Describes seven things the author would do, were he chairing an English department, to solve some of the problems that go with the post. (DD)

A former English department chairman looks back with optimism at the state of English education since 1930 and discusses how it might be of use in developing future curricula. (HTH)

Stresses the importance and need for a college English department chair--in spite of the difficulties. (HOD)

Elaborates on five structural questions with which a department chair must contend.

Calls for increased awareness of the self-representation, gender, labor, and intellectual property issues that surround faculty members' homepages, arguing that faculty members construct identity online in context of the university as workplace. Examines the homepages of 18 faculty members within English programs. Draws on research from…

Suggests that to be hired usually means that one happens to be the right person at the right place at the right time. Considers that none of the factors that lead to being hired is really in a job candidate's control. Suggests that when interviewing for a position "you just have to be yourself." (SG)

Offers some general principles for college faculty search committee members to follow. Analyzes the search process and discusses advertising and initial screening, preparing applications, setting up Modern Language Association (MLA) interviews, interviewing on campus, and negotiating an offer. (SG)

Intends for this statement to embody reasonable norms for ethical conduct in teaching, research, and related public service activities in the modern languages and literatures. Lists seven governing premises of the statement. Examines ethical conduct in academic relationships, discussing obligations to students, colleagues, staff members, the…

Suggests that educational trends indicate that English departments should redefine faculty recruiting away from competing with other departments and toward competing with the other interests that seek public funding. (RS)

Describes a high school English department's successful efforts to define and shape their own peer assistance program. The program succeeded because it is voluntary, has received administrative support, and has evolved slowly and naturally. The program has communication, rehearsal, and awareness benefits and calls for a new kind of professional…

Offers advice to potential interviewees attending an MLA conference. Cautions the interviewee to arrive for the appointment early, but not to knock until the time of the appointment. Advises interviewees to answer questions briefly and to let the committee set the pace of the interview. (PA)

States that keeping a cool head when job interviewing on campus is a powerful bonus. Encourages the applicant to analyze the process in rhetorical terms. Discusses the purpose of the interview and the applicant as author and performer. Advises remembering who the audience is. Suggests applicants should carry a credit card for emergencies. (PA)

Presents six responses to an article in the same issue of this journal. Recommends closer contact between baccalaureate institutions and doctoral programs. Expresses a "hope for the new" in the form of more inventive candidates for assistant professorships. States that the conventional admissions process does not work as well for…

Suggests that working beyond the academy should be understood not as an abandonment of the academic job market, a response to failure, or a curse: instead, it should be understood as a new avenue for intellectual work, one that neither graduate-school programs nor the Modern Language Association would be wise to ignore. (RS)

Describes personal and departmental circumstances within the author's English department, in which he found it impossible to move forward on the issue of wider career counseling for English PhDs. Describes how a career management series organized by professionals outside the department offered help in rethinking the meaningful uses to which a…