Universities to fear

''This page is for applicants to warn others of institutions/departments with less than reputable practices. This way we can all avoid the bad ones!''

Back to AcademicJobSearch

General Q: how is it possible that any department can get away with NOT reimbursing a visiting candidate for travel expenses? It's appalling. Surely MLA (and other organizations) could do something to monitor or even "motivate" departments who engage in this kind of conduct (e.g., not allowing them to list job postings on the Job Information List the following year). Grad students especially need to be protected from such things.

Post in alphabetical Order
Example: Joke U.........Joke studies..........routinely solicites TT applicants who never make tenure. 12-2001

School.........Department............issue......Date
Bard C......English...FYI: By all means apply, but I recommend taking a job at Bard only as a completely LAST resort...(REBUTTAL APPEARS IN DISCUSSION, ACCESS ABOVE BY PRESSING THE DISCUSSION BUTTON NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON)

Brigham Young University.....History.....routinely hires TT faculty in Asian history who never make tenure. Last BYU Asian historian to get tenure and stay was over 40 years ago! Three have been fired/denied tenure in the five years, all with multiple pubs including books with very good presses. Problems at both department and college levels.

Central Connecticut State College.....Theatre.....on-campus visit for TT, was never contacted again in any way, ever.....4/2007

City College of San Francisco......English......Some great faculty, but pay sucks for the area. So many students and faculty that you'll be treated like a number. I'd advise working there if you're in a somewhat small department. Watch out for bureuacratic nonsense. (REBUTTAL APPEARS IN DISCUSSION, ACCESS ABOVE BY PRESSING THE DISCUSSION BUTTON NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON)

College of Mount St. Vincent.... Department?...........Never reimbursed for some travel expenses after interview. Also, SC members were disorganzied and indifferent....Date?

College of New Jersey...set up a specific time and date for a phone interview. Waited patiently by the phone. Was emailed later that they tried and there was no response. Explained that there must be some sort of miscommunication becuase I was waiting by an open phone the entire time. Emailed another member of the search committee explaining the problem and relating my interest. Was emailed back that the interview process has already begun becasue they are under tight time constraints.

College of William and Mary.....Philosophy......no contact of any kind after interview. Department also has terrible record of tenure denials to star junior candidates. (An recent chronicle article documents this, which may have culminated in the removal of the chair.)

Denison...................English...................had a great MLA interview with them, and literally never heard one more word from them every again.

Franklin and Marshall....Theatre....Changed teaching topics on me twice in the week leading up to the interview. I was left "on my own" for hours at a time in a two and a half day interview (with the amount of actual interviewing I did, it should have been one day). Members of the search committee openly read the newspaper while I was teaching my second sample class. The exact same scenario happened to a colleague of mine who applied for the position five years before me... Its obvious the department settles upon a candidate before interviews and brings in other people to fulfill some college rule. As a final note, the position I applied for is now open again for the third time in as many years. With the amount of qualified theatre historians/generalists out there, I wonder what on earth they are looking for.
 * I never got a rejection from them; I had to e-mail the chair to find the results of the search.

Harvard...History...Typically only hires its own Ph.D students. -Maybe 50 years ago, but as of now this statement is completely false. -You're right. In the past five years they've only hired three of their own Ph.Ds as Asst profs. Plus one who was a Harvard undergrad and whose parents both teach at Harvard. That's progress!!

Heartland Community College.....English........The Ph.D.s in Lit have completely taken over the composition curriculum, rewriting so that classes all have to do lit (which the students deeply resent). Very, very fractured department with long-standing issues. Also never hires its own adjuncts! (This one was glad, actually.)

Illinois Central College...... (any)........... Worst medical coverage I've ever experienced. "Self" insured. College and management firm reject everything; employees end up paying most of their own healthcare costs. Their self-insured PPO's list of reasonable and customary charges is a laugh riot. College and management firm reject every claim, regardless. Otherwise an okay place to work (as long as you don't mind being in the middle of nowhere.)

Ithaca College...................History................on-campus for a VAP, then no further contact at all. Ever........3-2005

Ithaca College...................Biology.............rejection letter sent out over 1 YEAR after application sent

Jackons State U..................Biology................Never paid interview expenses 11-2007

James Madison College at Michigan State U.....On-campus visit for a tt position. No communication thereafter even when I contacted them upon receiving another offer. Rejection letter never sent. Travel expenses never reimbursed.

Lincoln University (MO)..........Agriculture............This school is a nightmare, i escaped after one semester! 2003

LSU-Shreveport...................Biology...............The school is severely impoverished, Honored no hiring promises 1. recinded most of start up money, 2. no phone after 1 month, no phone number until the last week in fall semester, 3. no office after 2 weeks, 4. computer was 96K RAM, 5. 1 yr budget for 8 labs was $75, 6. student enrollment dropped through floor. 7. school was investigating exigency or joining with the medical school (also declaring exigency at the time), 8. older faculty were treated disrespectfully by administartion (the faculty in biology were great), 9. school glued tiles back up on the walls instead of replacing for pictures go to link http://www.studentsreview.com where a former student posted them, 10. Was told their were 20 students in the MS program although there were only 2, 11. told their research center was being flooded with money and that it should rival Savanna River (UGA) when it could not afford photocopy paper (it now rivals savanna river because savanna river has been disbanded!), 12. some faculty did not distrubute student evaluations instead filling them out themselves. 13. They were opening my mail, reading it and then putting it in my folder, 14. when I finally got my office it was filled with garbage and I had to clean it out, 15. the laboratory space I was given was a public hallway between classrooms, again filled with garbage (see former link to pics) that I had to clean out, 15. I was forcefully asked to spend research grant money on unrelated teaching supplies, 16. One retired prof stole some of my specimens and was continually monkeying around in other profs offices, 17. the offices were not private as keys fit everyone's locks.......... 11-2005

Loyola Marymount U (L.A.)........English...............Interviewed with them, never heard from them again after the interview. Not a huge deal, but not very professional either. 2006/07 Ditto-12/07.

Loyola University New Orleans.....Theatre......they changed their TT search last year in mid-stream, from one area of the discipline to another, without readvertising or notifying any of the candidates. The "committee" consisted of one individual, the chair. Scary. 2007

Michigan State University.....James Madison College......On-campus visit for a tt position. No communication thereafter even after I contacted them upon receiving another offer. Travel expenses never reimbursed although I submitted receipts. Rejection letter never sent. NOTE: I POSTED THIS ONCE, AND IT WAS DELETED. THIS IS THE SECOND POST OF THE SAME ISSUE. MSU...English...campus visit and never another peep from them, not even a form letter.

Montclair State.................Sociology...............Immensely dysfunctional department; Never-ending application requirements; Never reimbursed for travel Expenses.............................Spring 2003

Murray State ...................History.................Very troubled department re: professionalism in the promotion and tenure process. Tread lightly and carefully if you take a position. Fall 2008

Newman University...............History.................This university has such shaky finances that it regularly sheds tt faculty. Tenure means nothing and all non tenured faculty work on a year-to-year contract. Stay away from this place...it is a nightmare

Nevada State College ...........English..................They made a job offer, gave the hiree less than a week to review the contract, and then retracted the offer. Unprofessional at best.

Notre Dame.....................Chemistry.................wonderful interview experience, but then nothing. No rejection letter, no reply to a follow-up. Looking at their website suggested they never filled the position.

NYU..............................General Studies........no response EVER...06/2007.....One wonders whether they received your application? My school's dossier services provider just sent my colleague's dossier to a school in the Midwest...when she applied to a school in Florida, with a completely different name. You might check to make sure your application was properly sent before black-listing a school? Dream on; I dropped it off in person. A measly email or formal rejection letter might have been nice. I've been blatantly ignored by NYU two times, so I doubt it's the fault of a dossier service or applicant.

Prairie View A&M University.........Sociology...............Never tenure anyone, ever, regardless of quality. Equal opportunity. Black turned down as often as white. Tenure lines extended illegally rather than tenure person sometimes.

Reed College...............Any.......................You will meet with the Dean of the Faculty. You will expect this to be an occasion to address logistics and practicalities. Instead you will be grilled skeptically and condescendingly about your work for 29 minutes and then asked if you have any questions. Otherwise, a wonderful place, but be prepared for this if you interview there.

Reed College..............English.................Was a finalist, and was treated incredibly rudely by two members of the search committee who favored an inside candidate (ultimately hired). Both were rude; one refused to speak to me during a candidate dinner (2 hours, sitting next to me); the other declared "I guess you think we're pretty stupid here!" early in a private meeting. Three other members of the department contacted me and essentially admitted the bad behavior of certain colleagues, who go overboard to get what they want.

Saint Francis University.........History................On-campus interview in January, no further contact for 4 months, then a hand-written note saying 'gee, I bet you already got a job." ....1-2005

Saint Vincent College...English...Campus visit accomodations include a room in a monastery replete with Jesus decorations apparently made by mental patients in the 1960s. Fifty year old twin bed and linens confiscated from a convent. No TV or hair dryer, of course (tonsures dry quick on their own). Jim Touey, new president, a good buddy of W. who reschedules your interview with him 6 times, then announces that he doesn't understand how you can possibly be interested in gender studies and uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church. On a good note: the bells from the Basilica will wake you up at 5 AM!

Slippery Rock University...History...On-campus interview, but no further communication after that. Posted 12/07

Southern illinois University-Edwardsville........Biology......Lost my application packet twice, after sending messages confirming receipt! 2004

College of Staten Island........English........bad all around; head of search committee was rude and abrasive; nobody on the committee actually had experience in the area that they were hiring for; during MLA interview, they complained about the hotel room, then asked me to hurry up so that they could eat lunch (seriously); invited to campus interview, where I was left alone in an office for an hour, then left alone again for TWO HOURS, in another office, in an entirely different dept!; job talk was pushed back until 7pm; was supposed to get a ride back to my hotel, but instead was left in a dark parking lot to wait another hour for a cab; my rejection email was addressed "Dear Candidate"; after all that, they hired someone with two other different specialties, allowing them to save money. Here, here! I received the rejection letter six months after the MLA interview. You figure they could have sent something out when they had campus interviews, huh!
 * I would like to second this rating for CSI. I did not go through what the writer above went through, but the entire process was a mess. After the campus interview, I never received a word from them until I wrote the chair to ask about the progress of the search. Even though the job was in my field, I'm glad I'm not at CSI.

Queen's College, CUNY.....English....NO rejection letter at ALL after MLA interviews. Chair was abrasive. One SC member airy and snobbish. Could have at LEAST sent a rejection note.

Stephen F Austin................English.................Awful, terrible place, from former employee .......................11-2007 Stephen F Austin................Biology.................faculty got in fight during my phone interview................ 11-2007 Stephen F Austin................Forestry................Phone interview, then sent numerous emails and made several calls of inquiry w/othe decency of acknowledging my questions. Clearly, didn't hire me, but so rude on phone, I had already made my decision.

SUNY Institute of Technology....Management..............Incredible bullies. Senior faculty twist arms to be non-working co-authors. Only tenured faculty can vote on any issue.

Troy University................Biology..................informed all faculty must belong to a church. I felt I was being talked out of applying. otherwise, they were fine. 11-2007.

Tulane U. . . . English. . . Disclaimer: this information is all second hand, but my friend's description of the department is so appalling I felt I had to post it. A laughable department in terms of intellectual climate, a problem compounded, and represented, by its treatment of p/t faculty. For both V.A.P.s and their post-doc positions, they make promises in interviews that they have no authority to make (about benefits and conditions) and generally paint a rosy picture of how welcomed you will be by the department, how much control you will have over your time, etc. Then you show up and no one looks you in the eye and you find that your conditions and salary are no different from that of an adjunct. Plus, they've lost their grad program and the university is likely going to lose its Research I classification.

University of Illinois...Black Studies....campus visit, then nary a word from them ever again.

Univ. of Michigan Dearborn......Humanities.......Twice I have applied for advertised adjunct positions. The first time I received no acknowledgment or rejection. The second time I applied, I contacted the department to confirm receipt of my application, to which they replied they would send a "formal letter" "soon." I never received a letter. Of course, this isn't the end of the world, but frustrating and indicative of a general lack of professionalism (or tendency to treat adjunct instructors as slightly sub-human) :) 2006 & 2007.

Univ. of Northern Colorado......English.......Where to start? A third of faculty have left in the past 2 years. Mean and/or deadwood colleagues, horrible college president, low salaries, and an unattractive location. (REBUTTAL APPEARS IN DISCUSSION, ACCESS ABOVE BY PRESSING THE DISCUSSION BUTTON NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON)Who ever moved the follow-up comments, it would help if the rebuttal on the discussion page were identified with the particular school with which it was original aligned. This rebuttal is currently third on the discussion list. Not because I'm looking for a job; rather, because someone I care about is on the market.

Univ of Southern Indiana........English/Lib Arts........Horrible place to work. Very stratified. Chair was recently canned. Unless they have family in the area, no one stays more than a year. Administration is overtly hostile to faculty. Don't work here!!

Univ of Southern Mississippi....History.................Interviewed with them at the AHA convention at Atlanta in Jan. 2006 - The SC informed me that they would be in contact by the end of January, but of course I haven't heard a thing from them(12/3/2007)

Univ North Texas................Biology.................Never reimbursed for part of travel expenses ...................Spr 2007

University of Texas, El Paso..........English..........Had an interview several years ago, for which one member of the search committee wasn't present, the chair napped for several minutes (I'm not kidding), and the third person, a junior member, cringed in horror.

Univ of West Georgia............English.................Total jerks during the interview, it was appalling. Their search ended up failing, too. No wonder. 2006/07. (REBUTTAL UNDER DISCUSSION; SEE ALSO ENTRY ON WHITE LIST). (11/26) Yes, a failed search for 18th Cent last year. Apparently quite nasty and fractious departmental fracas. Dispute over inside candidate is what I heard.

Virginia Commonwealth University...........English/Women's Studies.....Where do I begin about my campus interview here? Years of therapy will only tell the tale. I have never encountered such open prejudice in an academic setting. There are some wonderful people in English there. I still think of them almost a year later. But, there are others who are "like no other." The prejudice runs the gamet, btw. One faculty member was not only openly racist and homophobic, but had "old school" comments to make about Irish people and the children of alcoholics! The minute I got there, faculty members started caling VCU, "Viet Cong University." This not only in reference to student protesters in the 70s, but because of the Vietnamese population in the area today! It goes on and on. Beware of the Commonwealth!

Wayne State.....................Education...............was told "women never get tenure" also were really rude in general.............2-2005

Western Illinois................History.................Has a habit of not communicating with persons who have interviewed for positions (seconded 2004). More than one applicant has identified the department's practices as rude. Ditto for English Department.

West Viginia State University...Biology.................Submitted copies of my official transcripts three times, the third time I asked for return receipt and they lost them again. 2005

Wiley College.................General Education.........Completely disorganized from top on down, everyone passes the buck for problems with the school rather than trying to correct things. Few to no resources to work (paper for printer, chalk, etc.). Lots of division within and among the departments. 11-2007

York U (Toronto)..............English...................Rude, rude, rude and painfully inept department. They also don't get/remember what it's like to be a visiting candidate on campus; also seemed to have a major (verbal) chip on their shoulder as a result of (1) not being in the US and (2) not being the U. of Toronto. Regarding #1, their "anti-American" hostility was so overt (and just plain boring) that even an Anti-American US citizen candidate (like me) was offended. Also, one committee member requested a particular paper (during campus visit) and then a different member of same committee said (to my face!) that "the paper topic was a poor choice." They just don't get it and are really (really) full of themselves in a way that the only truly insecure are. ..............................English...................Agree whole-heartedly with previous post. Had conference interview with them and they couldn't care less about talking to me (started with them complaining about how tired they were of interviewing candidates). They were unyielding in asking how my research agenda would change as a result of teaching at a Canadian school (without giving too much away, my research is pretty firmly rooted in American studies and it would be hard to imagine adding on a whole new Canadian element to my research interests). I answered the best I could but I really just wanted to ask them, "Why did you even want to interview me? Didn't you read my dissertation abstract? Or letter?" Had a similar experience with them. After interviewing with a couple of southern Ontario schools, I wonder if it's regional. I was completely shocked by the aggressive and rude attitudes of department members at 2 out of the 3 schools in Ontario, York included. I also got tired of the American bashing even though I'm a Canadian living in the U.S. Enough of the "aren't you dying to return to Canada given the nightmarish state of American politics right now." I also found they seemed almost "hostile" in questioning my credentials, my approaches to teaching etc. I, too, found myself wondering "Why the hell did you invite me here?"