(no subject)

[rivka]

Yesterday I went over to the HR office and picked up a shiny new ID badge. It's identical to the old one, except that the word "Staff" has been replaced with "Faculty." I also ordered my new business cards yesterday. They'll have "Assistant Professor" in neat little capitals under my name.

Wednesday, I'm going to a dinner reception for new faculty members, hosted by the President of the University of Maryland.

Tuesday October 2, I've been instructed to take the entire afternoon off to attend new faculty orientation.

My new salary has been showing up in my paycheck for about six weeks now. I've been on the Department of Medicine faculty mailing list for about the same amount of time.

Something is still missing, though. Something like... an official offer letter from the university, granting the promotion and spelling out the terms of my new position. I still haven't gotten it. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

Maybe, at the dinner reception, they'll bring in a covered platter and I'll take the cover off and there will be my official letter. Unlikely? Sure. But it doesn't seem all that much more unlikely than the stealth undercover promotion I seem to have right now.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yes, that seems odd. It's the sort of thing that a suspicious person (or a reasonable one) would find unsettling.

[going-not-gone.livejournal.com]

I am reminded of a line from one of my favorite movies, Bull Durham, when Annie says "Honey, would you rather I were making love to him using your name, or making love to you using his name?'

I suspect you would rather have the pay raise without the official promotion letter than the official letter without the corresponding raise. Although the covered-platter presentation does sound like fun.

[suzilem.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, Professor Rivka. IMHO, well-deserved. :-)

[melebeth]

It may merely reflect my disenchantment with academic bureaucracy, but it doesn't seem odd to me at all :)

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

That *is* weird. Still, congrats!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with szandara. The practical is more important than the symbolic.

-J

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

If they're paying you more? It's official enough. :-)

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

If accounting thinks you're promoted, you're promoted.

[geminigirl]

I agree with you on this point. It's been the same sort of thing when I've worked in academic settings.

[(Anonymous)]

It seems a little odd to me. I'd want the terms of my position spelled out, if there was any chance they'd be different.

[(Anonymous)]

It seems a little odd to me. I'd want the terms of my position spelled out, if there was any chance they'd be different. Also, I'd want confirmation that that new title was official, for whenever I submit papers, much less look for a new job.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Those anonymice were mine (and I thought I'd caught the first, incomplete one, in time), sorry.

[edschweppe.livejournal.com]

Something is still missing, though. Something like... an official offer letter from the university, granting the promotion and spelling out the terms of my new position. I still haven't gotten it. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

It does indeed seem odd. Now it probably means that the Committee on Agreeing With the Department Chairman Regarding the Innate Awesomeness of Rivka (the one that you mentioned earlier (http://rivka.livejournal.com/370306.html) didn't meet over the summer) still hasn't gotten around to meeting (due to recent Round Tuit shortages). Or there may be some sort of HR hangup; it took several months for the HR folks at my Current Paying Gig to actually get an offer letter to me, despite our complete lack of disagreement over the terms. It's probably worth asking the HR folks what the holdup is.

Meanwhile, congratulations, Professor!