bhr

Who do you want an introduction to? You know I'll do it.

MSU WRAC notified about 3-4 weeks later than usual this year. With the new director in charge I would expect this to be the new normal.

Different field, but I would also look to see what adjacent areas are hosting local conferences or unconference that you can attend for free. For example, a regional DH or Writing Center conference may be a one-day affair with no/low registration.

It's usually used for a professor who is cross-listed from their primary department. So an ethics professor may be listed as faculty in Philosophy, but have a courtesy appointment in biomed because they specialize in biomedical ethics. ETA: It's going to depend on the program how invested they are in their departments.

I would also make sure to look up the professor's posted office hours, and see if you can make it work within those windows. While profs are usually willing to see you at other times if need be, they use those slots to maintain some control over their own schedule.

I will caution you not to eliminate programs based on posted stipends, or to count on specific numbers. At my program, our minimum is guaranteed by union contract, but you can jump up into tier 2 or tier 3 based on experience, receive fellowships for additional funds, get guaranteed summer funding, or pick up an extra quarter-time assistantship or nine hours a week in the WC or elsewhere on campus. You can also negotiate extra funds. One thing to ask is what work comes with that stipend. $15k at Purdue means a 2/2 load, while a similar stipend is 1/1 at MSU or OSU. That controls how much work goes into that money, and what freedom you have to make more money.

Depending on what you consider Southeast, that isn't that limiting. I'll put in a plug for Jim Ridolfo's rhetmap.org , which provides both a job list and a map of phd programs. Pretty much every SEC/ACC school has an MA in R/C program or track in English, plus there are great programs at places like ECU, USF, UCF, etc.

Here's the thing I'll tell you as someone deep into an R/C program with some study of programs under my belt. R/C programs, particularly dedicated tracks (like OSU or Purdue) or independent programs (like TTU or MSU) will often offer more courses that concentrate on research methods and/or pedagogical practice. Something like digital pedagogy, which is "hot" right now, may be offered by a r/c program as a focus, or at least as an area with some support.

I'm biased, but I wouldn't put any school on that list above Michigan State or Ohio State. I also have not heard anything bad from multiple friends at Purdue, but anecdotal evidence isn't much. Also keep in mind that UM, as good as Sweetland is, isn't a R/C or English program I would suggest the same thing I do with everyone: look at the major conferences and see what programs are being represented. Where did people go/where are they now? Same with journals. Writing centers and WPA jobs are a bit harder to judge based on who is current in those positions, as often those people weren't originally hired for that role, but it's still worth looking at the job listings and seeing who filled them come September.

Congrats. I was there for HASTAC last summer and it's a pretty campus with some interesting work going on. I would have died if I had to live there year round, though, as it's hotter than the devil's taint.

This is WAY off base stateside. Most leases start in August, but the best places tend to start disappearing in February. Hell, the big rental company in my college town had a line outside for their new building back in November when they first opened the rentals for it for next year. If you don't have a place lucked down by the end of the school year you are going to be hurting for options in a "college town". These are the things you ask people in the program. Many places will have a buddy or group of students who will help in the process. I just randomly started FB messenging one of the current students who friended me when I first accepted, and she helped me (and has gone on to become one of my best friends and a mentor).

Question on behalf of a friend: This is the time of year when faculty are taking new jobs as well. What happens when the senior prof you just signed on to a program to work with decides to announce they are leaving the program? Would it wrong to ask the schools you declined to reconsider? Can you back out of a commitment?

Me? I'm referring to pretty much anyone in the top 10/huge endowments/etc. One stat that I think would be interesting would be how many offered candidates accept. My program is at about 85% over the last four cohorts, which tells me that they are targeting the right students, who then choose to attend.

They don't disclose, but I'm also willing to bet that there is a relationship between the people who filled out the forms and the schools that are ranked at the top. For example, if I'm the DGS at, say, Stanford, there's a good chance that I rank my own program highly, as well as the programs I feel like I compete against, and the schools where I hire from. I'm willing to bet that most DGSs who filled out their form have programs in the top 25. And, again, the exclusion of cultural studies, digital media, digital humanities, tech comm, and rhet/comp make these rankings useless for about 1/2 the jobs out there. Talking to a friend at a very good SLAC who used to hire Ivies only recently, she told me her program has stopped considering them, as they expect all TT hires to teach 1-2 sections of FYW a year, and they would rather hire a Lit person who has a strong pedagogical background in that field. Purdue, for example, may be mid-ranked for Lit, but their folks come out with good FYW and PW experience, plus Writing Center experience with the OWL, which means they fit a lot more job openings than a Lit person from a lot of those top 10 programs. Again, I'm biased, as I'm in a standalone R/C program that consistently places folks in TT positions. What is interesting is that we've only placed a couple R1s in recent years, but have had a handful of grads move to R1s after a few years, which is a trend that seems to be catching on.

Just be ready to commit if they say yes to all/most of it. The mistake people make is trying to pit two programs against each other, like these programs don't chat. FWIW, I got about $25k in extra funding over four years by asking for a bunch of small things ($2500 a year extra, bridge funding, relocation, tech budget, extra travel, book budget), plus guaranteed summer funding for four years