Monthly Update: April 2020
April 2020: Spring snow, aka flower petals
Just a quick note before you head into the blog post. Are you an academic who is trying to figure out your long term planning processes? My planning course, plan(it)*, can help support you as you figure that out. Check out the link for more info.
Goodbye April, hello May. Here’s an abbreviated version of the reflection I shared in this month’s newsletter about potentially pausing my tenure clock.
During the past few months I’ve been kicking around the idea of a tenure clock extension. A death, a hospitalization, a pandemic, all within the span of five months. I’m tired. Clearly there's not an easy answer to the question of whether or not to pause my clock, but I thought I'd share some of the things I've been thinking about while I contemplate this decision.
What is my university's process for pausing the tenure clock?
Is there a COVID-19 specific policy?
For both of these things, who is eligible?
What are tenure expectations in my department?
Where do I stand?
What have my previous reviews looked like?
What are the politics of tenure in my department?
How have my research, teaching, and service been impacted?
Do I have the mental energy to put my materials together?
What are the financial implications of pausing vs. submitting?
What other life events might be happening around submission time and how would they impact the process?
Who can I talk through this decision with?
I'm over a year out from submission so I don't have to decide tomorrow. I'll be letting these thoughts simmer for a bit and seeking out advice from trusted colleagues (while keeping in mind that the decision is ultimately my own).
In other news, here’s a peek at what I worked on during the month of April.
research
Paper 2: Checked in with my collaborator! Assigned some tasks! Moving forward! When this one gets crossed off the list there needs to a major celebration as it has been years in the making.
Paper 5: Got an email from a collaborator about a paper we’d been working on last summer that was ready to go out. This one was sent off for review!
R + R: This one got crossed off the list in early April. Proofs were reviewed and it’s finally done!
Systematic review: Got through all of our articles for our first full review! We’re currently in the process of going back into a few articles that we initially selected and then decided against, and then re-decided we wanted them back in, ha.
Focus group data collection: Paused. I did file for an extension of the funding that’s tied to this project and heard back that we’ll have another year to use the funds. Feels like a big relief to not have to scramble to change our initial plans.
teaching
Online stats prep: I got the rest of this course ready to go… which involved 6 weeks of filming and editing videos (which was A LOT). But it’s done and now I can rest (sort of). Of course, I’ve already got a long list of things I’d like to update for the next time I teach this class…
Online human development prep: Got weeks 5 through 10 ready to go, so prep for this course is done too. I’ve taught this course before so it wasn’t as heavy of a lift to get this one finished. Like the stats class, I’ve got a long list of things I want to change, but they will have to wait for the future.
Online stats and human development teaching: Classes started up right as April began and we are now 5 weeks down (and 5 more to go). Each week this means office hours, reviewing assignments and posts, answering emails, updating the grade book, etc.
Lead instructor: Not much going on here other than sending a few emails.
service + admin
Planning: Continuing my weekly planning routine. I plan for work on Friday afternoons and plan for personal stuff on Sundays.
personal
Toddler on the Tenure Track/plan(it)*: I got 1 content post up in April on productivity. I also totally revamped my website, which was fun and also super time consuming!
Meditation: I made it to 100 days of meditation, and then some!
Health: I’ve been doing 5x5 strong lifts again to build strength after noticing that some of my joints were giving me issues.
Budget: Continuing with weekly budgeting. Doing May’s budget setup this weekend!
See you next month!