Last week I had the opportunity to observe the presentations of several candidates that were being interviewed to fill the newly created position of Coordinate of the Writing and Learning Center. Let me tell you about my experiences.
First, in typical academic administrator fashion, the announcement that everyone was welcome to attend the first presentation was made at 10am when the candidate was presenting at 10am. It seemed to me that the admins did not want anyone coming. So, I missed the first person. However, I was able to make the others.
No keep in mind, these people were interviewing to lead a new Learning Commons system and none but ONE actually talked about it! It was quite odd. Finally, the last person seemed to have a vision of what to do, had the desire to do it, and was not only my pick, but also the director's choice.
Ultimately, the search committee picked the first person because she was "doctorally prepared," but had never had a real job outside of being a teaching assistant while in grad school! And she is going to be the Coordinator of the entire Writing and Learning Center?
This proves beyond all doubt that degrees count more than experience in academic settings. Now don't get me wrong - I understand the value of degrees, but experience MUST count for something. Knowing how to apply that degree is also valuable.
What a world...
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Depending on the university you work at depends on how degrees are looked upon. For instance, my experience at state universities is that if your degree is higher than your bosses...then you might not get that promotion.
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