Applying for a faculty position in another department

[Vid]

Folks,

I have received great advice from many of you and I truly appreciate it.

Many of you may know that I am affiliated with a department where I have maybe 20% compatibility (both research and teaching). My area of research is more compatible with another department (let's name it Department B) in my university.

Department B is now looking for a new TT or early T faculty position exactly in my area of expertise. My question is, is it safe for me to apply for their opening position? I am a bit worried about the departmental politics. Thoughts?

[jerseyjay]

I do not know how your school works, but at mine, this would not be appropriate.

At my school, every position has a "line" attached to it. I have seen several cases of people moving from one department to another, but usually they bring their line with them. Twice in the last several years this has happened in my department. In the first case, somebody who had been hired half-time in two departments moved their line entirely to one department. In another case, somebody who had been hired in another department moved to another department, while still teaching some courses in their original department. This requires the agreement of both chairs, the dean, and the provost, as well as some justification (e.g., the person needs to really be qualified for the new department).

Only once have I known somebody to move from one department to another and take a new line. This was somebody who had a PhD in one field, but was hired by a totally different department to run a program. The program was, after decades, eliminated, which meant that the person, who had tenure, could be made redundant. At this time, the second department got permission to hire somebody to replace somebody who had retired. Since they had a PhD in another field, they were able to convince the other department to hire them, instead of doing a search to fill the empty position.

I do not know if your school works that way. My advice would be to talk to the chair of the department you want to move to, and see if there is either a way to switch to their department or whether they think you should apply for the open position.

I think that just applying for an advertised position at your current school without discussing it first would be seen as best weird (or at least it would be at my school).

[Sun_Worshiper]

What is your tenure status?

[Hegemony]

I agree with Jerseyjay. This would be a non-starter at my place. The previous department would look askance and take offense, the prospective department would think it's highly irregular and would not look upon it with favor, and the administration would hear about it and think you were unprofessional. And what are the chances that out of 100 applicants or however many they get, you are genuinely unquestionably the best one? You'd have to be pretty stellar to outweigh the irregularity of the situation.

I also agree that the best way to move over to the position is to ease your way over. I have actually done that myself. My position is formally in, say, Basketweaving, but at heart I am more of a ceramics scholar. So I began by teaching a course that counted for both departments, and then kinda eased myself over by developing a number of courses that work for both, and finally I am head of Ceramics. Ceramics was glad to get a "new" faculty member without having to ask for a line, and Basketweaving was happy to have all those ceramics students fill seats in courses that were ostensibly basketweaving courses. Win-win, and no extra lines needed.

[jerseyjay]

Again, this is based on my school, which is not an R1. One thing I have noticed is that it has become easier to move from one department to another as enrollment declines and lines are shrinking.

Twenty years ago, when many programs had robust enrollments and large cadres of professors, there was much more "turf consciousness". Now, with enrollment declining in many liberal arts programs, and more full-time people retiring and not being replaced, there is a situation where there are full-timers who struggle to make load in their home department and there are some programs that have too many classes to cover and not enough professors. Hence I have seen many full-time faculty teach outside their discipline (although broadly speaking within their specialization). This is pitched as breaking down academic silos, but it also a way of making do with less resources.


This is merely to reinforce what I said earlier: at least at my school, it would be possible to move over to another department (assuming there is a need and one has the necessary knowledge/experience) but the way to do so would be by talking to the chair, not applying like you were an outsider. Besides looking weird, at my school, even if you had a Nobel prize in the field, you probably wouldn't be hired because it would mean essentially forfeiting a line.

[Hibush]

I have seen a professor move departments when there is greater compatibility, both academically and personally. Both departments and the professor benefit from such a mid-career realignment.

The key to making it work is having the dean provide the current department with hiring approval for a faculty position. We long ago stopped "refilling" after retirements and departures, so this OK is very valuable to the chair.

[Vid]

All,

OKAY then. I think it will be more complicated if I apply for this position. I have now around $1.5 M in funded projects and I am sure my current department will be disappointed.

Department B was interested in giving me a joint appointment (20-30%) last year but my current department got mad and didnot accept it. I also had an opportunity to get a joint appointment with another department but again my chair did not accept it. Perhaps I am still TT and my current department is more cautious.


Sun_Worshiper: I will likely get tenured within 1-2 years.

Thank you.

[pgher]

All,

OKAY then. I think it will be more complicated if I apply for this position. I have now around $1.5 M in funded projects and I am sure my current department will be disappointed.

Department B was interested in giving me a joint appointment (20-30%) last year but my current department got mad and didnot accept it. I also had an opportunity to get a joint appointment with another department but again my chair did not accept it. Perhaps I am still TT and my current department is more cautious.


Sun_Worshiper: I will likely get tenured within 1-2 years.

Thank you.

20% appointments are tricky, especially if you're untenured. Who is responsible for your tenure case? Do both P&T committees get a chance to say no? Or does the 20% dept. somehow advise the 80% dept? Who handles annual reviews and raises? If you're doing a great job for the 20% dept. and a lousy job for the 80% dept.,  or vice versa, who decides how much of a raise you get? I always counsel 0% appointments. Those enable the faculty member to teach and advise but leave their performance and P&T reviews unequivocally in one department.

The fact that you have suggested two departments as potential joint appointments is a red flag, or would be to me as a department chair. That would be tantamount to saying, "I don't fit in here, so I'm trying to fit in SOMEWHERE else, ANYWHERE else." That may not be your intention, but clearly there is an issue in your home department. If that cannot be resolved, then you should work towards transitioning to another department as the others have said. Not by applying to an open position, but through negotiation and filling a need as Hibush, Jerseyjay, and Hegemony described.

[jerseyjay]

My advice, for what it is worth (which may not be anything because we may be in totally different fields and types of schools) is to wait the 1-2 years till you get tenure. Be nice to your current department, show that you are a good team player, publish what will get you tenure, and get tenure.

Once you get tenure, then take a deep breath, wait for a little bit, and then evaluate where you want to be and how to get there. Let's say you transfer to another department now--when will you go up for tenure? Who will make that decision? Or let's say you try to move to another department and fail--then you will have alienated the people who will be deciding whether you get tenure. Unless you are in a field that there is super demand, or you are a super star, it would seem easier to try to move to another field or department after you get tenure.

Again, this may not be appropriate to your school or field.

[Sun_Worshiper]

I would hold off until tenured. Now is not the time to upset people in your current department.

[Vid]

Okay, guys. Thank you so much for your advice. At this point, I will hold off and try to learn the game of politics in my school:-).

Please let me know if you have any suggestions as to how to make my department happy and get a "YES" for my joint appointment with Department B when I get tenured. I've got VG-E on all 4 years of the reviews of my material for tenure (both TPR and Chair reviews). 

I am in a strong R1 University.

Happy New Year.