Arabic-L:GEN:Job Postings

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Thu 18 Oct 2007
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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-------------------------Directory------------------------------------

1) Subject: Job Postings
2) Subject:Job Postings

-------------------------Messages-----------------------------------
1)
Date: 18 Oct 2007
From: "David Wilmsen" <david.wilmsen at gmail.com>
Subject:More on Job Postings Info

I think in the states there may be legal implications for employers in
posting salary expectations - or it could be crass self interest on
the part of universities that leads them to try to get their teachers
for the least money possible, regardless of market rates, and not to
publish their salary ranges as a consequence.  In the UK, the salary
range is usually posted with the job announcement as a matter of
course (I think also for legal reasons).

Arabic-L could act as a vehicle for change by refusing to accept job
announcements without a posted salary range.

Out of pure cussedness, I would be willing to volunteer to vet all job
announcements submitted to the list and correspond with those
institutions who post without stating a salary range.

I notice that private companies recruiting translators for the meat
grinder in Iraq will gladly state a detailed salary range.

--  
David Wilmsen, PhD, Arabic language and linguistics
Visiting Associate Professor of Arabic
Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages
American University of Beirut

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2)
Date: 18 Oct 2007
From:andyf at u.washington.edu
Subject:More on Job Postings Info

I heartily second Jonathan Lange's suggestion.

May I add that job offers should also include more than just the  
number of courses that the candidate will be expected to teach.  I  
think that job offers should also include:
1)    the number of weekly classroom hours.
2)    the average number of students in a beginning Arabic class.
3)    whether or not the instructor has the power to put a cap on the  
number of students and what that cap is.
4)    and any additional expectations
a.    such as accommodating grad students needing independent study
b.    or supervising TA’s

There is a big difference between teaching three 3-unit courses with  
less than 10 students each and teaching three 5-unit courses with 25  
students each.  The first is perhaps 15-20 hours of prep on top of  
about 20 hours of honest grading a week.  The latter is 40-45 hours  
of prep and 31 hours of grading a week if you spend 5 minutes a day  
per student.  After you add in 15 classroom hours you are looking at  
a 90-hour work week, before you even get around to doing office  
hours, faculty meetings, commute time, time to eat and go to the  
bathroom, much less sleep, socialize or spend time with your family.   
And most of these slots are lecturer slots with no chance of ever  
getting tenure or doing research.  If you think about the $50k a year  
salary, that actually works out to about $10 an hour which is less  
than what a delivery truck driver makes.  From what I have seen and  
heard, the latter situation is a lot more common than the first.

       Now why aren’t there more Arabic instructors in the US?   
Hmmmm, I wonder.

My buck fifty’s worth.

Andy

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End of Arabic-L:  18 Oct 2007