Professor 1 – Semester 0

[Note from Kate: Paul said he was feeling all "reflect-y" (his technical term!) and wanted to talk a little about this whole being-a-professor thing. This is as much his forum as mine -- well, maybe not as much, seeing as how my name's in the title and all -- but I wanted to share with you what he had to say.]

Here I am, fresh on the heels of my first semester at The Cit.

In August 2007, I decided I wanted to become a chemistry professor. I probably could have gone into industry and been happy, but I chose to skip the post-doc and shoot for a tenure-track position at an undergraduate institution (4-year college). I chose this road largely for the increased job security and resistance to economic downturns, certainly not the money (but it’s not horrible). I had enjoyed teaching labs and interacting with students at the University of Memphis, but I wasn’t quite sure how I would take to teaching 12 contact hours of lectures and labs at a military school and wearing a S.C.U.M. uniform while teaching.

By early January, I had two job offers -- and I am extremely happy I ended up at The Citadel. The local atmosphere is definitely not as much of a culture shock as what I encountered at the Northeast job interview.

I have an undergrad research student, which is cool; my teaching load is 12 contact hours (which at an undergrad-only institution is awesome); and the state offers kickass benefits (I am totally covered, and it’s a nice feeling). On top of that, I live in a pretty cool coastal town -- which means I get to go swimming in the ocean a lot when the water is warm -- and Charleston isn't so small that Kate's left without job choices (notwithstanding the economy taking a big dump).

So what did I spend my semester doing? A lot of lecture-writing and test/quiz-writing, some grading and a couple of internal grants.

Writing lectures takes a long time – surprisingly long. Generating about 3.5 hours of lecture takes me about 8 hours to prepare and make sure it flows well, etc.

Test-writing: holy crap. I give multiple-choice exams, largely because they are super-easy to grade (Scantron forms rock), but writing a good multiple-choice exam takes a long time -- like a good 20 hours, start to finish, in formulation and proofing.

But quite possibly the hardest part of the semester was assigning final grades and deciding how the points distribution was going to look in the end.

As to The Citadel itself, the adjective used most often (and not just by me) is “interesting.” The cadets are basically 18- to 22-year-olds who wear uniforms but like to do things 18- to 22-year-olds do: avoid studying, party, Youtube and Facebook ... oh, and shine brass and shoes. I don’t blame them – all that sounds much better than “study,” until they bomb my tests then I get to be all faux outraged.

Interacting with the cadets can be pretty hilarious. They answer questions in ways I don’t expect, due largely to their required honesty. [Note from Kate: The Cit takes its honor code very, very seriously, and things students could get away with at most other schools are grounds for expulsion for honor code violations.] Or I'm out walking around in “civilian camo” (read: street clothes) after class and see a couple of students from class and they almost don’t recognize me out of uniform.

This has been an incredibly busy -- but enjoyable -- semester, and I have one more to go before my “knob” year is over. I just have to get through teaching general chemistry 2 and instrumental methods. Christmas break is going to be hectic -- writing lectures and trying to get a little "real research" done -- but just like it is with the cadets, the first year is the hardest.