I have read thousands of course evaluations.  Some of the open-ended comments are very useful ("The reading on X really helped me understand what was going on") while others, aside from being useless, can be downright mean spirited ("This class sucks!").

In today's podcast, Meggin and I discuss ways to obtain valuable and useful feedback about your teaching.

In last week's podcast, we asked listeners to send in their questions about toxic situations they are dealing with and in today's podcast we address the issue of faculty meetings and graduate students that are snarky towards each other.



Meggin's upcoming events:

Why Be Wiped Out at Work  March 4 (but will be recorded)

Slights, Insults, and Unnecessary Comments March 24

Julie-Ann's creating boundaries event:

Creating Effective Boundaries: Do You Have a Moat With a Dragon or a Ditch With a Trickle Around Your Castle?  April 2-30

Last week, Meggin McIntosh and I began a series on how to deal with a toxic academic work environment.  This week, we discuss the impact of a toxic environment and a few strategies to help you thrive instead of survive.

Resources:
Meggin's "Antioxidants for for Toxic Academic Work Environments" teleseminar.

My "Your Boss is Not Your Mother" eWorkshop

To ask a question or comment: Visit Around The Academy blog and click on the "comment" link for the appropriate podcast.

Bullying in the academy has been receiving a lot of attention lately from those of us who often have to teach professors how to "play well with others."  Just last week, the POD (Professional and Organizational Development in Higher Education) listserv was alive with conversation about how to handle students who bully professors.

Both Meggin and I have had to deal with toxic work environments and so we decided that we should address this issue.  Today's podcast is the first in a series of podcasts on surviving the toxic academic environment.

Resources:
Dr. Gina J. Hiatt's article: Toxic Environments - 7 Steps to Change

Dr. Brian DesRoches book: Your Boss is Not Your Mother: Breaking Free From Emotional Politics to Achieve Independence and Success at Work

Meggin's Teleseminar:  Antioxidants for Toxic Academic Work Environments

Julie-Ann's E-Workshop: Your Boss is Not Your Mother

Congratulations!  You have been offered a job at Perfect University!  Now what??  How do you know that you are getting everything you are entitled to receive?  Low-balling in the first offer is not unusual and you don't want to start the job with a giant "S" for SUCKER emblazoned on your forehead.

In today's podcast, Meggin McIntosh and I discuss some issues to consider when you've been offered a position.

Resources:

36 Negotiable Items in an Academic Position

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job

Negotiating an Academic Job Offer (videos)

Interview season is in full swing in higher education.  Despite the reduction in jobs that are available, people are still be interviewed and being offered tenure track positions. My co-host, Meggin McIntosh and I thought we would give some tips on what to do or not do when candidates are being interviewed (we throw in some advice for search committee members, too).  The springboard for our conversation is an On Hiring blog posting by Gene C. Fant, Jr., There Are Some Stupid Questions, After All (posted January 27, 2009).

We could have gone on and on forever on this topic but we were limited by time constraints.  What about you?  Do you have any suggestions for candidates, too?

Two weeks ago, Meggin McIntosh and I discussed how to prepare for a job search despite the reduction in opportunities for tenure-track positions.  We wanted to follow up on that conversation by discussing how important it is to make sure your values--those things that are important to you--are at the forefront of your search (or, if you are on a search committee, finding a candidate that matches your department's values).

Article links:
Tips on How to Do a Values-Based Job Search by Nancy Archer-Martin from the January, 2009, Women in Higher Education Newsletter.

Grad Students Think Twice About Jobs in Academe by Audrey Williams June in the January 23, 2009 issue of Chronicle of Higher Education

Meggin's Suggested Reading:

CEO of Me: Creating a Life that Works in the Flexible Job Age by Ellen Ernst Kossek and Brenda A. Lautsch

In today's podcast, Meggin and I don't talk about any article in particular but we share how we think Mr. Obama's presidency will have an impact on higher education (especially for the children in my neighborhood).

First, I want to apologize for the delay in getting this podcast edited and uploaded.  It kind of got crazy at the office as I was trying to close the office down for the spring semester (the program was suspended by the university to save money).

The Los Angeles Times' January 1st edition reported that the big job fair for professors known as The Modern Language Association meeting suffered from a sizable drop in the number of positions available:

In this podcast, Meggin and I discuss the job prospects and then discuss some ways that job seekers can increase their chances of being gainfully employed.

We are back in the podcast business again!  In this podcast, I introduce my new co-host Dr. Meggin McIntosh

In today's podcast, Meggin and I discuss a "Head's Up" column from the December 19, 2008 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.  In E-Mails are Forever, Dean Gary A. Olson from Illinois State University discusses common errors that professors make when sending e-mails.

Meggin also recommended two books that she thinks we should read:



The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton is about building a civilized workplace (and surviving one that isn't).

Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst explains how to be productive despite email overload.