#seriousacademic

[seriousacademic]

I'M A DOCTORAL CANDIDATE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[elizabolt]

I won our building-wide costume contest as Best Person Eleanor Shellstropp. The prize was a bottle of wine, because duh.

And yes, I had plastic shrimp.

[altgradschool]

Bringing it back around...

So I started using "alt grad school" when I got into performing arts Photography in undergrad and continued it on the side when I started working for my Alma mater's registrar's office.

But then I got really into higher education as a career and recently completed my actual masters in higher ed administration. So keeping "alt grad school" didn't feel like who I was anymore but it was still part of my internal brand/discovery process.

Now: thrilled that I kept AGS as a Tumblr url because I've found my next career goal/dream job but am still academically hung over so I won't even entertain the idea of a doctoral program for a few more years. But I want to work towards this dream job anyways and have always (since I was a child asking my mom to create homework and tests for me during vacations - crazy, I know) enjoyed creating my own curriculum and that's what I'm going to do!

Welcome back, alt grad school, my off-beat and practitioner-based studyblr!

[seriousacademic]

I low-key stopped enforcing the $20 fee for late add and late drop petitions bc I'm an alum and I know it's a small, private liberal arts college, but I also know 99% of our student body is on financial aid. Our new VPAA does everything she can to strip the barriers for students to succeed. We aren't all out to get you - I literally got my masters (and plan to get my doctorate) just to help make higher education less fucky for everyone.

Merry Christmas to everyone except higher education institutions who charge students outrageous fees on top of overpriced tuition

It’s time for tuition-free universal education.

[crazycephalopoda]

Get to Know Me

Thanks to @reallybigtrousers!

Rules: Answer 16 questions and tag 21 blogs.

Nickname: I don’t have a nickname I often go by. Affectionately: Chey. My family calls me Pooh-bear.

Starsign: Saggitarius

Height: 5′10 or there abouts

Last Film I Watched: La La Land

Favorite Musician: Jonathan Davis

Song Stuck in my Head: Lyre Le Temps. Looking Like This https://youtu.be/fdMB1CeDbZE

Do I get asks: I enjoy the odd one or two.

What am I wearing: a Thor tanktop and tentacle workout tights. Dont ask why. It's called fashion, sweaty.

Dream Job: I'm currently working it! I enjoy being a college instructor. I'd like to move up to tenured professor once I finish my PhD. I love being able to motivate and inspire the next generation of scientists. It is a fulfilling career.

Dream Trip: Visit the ocean on the west coast, drive down to the gulf, then visit the ocean on the east coast. I'd like to see the Mediterranean sea one day and dive in the waters of Belize.

Play any instruments?: I started with piano. Eventually learned flute and piccolo. Played the Native flute and made s terrible CD. Learned some violin, cello, and upright bass. Wish I had stayed with them all. I got depressed and stopped playing most when I got diagnosed with an inner ear issue that resulted in me being hard of hearing. I can still play piano reasonably well.

Languages: English.  enough pigeon sign and ASL to communicate effectively. I dont feel that I've mastered it yet. I learned bits as my hearing was worsening. See about above.

Favorite food: Shrimp. Really any seafood will do. Long story but I was at an environmental summer camp learning about conservation. The guy in charge of food fed us tofu and vegetarian meals for over a week. The very last day we watched a long documentary about shrimp and I salivated the whole time. First thing I ate when I got home? Shrimp.

Favorite song: My favorite changes periodically. Currently I'm really into Korn: Throw Me Away and A Perfect Circle: 3 Libras

Random fact: My belly button is "fake". Have been in the hospital a lot and when I was younger they had to put tubes through my belly button for something. The skin healed over. Doctor used his thumb to make an indention and stapled it. It looks normal today but theres still a staple(?) In the back that you can see.

tagging if you would like to play, but I know everyone’s super busy….  @lovethythrall @mental-health-in-academia @sea-sapphire @weird-ecologies @seriousacademic @end0skeletal @life-love-and-happiness-persued @natureblog24 @queenofthebench @rabbitinthemeadow @vultureculturecoyote @xxautumnivyxx @zoologicallyobsessed @jadewolf-writes

[andbecoming]

Thanks to @seriousacademic I think I just found my dream planner. 

[healthacademic-blog]

@seriousacademic and @andbecoming I just ordered one of those academia planners from the Wright Planner Co. I'm so excited for it to arrive!

[seriousacademic]

Hey, I can say something abt accomodations not being included on a syllabus! Not saying it's not problematic, but since ability based on diagnosis is not universal, many institutions have a designated ADA officer (or team) who works with individual students based on their needs and the specifics of the course requirements with the instructor.

Not stating explicitly the different accomodations in a syllabus allows for a tailored experience, besides the list wouldn't be exhaustive and there would be gaps - plus it would have to be vetted by the legal team of the college/University and therefore boilerplate and the individual instructor may not be involved in and aware of the nuance.

Yes, this requires the student to self-identity to the instructor. But unless the accommodation is given to everyone and therefore not an ADA accomodation, then the Prof would need to know the student's unique situation.

syllabus: students with diverse learning needs are welcome in this course!

syllabus: 2 paragraphs about how the prof incorporates thoroughly debunked theories on auditory/visual/kinesthetic learning styles

syllabus: exactly 0 paragraphs about what accommodations are available for mentally and physically disabled students

[phd-in-crying]

05.12.17 // feeling like a #seriousacademic

Here are some things I'm constantly re/learning: -being a black person in a body that isn't always read as black can be really hard (perhaps particularly in the academy) -having that blackness recognized then becomes so much more meaningful to me (again, particularly in the academy) -talking to other black academics can be scary (I hope that someday I'll feel like I've read enough 😳) but is SO IMPORTANT. -I want to repeat that one: talking to other black academics - especially those of us in English departments - is SO IMPORTANT. I had my first session of my summer course, and while the lesson itself was great, the most incredible part was the bus ride home with my professor. We live a few blocks from each other, so we travelled together, and our conversation was so affirming in the face of all my fears about going into academia. We were talking about Moonlight and I made what I thought was a throwaway comment, but he told me it was a really interesting entry point to the text, and said it showed I was thinking like a professor. On the one hand, I don't want to feel like I need someone to validate my decision to try to make it in academia. On the other, I'm constantly being bombarded with articles about how this path is futile, and told that if I do a PhD I should give up all hope of getting teaching job, and then if I do get a teaching job, give up any hope of it being tenure track, and, and, and… with all of that, it's so important to me to have people say "yes, you're doing good work and you should actually try to pursue this." It left me feeling so positive in a way last semester could never quite manage.

[seriousacademic]

quick personal/school update:

Y'all. I've officially formed my Dissertation Committee (with some absolute rock stars) AND I just sent my chair the draft of my first 3 chapters (the dissertation proposal)!!!

With any luck, I'll be a doctoral candidate in just over a month!

I still have tons to continue working on in the meantime, but I had to share the good news with someone. :)

[seriousacademic]

No, we care. Very deeply. It's a borken system and change in academia is glacial in too many instances. And so much about our system is fucked because we're (colleges and universities) simultaneously caught in a race to the top AND a race to the bottom on conflicting things but we can't fix it without coming together. But we are trying.

So much in higher education administration is hidden from students, so all you see is our efforts that are "free hot chocolate" and "come pet dogs for an hour" but those DO help, too.

With love,

Your passionate collegiate mid-administrator

know what I hate? how uni’s have all of these “de-stress events” and preaching about mental health around exams but don’t actual want to fucking do anything about the shitty system of education they’ve created that literally makes kids have anxiety attacks and suicidal thoughts. yes education should be challenging, but it should not compromise your wellbeing for it. it’s like saying “yeah we realize the system is horrible, but here have free hot chocolate, it’ll make everything better”. the education system is flawed and broken and they know it, but they could care less. 

[seriousacademic]

I've hit a wall with my dissertation research and it's incredibly frustrating.

I've been recruiting for my qualitative study for about two months and have 1/6th of my minimum participants. I even got approval to expand my study population, but that hasn't yielded anyone new.

My chair tentatively set the end of October as the conclusion of my data collection, with the expectation that we'd either launch into analysis or have to regroup.

I probably have to extend the study yet again and get approval to change my recruitment, but we're heading into the end of the semester and holidays, so I doubt things will suddenly flourish.

I'm frustrated. And exhausted.

I took a new, significant position over the summer and don't have nearly as much time to dedicate to the hustle of recruiting as I would in my old job. And the new job is its own kind of taxing.

A few months ago, I'd set my sights on graduating with distinction on my dissertation. Now, I'm just wondering if they'll even let me defend a "failed" case study.

[seriousacademic]

Y'allllllllllllll. I've submitted my doctoral portfolio for dissertation chair matching! In 6 weeks, I'll know who my dissertation chair is and in 8 weeks, my research kicks into high gear!

I kinda can't believe this milestone is already here. For a multitude of reasons. Alas, I have a new course starting up today, so I don't have time to dwell

[seriousacademic]

Starting back to work (and school) for the new Year with a sunrise that's showing off feels right.

[seriousacademic]

So. A lot has happened in the past month - and a lot is happening in the coming month.

I got a new job, which I started today! and it's something I've been working towards for over a decade now. I'm thrilled, but it's also surreal.

We will also be moving across the country in the next few weeks, which includes buying our first house!

And, in the middle of all that, I am defending my dissertation prospectus (proposal)!

So! Much! Is! Happening!

[seriousacademic]

I guess I'm dipping my toes back into the water! Here's my next project!

Bringing it back around…

So I started using “alt grad school” when I got into performing arts Photography in undergrad and continued it on the side when I started working for my Alma mater’s registrar’s office.

But then I got really into higher education as a career and recently completed my actual masters in higher ed administration. So keeping “alt grad school” didn’t feel like who I was anymore but it was still part of my internal brand/discovery process.

Now: thrilled that I kept AGS as a Tumblr url because I’ve found my next career goal/dream job but am still academically hung over so I won’t even entertain the idea of a doctoral program for a few more years. But I want to work towards this dream job anyways and have always (since I was a child asking my mom to create homework and tests for me during vacations - crazy, I know) enjoyed creating my own curriculum and that’s what I’m going to do!

Welcome back, alt grad school, my off-beat and practitioner-based studyblr!