Remember several weeks ago, when I said that I expected the next six months to include a little bit of teaching, a little bit of part-time consulting, and a lot of research and writing?
Yeah, I very poorly estimated the balance of that. I’m juggling like crazy, and not at all in the proportions that I expected.
My daily existence now
First, I’m back to teaching online at Bellevue University, in their Master’s of Leadership and Coaching program. It’s a good gig, with a faculty and administration that I enjoy working with. As with most online degree programs, there’s a variety of experience and skill level among the students, and several who are really superb. I’m already pitching the Ph.D. program to a couple of the stand-outs.
I’ve also completed training and been approved to join the adjunct faculty at another university, teaching in the HR program. By all accounts it seems like this would be a fun gig, and very specific to my areas of interest and expertise… I’m just concerned that I may not realistically have the time to pull it off.
You see, this part time consulting gig, where I’d spend a couple of days a month working with clients on their Diversity & Inclusion initiatives? It’s shaping up to be a full-time job. Maybe this is just an unusually busy time, and it’ll taper off in a few months, but there’s so much work right now, I’m on track to start working 30-40 hours a week, if not more, with them beginning in January. So much for a little part time thing!
I’m not complaining, mind you… It pays well, due to the trade-off of not being able to count on consistent hours. (And the fact that you pay your own employer taxes and don’t have benefits.) The team is terrific, and I have genuinely enjoyed working with all of them. The clients need help with Employee Resource Groups, a subject upon which I literally wrote a Ph.D. dissertation, so I’m very much enjoying the opportunity to help them build or enhance their programs.
Unfortunately all of this has left me virtually no time to work on my research. I have an invitation to adapt my dissertation into a journal-size version for publication, a “revise and resubmit” from a very prestigious journal for a study I worked on regarding LGBT ERG leaders, and a half-dozen other research streams that I’ve started but haven’t had time to finish. (More on this stuff later.) Somehow I’ve got to start making sure that I reserve a little time each week to continue progress on this.
And finally, the great big question mark: will I be taking a new job in the Fall as a full-time professor? My campus visit in November was an amazing experience, and I’m one of two finalists for the role… I’m just waiting to hear whether or not I will be offered the job. Since the university is on winter/holiday break for the next few weeks, it will likely be mid-January before I can hope to hear back.
Seriously, I’m really bad at this whole “taking some time off” thing.
