Tells about leaving graduate school at Columbia University for a tenure-track position at Rocky Mountain College in Montana, where the English department had three members, and the library had only 63,000 volumes as opposed to Columbia's 6.5 million. Discusses trying to adjust professional aims. (PA)

Suggests that successful strategies for retaining faculty lines will vary widely according to local circumstances. Discusses the cases of the University of Oregon and the State University of New York Stony Brook, which suggest that English departments stand to gain if they can demonstrate that adding faculty lines will help overcome the split…

Suggests it is commonplace among rhetoric and composition faculty to expect those who assume discipline-related administrative positions to become vulnerable at tenure time. Looks closely at the problem of gaining tenure in English departments when one is not a literary specialist. Suggests several possible approaches to establishing a successful…

Suggest junior English department faculty may be setting themselves up for failure by identifying more with the values of the computers and writing community than those of their home institutions. Argues that junior faculty should not consider seeking value for work unless it impacts pedagogy, service, or publication. Cites various guidelines for…

In recent years, scholars and teachers in both the broad field of Composition Studies and the more specialized arena of Computers and Composition Studies have begun to recognize that the bandwidth of literacy practices and values on which their profession has focused during the last century may be overly narrow. In response, a number of educators…

Discusses the role of English department chairmen, the increased unionization of college faculty, and the advantages of collective bargaining in higher education. (RB)

Recounts experiences of the first year of teaching in a rural public university, after graduate study in Philadelphia. States that course loads are heavy because departments are small, and the English department teaches literature but also service courses. Finds the greatest difficulty to be in teaching students who just do not read. (PA)

Surveys technical writing professors concerning the definition and location of technical writing programs. Finds that programs located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need; and that faculty in programs located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Suggests some strategies for improving the…

Examines the problems confronting the English department of a middle-sized, nonurban baccalaureate institution caught in the economic recession. (RB)

Suggests that parenting is still invisible in the academy. Discusses commonalities between parenting and teaching. Concludes that academicians must bring their parenting selves and their children into their work and their workplaces. (RS)

Suggests that English departments have seen their power to shape the identity of their members diminish. Argues that an important part of the preparation of future professors takes place in a master-apprentice setting strengthened by an economic atmosphere that encourages students fearful of getting jobs to identify with those faculty members…

Carolyn Miller's oft-cited "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing," published in 1979, tries to give technical communication faculty more cultural capital in English departments controlled by literature professors. Miller replaces a positivistic emphasis in technical communication pedagogy with rhetoric. She shows how technical knowledge is…

Focuses attention on means of preparing and improving college staff, and outlines those points which college department heads must consider when evaluating faculty programs. (RB)