Universities to love

College.........Dept............observation/date (month, year)

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Bowling Green State...English.....Smart, sharp people who do amazing work. Campus visit was very well organized. I was treated very courteously. Excellent questions during job talk. Reimbusement was quick.

Central MO Univ.......Biology.........Nice people, plenty of space, I would have taken if offered ... DATE?

Eastern Kentucky University.....History....They don't have a lot of money and they teach an enormous amount, yet everyone was great. The faculty are friendly, including the people I met from other departments. The administrators are administrators, but by no means the worst I've ever encountered. They did a very thorough job and I was pretty sure that everyone on the faculty had read my stuff with a careful eye. Overall a great place to interview.

Idaho State University.....Visual Arts.....Interviewed there last in Summer. Didn't get the job, but I was treated to a wonderful day. Great company, food, discussions...It was great all around.

Illinois Central College.... English/Language Arts....great school. The usual with student body, but wonderful instructors and a supportive associate dean. Less than the usual politics between adm and faculty. Great staff. Many good professors under which to mentor. My only complaint is that this area of Central Illinois is really, really dull. If you get a t/t job, bring your spouse and/or family because there is no support for single folks and very little do do around here. Still, very good professsors to work with! And as I typed, administration is generally supportive.

Kansas State U......English.....bad town, but great school; MLA interview was actually enjoyable; was well taken care of during campus interview, including 2 dinners, and the reception was actually at professor's house, where I felt completely welcome; when my flight was delayed, rather than have me take a bus to the university town, 2 profs picked me up from the airport and drove me there (they even gave me food in the car!); didn't get the job, but am still in contact with them

Mississippi State.....English.....Very professional throughout. The head of the dept. arranged times for discussions with all senior faculty as well as a separate time for discussion with all junior faculty. Plenty of breaks scheduled during the campus visit, and everyone showed interest in job talk. DATE intentionally withheld (but recent).

Mount Holyoke.....English.....Incredibly nice people. Very professional. Intellectually engaged. The most fun I had ever had on a campus visit. Search committee chair called me to inform that they had offered the position to another candidate; this was a nice courtesy as most search committees just send a form rejection letter weeks after the fact.

NC State.....History....actually got back to candidates after AHA when they said they would, which is rare and always appreciated. Jan. 2006 Texas A&M University-Texarkana..Very very small, but all the faculty get along. new campus is in progress and the plan is truly beautiful. A great opportunity for people wanting to "build programs." ... DATE?

Simmons College (Boston)...History...I took a job at a larger research university but the people on this committee cosigned a personal letter of congratulations wishing me the best. That amount of personal attention was over the top and truly appreciated.

Towson University (biology)...The single most professionally organized interview I've been on - punctual, efficient, thoughtful. I felt refreshed and enthused when I was done! The one on ones were all about the department and science. The faculty are genuinely collegial and proud of it, and both student panels I met with were mature and insightful. (Fall 2007)

U IL Springfield.....Biology.........young faculty, nice people, highly recommend, very professional interview process. ... DATE?

U of Arizona.....Human Resources/Search Secretary....incredibly helpful and just plain nice. ... DATE?

* A good department with friendly staff. But research is the major focus - teaching is undervalued and not a major factor in job hires.

UC, Davis.....English.....I liked everyone I met there. Friendly faculty and grad students. Chair (now retired) was very transparent about the whole search process. Everyone was very courteous. I didn't get the job, but I liked the visit so much. I'm still in touch with one of the search committee members, and we hang out whenever we see each other at conferences.

UCLA.......English........didn't make the cut after the conference interview, but the interview itself was very collegial and professionally conducted. The SCC contacted me personally to let me know I was no longer in the running, and gave me genuine encouragement and some pertinent info regarding why I didn't make the cut. It wasn't all hot air, either. They did what they could to make the whole job seeking process less miserable than it can sometimes be. ... DATE?

University of Northern Colorado ... English ... I couldn't have asked for a better interview experience; it really was the most positive and well-organized out of all my interviews, most of which were also smoothly organized. The folks in the department were exceedingly supportive and inviting; my schedule was delivered to me well in advance and plenty of down-time was included to keep me from being run ragged, the expectations for the teaching demo were spelled out well in advance, I was given comprehensive travel information well in advance, and I was reimbursed very quickly. In short, I couldn't have asked for a more profession or inviting interview experience. Wish I could say the same about one nightmarishly unfriendly and poorly organized experience I had at a school that will go unnamed here!

University of the South (Sewanee)...History...one-year job, great interview (they wined and dined me, paid for my travel, no need to hassle w/reimbursement), good communication (actually made the offer the day after my on-campus visit), great place to work (amazing salary, lots o' resources, great students, and interested and interesting colleagues who treat me like a member of the dept, not just an adjunct); another bonus - one-year faculty have full access to conference and research funding (2007)

University of Texas at Dallas. . .Arts and Humanities. . .Perhaps the most collegial faculty I have ever dealt with. The search committee was straight forward and really went out of their way to make the experience as painless as possible.

University of Toronto ..... DEPARTMENT? ..... Interviewed in wheelchair. Perfect interview for disabled candidate. I never experienced this before. Driver who picked me up knew what to do. Hotel was on main street downtown so I could go out. (As opposed to hotels where you are captive in your room as you can only access parking lot) Room was easy to navigate with enough space to get in bathroom, move around bed, desk. Department made my "accessibility" a non-issue by planning. Lectern for job talk was already at perfect height. Lunch and dinner were easy to get to and wheelchair friendly. Department already knew where accessible toilets were. (The worst is when you ask and they say: Oh, gee, I guess we´ll have to find "one of those" for you!) All around class act. And no, I didn't get the job. ... DATE?

University of West Georgia .... English ..... Really nice, friendly department. Faculty deported themselves very professionally during MLA interview and campus visit. Underfunded university, but otherwise seemed like a great place to work. Great support staff, quick reimbursement. (No, I didn't get the job.) Don't believe everything you see over on the black list ... (2006-2007 search)

Utah State University ... History...Outstanding department and very friendly. Excellent mix of research and teaching. Suprisingly liberal for Utah, inclusive department, non-mormons are the majority.

Wheaton College.....Theology.....I didn't even get an interview, but have corresponded several times with the search committee chair over email. He was very nice, helpful, forthcoming about what they were looking for, willing to listen to concerns, and provided some helpful feedback. fall 2007

Whitworth University...Human Resources...Very helpful and friendly. I was stunned (in a good way). ... DATE? - I agree! My experience with them thus far has been very good. They're professional, organized and on-the-ball in ways that so many universities aren't. (Dec. 11, 2007)