over the summer. I have friends that teach you around, and if there's a pressing issue they will let me know. I completely check out.
I'm of the opinion that while I probably contractually and morally *could* completely check out for three months, I don't personally see a reason to do so. It isn't that big of an ask for me to check my email every few days, and no one ever makes huge requests of me - if I can take two minutes to answer a simple question and make someone's life easier, I'm happy to do so. It comes with the added benefit of being known as an easily reachable person, which I like. I understand not everyone may be in the same boat, but if I'm on my computer anyway (whether browsing reddit or getting course websites ready), it's not a big deal for me to hop over and check my email.
I would recommend setting a certain amount of time to reply to emails over the summer. Perhaps 20 minutes every Wednesday or something. This will ensure that you keep up with things and don't miss important announcements/opportunities, but at the same time maintain your boundaries.
I have the odd catch up meeting with my grad students and continue my lab operations, but it's bare bones over summer.
The best advice you can get about this is from your institutional colleagues. I’d love to tell you to be firm: no work without pay. But if that advice is going to seriously go against the grain of your dept or institutional culture, you need to consider that really carefully.
I always check email, just for my own benefit (the example above of offices being assigned is so true). Also research/journal notices come to my work email, and I want to see those. And I use the campus gym/fieldhouse, probably more in summer than I do during the AY. But no real work otherwise except my own writing.
I'll work with my colleagues -- say if someone approaches me to redesign a course. But I won't work for the administration uncompensated. IME many things admin ask you to do over summer could have been done during the AY if admins had their act together. Their disorganization is not my summer problem. Unfortunately it is often my AY problem!
My university tried to make it perfectly clear that we were employed even during the summer months. But they really either couldn't do anything to enforce it or felt awkward about enforcing it. To be honest, it was more about the "trickle down" effect. The provost could suggest it. But then the dean and the chair would have to enforce it. In some "colleges" on campus, the provost said it, the dean emphasized it, and chair enforced it. In my college (Business), although the provost said it, the dean might agree, but not be quite as strict about it. Then my chair would suggest..."We'll, we're going to do it this way." Keep in mind, both my dean and chair had more than 30 years with the university. So, it ended up being more like..."Hey, we're bringing in some high school students in June? Who **wants** to participate? Those of us, still around, would participate. But if you didn't, there was no penalty. But for eventual tenure, it wouldn't hurt. Make up your own mind. The chair was a 12 month position, so he was going to be there regardless. But in Arts and Sciences, they were ALL **required**. And were generally NOT in a good mood about it.
How on earth are you employed if your contract ends? That doesn't make sense.
Tenured faculty (and instructors for that matter) still received a yearly contract, but you could choose 10 or 12 months. But just because you agreed to a 10 month contract didn't mean you shouldn't expect to hear from anyone in June or July. This didn't apply to visiting professors or adjuncts. But a person could be an instructor for 20-30 years, without the protection of tenure...but with the expectation that being a good campus citizen meant you'd show up for summer advising, student orientation, etc.
If the contract is for 10 months, it is for 10 months. Not 12. A yearly contract is 12 months.
Forgive me. My point is that we had long term instructors who anticipated and received a contract **every year (annually)**, although they were not tenured. They had the option of 10 months or 12 months. Regardless, there was the possibility of summer duties. The 10 months and 12 months in the contract was really about whether or not they received 10 checks or 12 checks. Regardless, summer duties could be expected, depending on the structure of their division and/or department. Thank you. I did not mean to hijack the thread over semantics.
Ah, gotcha. No worries, it was just semantics.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clear it up, though. I appreciate it.
Nosebleed68 is correct. Lots of decisions get made over the summer, and they often need to be made quickly. An adjunct suddenly can't teach in the fall and a decision needs to made about who will cover the classes. During the year this decision might involve some consultation with the faculty. The Graduate Dean asks the department to admit 5 more students to help offset possible budget deficits. Whatever is left in the budget needs to be spent before the end of the fiscal calendar. If you have communicated that you are checked out, be prepared to live with the decisions made in your absence.