The Tenure Track Document Concern

I think that's what I'm going to call the group, for now--at least until someone suggests something better. (I know a concern is a business, but it's a grand pun)

In any case, the meeting with Kendra went quite well. We settled on a very practical idea that would meet some of my needs and, hopefully help a bunch of interested parties.

One of the best things about UB's MFA is that there really is an opportunity to make it your own--a lot is possible. So, for those interested in teaching, there are some opportunities becoming available, more all the time I'd imagine. But my primary goal was to build a group around the CV, cover letter and statement of teaching philosophy. Sometime this weekend I'm getting an email together that's, essentially, a call for like-minded folks (this goes for people in the program, those about to finish or new, and alumni--we are here to help! All interested parties welcome). I don't have a sense of who's interested and who's not, so let me lay some of the ideas out...

1) We need to meet--see who we are, what we think we need to achieve, put heads together.

2) The ultimate goal is to draft the necessary documents for applying for tenure-track jobs, but I think we should begin with the cover letter. One of the ideas Kendra helped me keep in focus is that UB is a unique program, and that needs to be reflected in the letter. So we need to not just build a letter suited to ourselves as individuals, but letters that maximize the kinds of things that might set us apart as graduates of this particular program. For example: most of us would be not only capable of overseeing a student literary magazine, but designing and producing it (with student help and input, of course) as well. These kinds of skills could add a whole new dimension to a candidate that employers may not even know they need/want (until we tell them in our fabulous letters).

3) One of my goals is to meet with some UB career counselors about this--hopefully, I can swing this prior to our meeting as a group...

4) Another goal, of course, is to develop a CV in the same fashion (we'll worry about particulars later) but Kendra had a nice idea of developing a standard for students that would be like what designers put together: a CD with digital photographs or copies of design work--a portfolio on disc. In addition to the traditional CV, that could be a great asset. I plan to talk to some of the design professors about what these are like.

I'm excited. Any ideas?--the door remains open to comments.