FACULTY MOVEMENT

[urbsroma]

So on the day I accepted to my program of choice I also found out that one of the professors I would have liked to have worked with, who is also the department chair, is leaving the department for another position. Now, I have other options (including staying at my current graduate institution) but my girlfriend also attends school at this university and I do not want to do another year of long distance if I do not have to. The department is very well recognized in the field but more specifically in an area of study I am not going to specialize in. I trust that they will fill this position with another senior level faculty, but what do you think it says about the future of the department with the chair leaving. I, personally, understand his departure for several reasons. Although the department he is transferring to is not, I would say, as well respected as the department I am prepared to enter, it does have the largest research center for his specific sub-field.

What should I do? I want to be with my SO and I think the department is still very good, although unsettled in the areas I will be dissertating. At the same time, I am not yet at the point where I am ready to establish the exact area in which I want to be my dissertation. Still, I dont want to be entering a department that is going into a down-turn when I do not have to.

[rising_star]

I trust that they will fill this position with another senior level faculty, but what do you think it says about the future of the department with the chair leaving. I, personally, understand his departure for several reasons. Although the department he is transferring to is not, I would say, as well respected as the department I am prepared to enter, it does have the largest research center for his specific sub-field.

I wouldn't necessarily expect them to do a search to fill that position this year. The economic downturn has led to many hiring freezes...

[Stories]

The department chair leaving his position does not mean the department is in downturn. Many things change, including your desire to move onto a new place of employment and focus in research.

You need to decide if the faculty you identified as potential advisers and mentors for your research leaving is critical to your success and happiness in the program. If there is no longer anyone in the department you're interested in working with (no matter how flexible your own research interests are), reconsider attending that school.

Your significant other should play into this if, and only if, you think she's someone you wish to continue dating and has marriage potential. Otherwise, I say focus on what's important for your own education and career.