2008 Woodie Awards
Visiting profs balance teaching, dissertations
By: Tressa Versteeg, Staff Writer
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: News
For visiting instructors, time management is a key to everyday life because many of them are balancing teaching courses with writing dissertations.
Visiting instructors are one of many classifications of faculty at Macalester. According to the Macalester Admissions website, there are 157 full-time and 55 part-time professors teaching at Macalester. What this statistic does not account for are the various types of professors within full-time and part time.
According to Provost Diane Michelfelder, a tenure-track faculty most likely begins as an assistant professor. After tenure, the faculty member is promoted to associate professor and after five years at this title, he or she is eligible to become a professor. There are 138 total tenure-track faculty members, 40 assistant professors, 44 associate professors and 53 professors. The full-time and part-time faculty not tenured or on tenure track are dubbed "visitors."
"Visitors" include visiting associate professors, visiting professors and visiting instructors. There are 19 visiting assistant professors, three visiting professors and seven visiting instructors. Part-time visiting faculty data was not available.
Michelfelder said the title of "visiting instructor" is reserved for someone still working on his or her dissertation. This balance of teaching while working on a dissertation has proved challenging for many faculty, especially regarding time management.
"Both teaching and the dissertation are highly demanding... Nevertheless, I do frankly think it is manageable, though at times tiring," said Peter Vantine, a visiting French instructor who is finishing his work on 19th century French authors and brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt. For him, teaching tends to get more attention. "During the semester, I tend to privilege my teaching and find it hard not to do so, both because I enjoy teaching and because it seems nearly impossible to otherwise and still be a good, effective, dedicated teacher."
Visiting instructors are one of many classifications of faculty at Macalester. According to the Macalester Admissions website, there are 157 full-time and 55 part-time professors teaching at Macalester. What this statistic does not account for are the various types of professors within full-time and part time.
According to Provost Diane Michelfelder, a tenure-track faculty most likely begins as an assistant professor. After tenure, the faculty member is promoted to associate professor and after five years at this title, he or she is eligible to become a professor. There are 138 total tenure-track faculty members, 40 assistant professors, 44 associate professors and 53 professors. The full-time and part-time faculty not tenured or on tenure track are dubbed "visitors."
"Visitors" include visiting associate professors, visiting professors and visiting instructors. There are 19 visiting assistant professors, three visiting professors and seven visiting instructors. Part-time visiting faculty data was not available.
Michelfelder said the title of "visiting instructor" is reserved for someone still working on his or her dissertation. This balance of teaching while working on a dissertation has proved challenging for many faculty, especially regarding time management.
"Both teaching and the dissertation are highly demanding... Nevertheless, I do frankly think it is manageable, though at times tiring," said Peter Vantine, a visiting French instructor who is finishing his work on 19th century French authors and brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt. For him, teaching tends to get more attention. "During the semester, I tend to privilege my teaching and find it hard not to do so, both because I enjoy teaching and because it seems nearly impossible to otherwise and still be a good, effective, dedicated teacher."
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