Isn’t that big of me.  I am downsizing my job load.  I have been able to turn my part-time graduate assistantship into a full-time job.  I will more than likely still supervise student teachers–although I don’t know how that will work with my fte status.  Anyway.  I am giving up my teaching at the community college–unless they have an online course for me–but I don’t know that they will since I won’t be teaching any other courses.  I am both happy and sad about this.  I’m a bit torn and bitter too.  My community college had/has an opening.  I applied.  But something happened with the mail and hr never received my packet.  I talked with them and my department chair and they asked me to send it in.  So, I did.

Well, before they interviewed folks my department chair was confident that they had a good pool of applicants and was certain that there were some more qualified than I.  Because my packet was received after the closing deadline–I was not eligible to be interviewed (or they chose not to interview me–as interview weren’t conducted until the end of Feb and they had my info way before that.

So, my department chair comes to see me last week in my office.  She closes the door and tells me that the applicants are train wrecks and would I please re-apply when they re-open the search.  I was super excited.  But then I thought about it and was like wait–I know you got my packet late–but really you can’t interview me now?  I asked her for the timeline as I would need to make a decision by May 1 because of my assistantship and finding someone to take my place and train over the summer.  Well, the position is open until May 15–interviews will happen in June and a decision in July.  I can’t wait that long.  While the community college job would mean more money–it is also not what I want to do.  I don’t just want to teach composition.  I also don’t want to teach in a department that really is sub-standard by any definition.  It is criminal some of the people who are teaching classes to these students and the type of education that these kids get. I just can’t in good faith be a full-time part of that.

Then today happens and I get all guilty feeling that I am leaving this school–as I am a great instructor. I stand by that.  I was talking with a few students after class and three kids asked me what I taught and what my name was and complained about what they were and weren’t learning in their English classes now and that they’d like to take my class as it was clear that I cared about what my kids were learning, etc.  Then I think.  I shouldn’t leave because these kids need me.

But, I have to do what is best for me and doing oversight for the charter schools will give me a great foot in the door for upper level positions in a University–dean appointments, etc.

So, if you have a Master’s in English the community college I work at is going to be hiring.