I never see my colleagues

[pepsi_alum]

I started a new job last month as full-time NTT faculty member at an R1. The job seems to be going okay so far, but there is one very striking feature about the culture here: I almost never see my colleagues. We're a small department to begin with, we only have 3 faculty meetings per semester, and most faculty aren't in their offices beyond their 2 posted office hours per week. Even the chair seems to work from outside of the office most of the time. There is one colleague whom  I see on a regular basis because we both work on Major Service Thing as part of our contractual job duties. On most days, that colleague and the department's administrative assistant are the only people I see besides the students in the classes I teach.

I recognize this isn't necessarily a problem and that a lot of academics would be envious of a workplace where they can be completely undisturbed for hours at a time. But what I don't like about it is that I'm not feeling connected to the university at all. It's almost like we're the Independent Federation of Autonomous Basketweaving Scholars rather than the Department of Basketweaving. I get along well with the one colleague whom I see regularly, but most of our conversations are about Big Service Thing and nothing else.

I'm curious to know how common this is. This is the first time since grad school that I've been at an R1, so perhaps this is normal for this type of school. But it feels very weird. Is there anything else I ought to be doing to make sure I'm connected?

[fast_and_bulbous]

Sounds like heaven to me.

Hell really is other people.

Are people in your department productive in research? If they are just cranking away on papers and proposals most of their time anyway it probably doesn't really matter where they are typing their words.

Does your department have clear guidelines for tenure/promotion? One concern from lack of interaction with my colleagues would be not getting the story on what is important, and making connections with the people who are going to be voting on these things.

But mostly having no faculty around and having a culture where that is OK is great from a purely selfish viewpoint, which is a valid viewpoint to consider.

In my experience R1s are all about publishing research and getting grants, and just about everything else is of secondary importance.

[mamselle]

Do I recall correctly, Pepsi_alum, that you like people and function more happily in a more social context?

If so, maybe this offers a couple of opportunities:

1) An excuse to set aside 2 hours per week, maybe down time between 2 unavoidable meetings or something, in which you walk around the campus (pick a new spot each time) and read the bulletin boards, visit the little "local" coffee shops or refectories for tea or a snack, and just people-watch.

Maybe talk to someone if they initiate, or suggest something about the weather in passing, but just court your new environment. Get to know it as a friend.

Go outside your department to check out a recital here or a play there, if groups present them. Become familiar with parts of the campus while you can....pretty soon, you may not even have time to wonder about where everyone else is.

2) See if, conversely, you need to "dial back" on the contact hours you expect with others. I can go looking for chatter when I really need to hole up and do more writing, and I've come to realize this both represents a drive for approval that I might do well to delay until I have something done worth approving, and a bit of anxiety about taking some of my work to a deeper level that I'm avoiding by connecting with others instead.

These don't have to be polarized, but it's a chance to check and see within yourself how those thingscwork--or don't--and how your new situation offers new opportunities for re-configuring your modus operandus.

I've done the "wander around the new place" thing in a couple situations and found myself enriched by it....it may not work for all, just an idea.

M.

[Aster]

When I was NTT faculty, I felt quite isolated also.

The TT faculty mostly interacted with their graduate students and research colleagues (who frequently are at other universities).  I think this is normal behavior. Time is a professor's most precious resource. I actually feel bad about "wasting my time" at this moment writing here, ha ha. Okay, I'm stopping.

So, what fast_and_bulbous said.

[peitho]

Some cultures are warm and inviting, while others are more distant.

I've worked in closed-door cultures with a lot of contact, and open-door cultures that were positively toxic. Ask around to see how much face time and interaction is expected, and if someone asks you for coffee or lunch, drop everything and go. It could be business as usual, but it could also be a sign of deep division in a small unit. Once you find out which, you'll know how to play your new role. If you make a friend outside the department, they could give you some history.

I'm the meantime, be friendly and don't worry about it obsessively.

[Caracal]

It might indicate a culture problem of some sort. It could also just be about the kind of school and location. I know that at the large public school I teach at, few faculty live very close to the school and it isn't easy to get off or on campus. Once you're there, everything is crowded and there aren't many places to go. As a result, people tend to be in their offices on their teaching days, but not there on other days. At smaller liberal arts schools, faculty often live near campus, it is easy to walk to various coffee shops and faculty schedules tend to be filled up with events and student meetings. So, people might be less camped out in their offices than at my school, but they tend to be in and out more.

Not sure where your place falls in this, although I will say that when I've been at places where lots of people were barely ever there, that usually was connected to larger problems of checked out faculty and low morale.

[mahagonny]

I started a new job last month as full-time NTT faculty member at an R1. The job seems to be going okay so far, but there is one very striking feature about the culture here: I almost never see my colleagues. We're a small department to begin with, we only have 3 faculty meetings per semester, and most faculty aren't in their offices beyond their 2 posted office hours per week. Even the chair seems to work from outside of the office most of the time. There is one colleague whom  I see on a regular basis because we both work on Major Service Thing as part of our contractual job duties. On most days, that colleague and the department's administrative assistant are the only people I see besides the students in the classes I teach.

I recognize this isn't necessarily a problem and that a lot of academics would be envious of a workplace where they can be completely undisturbed for hours at a time. But what I don't like about it is that I'm not feeling connected to the university at all. It's almost like we're the Independent Federation of Autonomous Basketweaving Scholars rather than the Department of Basketweaving. I get along well with the one colleague whom I see regularly, but most of our conversations are about Big Service Thing and nothing else.

I'm curious to know how common this is. This is the first time since grad school that I've been at an R1, so perhaps this is normal for this type of school. But it feels very weird. Is there anything else I ought to be doing to make sure I'm connected?

Why don't you start a union bargaining unit? SEIU and UAW are available. It fills a void in social academic life.

[lightning]

Tell me. Tell me! I want a job there.

[bio-nonymous]

Tell me. Tell me! I want a job there.

I was thinking something similar, only more along the lines of: I could only wish that I never saw my colleagues (only sort-of kidding...)

[mahagonny]

I see what it is now. I think I misread the situation. I thought that you wanted more socializing for the fun and healthiness of it. But it sounds more like you think your future at this school depends on your doing the normal required thing, as regards socializing. As for it feeling strange to be so unconnected to the school, both in the experience of working and being available to students and informed about the department, and also the social aspect, it's absolutely a given for me to be used to that strange feeling. But then I am part time, so I'm even further out in orbit, away from the hub of the universe. It seems to me the full time non-TT person occupies an odd place between the interloper and the pillar of the community. I notice them getting more friendly with me lately.

[tuxedo_cat]

Oh, that's so funny that you posted this question, as I was literally thinking about that precise issue today.  I think that architecture often works against the ability to cultivate normal social interactions.  We're located in an old building with narrow hallways that turn in all kinds of directions, so you don't even see people down the hall walking around much.  I'm lucky that my program has built in some professional development meetings pretty regularly, but so far I've been too busy to attend any of them.

I have definitely found that, with one exception, the R1 departments I have trained in or taught in have been rather isolated places where people really didn't interact much.  The one place that was an exception clearly had the blessing of architectural space: all of the faculty had offices on the same L-shaped floor with nice wide hallways, with the main administrative suite at the "corner" of the L -- so people couldn't really hide that much from one another.  It's only looking back on that experience now that I thinking about how that department was different.

Hang in there!  It's only been one month, and I suspect you will gradually develop some ties with some of the more outgoing members of the department.

[arty_]

I also feel isolated when I'm on campus in my department. Rewards in academia are for research productivity which in my field often comes with isolation, and so sociability is not highly rated. I find this very disappointing, since I have high social needs. My fantasies about working at a university would be that it was a candy store of ideas and exciting conversations. I guess I've also seen too many British movies showing offices in Oxford filled with attractive decanters of liquor in wood paneled cabinets, and longed for a conversation about basketweaving while swirling my high end liquor in a cut crystal glass in my office.

However: my solutions were to invite people over. I discovered that outside of work, my colleagues were (eventually) perfectly willing to come to a dinner party, etc. I also discovered other departments: people in other departments are much more interested in my research than my own colleagues, and so I have meeting, lunches and social time with them. It requires more work and organization than I'd like: I'd prefer to just walk down the hall. But, I've gotten my needs met.

[Morris Zapp]

It might indicate a culture problem of some sort. It could also just be about the kind of school and location. I know that at the large public school I teach at, few faculty live very close to the school and it isn't easy to get off or on campus. Once you're there, everything is crowded and there aren't many places to go. As a result, people tend to be in their offices on their teaching days, but not there on other days. At smaller liberal arts schools, faculty often live near campus, it is easy to walk to various coffee shops and faculty schedules tend to be filled up with events and student meetings. So, people might be less camped out in their offices than at my school, but they tend to be in and out more.

Not sure where your place falls in this, although I will say that when I've been at places where lots of people were barely ever there, that usually was connected to larger problems of checked out faculty and low morale.

Yes, the faculty on our campus rarely interact and it is because of some unpleasantness with positions being cut, competitiveness between schools for extremely limited resources.  I feel like people don't interact because they don't trust each other in the present environment.  I find it extremely sad and lonely even when I am on our campus.

[Deacon_blues]

I also work at an R1, and I experience a lot of isolation.  I'm in a humanities field, and everyone prefers to work from home when they can.  Our department has suffered from fragmentation and internal competition for decades, which makes it hard for us to work together across disciplinary fields.  That said, I have welcomed the isolation as a means of escaping from some of the more toxic personalities and situations in our department, which were seriously affecting my mental state.  We now have a new chair, and some of the more toxic personalities have retired.  I would welcome a change in our working environment, but I will be surprised if anything substantial happens.

[pedanticromantic]

I started a new job last month as full-time NTT faculty member at an R1. The job seems to be going okay so far, but there is one very striking feature about the culture here: I almost never see my colleagues. We're a small department to begin with, we only have 3 faculty meetings per semester, and most faculty aren't in their offices beyond their 2 posted office hours per week. Even the chair seems to work from outside of the office most of the time. There is one colleague whom  I see on a regular basis because we both work on Major Service Thing as part of our contractual job duties. On most days, that colleague and the department's administrative assistant are the only people I see besides the students in the classes I teach.

This is how it is where I work. Find people in other departments, which may have a different culture. Another thing would be to form a campus NTT or NTT&TT writing group so you can get to know other people in the same boat as you and connect with others that way.

Be sure to build a social life outside of work so the isolation at work doesn't get to you--and use that isolated time to publish your way to somewhere that is the right fit for you.