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I'd like to challenge the whole idea of "fit" when it comes to academic hiring. What does this term actually mean? It could mean that a person has the academic qualifications and professional experience to fill a particular position. But if that's the case, why not just say that qualifications and experience explain the hiring decision? I suspect that more often than not the word "fit" describes a more nebulous category of "fitting in" somehow to the "climate" or "culture" or "temperament" of a department. This could mean anything from, "He plays basketball. He'd be a great fit for our Friday afternoon pick-up games!" to "She went to grad school with So-and-So, and she'd be a natural fit in our academic circle." In other words, pretty much any dubious reason to hire someone or to avoid hiring someone ("But will she really fit in?" asked of the fill-in-the-blank never-before-hired kind of candidate) can fall under the category of "good fit" or "bad fit." I encourage everyone to get away from this line of thinking and to emphasize relevant academic qualifications and professional experience when discussing hiring, with the hope that rationalizations about what sort of person would "fit" a given department become unacceptable as a means of evaluating job applicants. Amy J. Kinsel, Ph.D. Faculty Senate Chair Professor of History Shoreline Community College 16101 Greenwood Avenue North Shoreline, WA 98133-5696 (206) 546-4679 akinsel@shoreline.edu ________________________________ From: H-Net Network on Adjunct/part-time faculty issues on behalf of Howard Smead Sent: Mon 11/26/2007 6:07 PM To: H-ADJUNCT@H-NET.MSU.EDU Subject: More on NY Times article Subject: More on NY Times article From: Quist, John <JWQuis@ship.edu> Everyone -- John Quist has been kind enough to forward to me the readers responses the the NY Times' piece on Adjuncts. These letters are well worth reading, especially the letter from Diane Willen who states that adjuncts aren't even considered for tenure-track jobs when they do come open. I can add further that were departments to get the money to offer adjuncts tenured-track slots, virtually none would. Departments would hire "outsiders" and most likely not even consider the current adjunct. But, not necessarily because the fit isn't good. But because, as I was told by a senior colleague, adjuncts are considered "used goods." **** Howard, For some reader responses to last week's _New York Times_ article, "Decline of the Tenure Track Raises Concerns at Colleges" subscribers to this list may wish to see < http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/opinion/l25tenure.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Letters>. Regards, John **** Here is the link to the original article in case you missed it. hs http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/education/20adjunct.html?hp
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