Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Unforgivable offense

Dear Ariculate:

Thank you for your interest in the [Field 1] faculty position at the University of Southern Orchards. We received a large number of applications of extraordinary quality, and it was very difficult to narrow down the field of candidates. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to become acquainted with you and your work, as well as to survey the incredible diversity of scholarly activities in [Field 1] today.

At the end of this process, however, we were not able to secure one of our preferred candidates, and our search remains incomplete. We therefore anticipate that we will undertake another search next year, please watch for an announcement in the early fall. We would greatly appreciate having another opportunity to give you full consideration.

Please accept my best wishes in all of your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mississippi Masala, chair
[Field 1] Search Committee
University of Southern Orchards
WTF? Do you have any idea how unforgivable an offense this is? You had, what 80, 100, 130 applicants... large number ... extraordinary quality... and what?... you couldn't find one candidate, one applicant to whom you could so much as offer a one-year gig, to fill the interim while you continue the search? Who the hell decides these things? Oh, I see, the Dean said we have only $5000 for the search, and we blew $4800 bringing in our top three candidates, so we can't afford to fly anyone else in this year. So, what? ... that great and vast pool of extraordinary applicants representing an incredible diversity of scholarly activities are left to, what, sit on their asses contemplating their navels until the job postings come out in the early fall, then, like drooling hyenas dive at the meat tossed over the fence?

The sad thing in all this is... right now, I am a drooling hyena, and damned if I won't reapply for that post come the fall!

2 comments:

BrightStar (B*) said...

You definitely should apply again. When they have to go a year without someone, they'll realize what they were missing.

Ianqui said...

I totally realize how much this situation sucks, but don't lose hope. It's not so much the money, it's the way the system works at some schools (rational or not).

The same thing happened in my dept last year. We had a search, brought in 3 candidates, and ended up hiring none of them. (We offered the position to one person, who turned us down. Then we couldn't decide on the second person, and the third person was totally out for the whole faculty.) XU would not have let us continue going down the list at that point. We held the search again this year, and in the end, we hired someone who had in fact applied the year before but who didn't make the short list at that point. So it can happen.