The File: 2 weeks to go!

My subconscious mind has been playing tricks with me for the past few weeks. When I dream about working on my file and wake up at 3 am in the morning to jot down a thought, I know that I’m sweating this file thing! I feel as if I don’t have enough time! I have two weeks to go before the deadline for submitting the t & p file, but it is not complete yet! I was hoping to have the file completed by now so that I could show my draft to various file advisors. These are tenured librarians who have volunteered to discuss your file with you and offer any possible suggestions for improving it. I’ve showed my incomplete file to a file advisor outside my department. Her feedback was wonderful and it made we rethink including an information literacy philosophy statement. It is optional to include an IL /teaching philosophy statement (for librarians who do teach) and I decided that I wouldn’t include one (after an off-hand remark by another colleague). HOWEVER, after speaking with file advisor #1, I decided that the contents of my file and my CV warranted discussion of my approach to teaching information literacy classes and professional development in this area. I now realize that this is the best route. I did experiment a bit with different technologies and methods of teaching library classes over the past few years. The CV is very telling in this area, but they are scattered across the CV (some in presentations, some in materials created and published etc.). The IL statement will bring these scattered bits of information into one place. File advisor #1 also asked for clarification regarding certain parts of my file. Since she was outside of my department, she was able to look at my work history and accomplishments (via the file) with fresh eyes. I had to be a bit more explicit in my personal statement so that outsiders (i.e. the t&p committee members) who were not familiar with my work and responsibilities would be able to fully understand the file. Thus, I am partially grateful that I saw a file advisor before the file was completed.

Tip: If you have file advisors, show them your file before a draft of your file is completed. Their feedback might lead to a different approach to your file and save you a lot of time in the long run.

The file is about 98% completed. The only problem that I am having right now is deciding which course materials created for information literacy/library classes I should include. This should be samples of the types of different materials created for a class as well as the different approaches or methods I’ve used for classes. I’ve selected 2 classes, but I’m not sure if I should include more. I’m trying to follow the rule of 3s, but when you’ve taught over 100 classes in 3 years, this is a challenging task.  Should I include handouts created for an undergraduate vs graduate course? Humanities vs Social Sciences? Hands-on library session vs lecture hall session? ESL students vs high school students? Blogs vs traditional paper hand-outs? Materials from year 1 or materials from year 3? Should my hand-outs demonstrate the natural evolution of my teaching abilities or should I just stick with only the best ones (i.e. the most recent materials)? I have to remember that file documents provide evidence of your work. In the guidelines regarding documents supporting your file, it stresses that you should not include EVERYTHING, but this is easier said than done.

Next week, I will be meeting with file advisor #2 (complete opposite of file advisor #1) for feedback on my file. This meeting should prove interesting! In the meanwhile, I doubt those dreams will go away!

The T & P File: References

Although I’ve got 3 months to go before I need to submit my tenure and promotion (T & P) file, I am nontheless panicking. I have been so preoccupied lately with pursuing my research projects and serving on committees that I’ve neglected time to sit down and examine which materials to include in the physical file as well as contacts/references to ponder.

A seasoned librarian gave me a wonderful tip about my CV that I hadn’t considered before. She mentionned that the committee will be looking at my CV to identify potential referees (e.g. colleagues on committees etc.) to contact who can vouch for my work in the 3 areas under review (professional performance, professional development and service). This is in addition to the 3 or 4 contacts that I will include in my file. This seasoned librarian said that I should strategically drop names on my CV. The more frequent, the better. If I mention a particular name several times throughout the CV this will improve the chances of the committee selecting that person! Interesting thought.

I am a bit concerned about the 1 year gap on my CV and how this might impact the creation of my file. I am particularly worried about references. I have my own references roughly mapped out, but the committee might find a contact that doesn’t remember me! I’m thinking mostly faculty members. I am contemplating adding information in my file about an information literacy class in which I did extensive preparation for. I am particularly proud of this class because of all the hard work I put into it. The problem is I did the class a year before I went on maternity leave and was planning to work with the instructor during the summer to teach another class the following fall. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to reconnect with the instructor before I went on maternity leave (and after I returned). I am wondering whether I should reconnect with this instructor and possibly, collaborate with her to teach another couple of information literacy sessions for her students. Am I doing this for purely selfish reasons (i.e. reconnect with her this summer so that I can use her as a contact)? If I had the time, I would certainly pursue another collaboration with this instructor and teach these particular students. The problem is that I am on 3 committees (possibly 4 in the near future), working on 2 research projects, coordinating information literacy courses and supervising librarians. Plus there are a few “little” projects I would love to pursue in the fall! I need to think on this a bit more.

To address the gap in my CV, I started writing a personal statement outlining my history at my institution (i.e. contract status and maternity leave). I was unsure about how personal I should make it. Most of the people on the committee will be aware of the maternity leave, but once the file is reviewed by the t & p committee (consisting mostly of my librarian colleagues) the file will move up in the academic chain and will be read by people outside of the library. I tried to be as succinct and factual as possible. One can not help but wonder whether the maternity leave will impact how this file is received. I don’t know. It is still a draft.

I’m just a girl who can’t say no…

I’m in an awful fix!

As an untenured librarian I was warned not to commit to too many committees. However while I was desperately trying to plan my CV strategically to fit into the cookie cutter categories required for the whole tenure process (professional knowledge, professional development/research and service) I realized that my CV was unbalanced. The problem: I was lacking much work in the area of “service” (i.e. committee work). I decided to join a committee that, truth be told, was not exactly thrilling to me personally. Fortunately once I joined that committee my interest was piqued. Nonetheless, I would not recommend joining a committee that you are not interested in out of sheer desperation. You most likely will regret your decision later (especially if it is a long-term committee). After I joined library committee number 1, another opportunity presented itself in the form of a campus-wide committee whose mandate was what I was really interested in and a committee in which I felt that I could contribute immensely to. The problem was that I was already part of library committee 1 and library committee 2. And to make things even more complicated, I was recently (reluctantly) recruited to work on a large project with a 1 month deadline! Unfortunately I had to pass up the chance to work on a committee that I sincerely wanted to be a part of. There’s a possibility that I can join this committee in the future, but it would have been great to join now. What can you do?! I have to learn to say “no”. Being on 3 committees is over-extending myself a bit, but in the end I think that my CV will be a bit more balanced.