Day in the life of
Assistant Professor – Lindsey Cormack
My days are divided between teaching and research days. On teaching days I’ll have time in the classroom, and afterward, I’ll meet with or converse via email with students. I also use teaching days to catch up on email and all the other administrative tasks that come with being a professor (scheduling classes in the future, letters of recommendation, committee work for the institution, helping to advise individual students, and student events).
On research days I set out 90-minute chunks of time to dive into a project and then come up for air for 30 minutes to respond to emails. I’ll also do grading and class prep on these days with that same sort of 90-minute chunk of time. For instance, today looks like
- 8:00-8:30: Email
- 8:30-10:00: Grading/class prep
- 10:00-11:30: Writing a paper on how Men and Women legislators focused on different topics when writing to constituents about COVID
- 11:30-12:00: Emails
- 12:00-12:30: Lunch
- 12:30-1:00: Emails
- 1:00-1:30: Talking with a student doing an independent study
- 1:30-2:30: Talking with 2 research assistants
- 2:30-3:00: Emails
- 3:00-4:00: Faculty meeting
Pros
The pros are that this role allows me to be working with the subject matter I most care about (US politics) and it allows me to constantly interact with a new set of students. I like getting to see how their issues change and the way they think about politics/government evolve. Teaching is a very relationship-rewarding enterprise because students will come back years later and tell me all about how they have ruminated on topics we covered in class.
Cons
The cons are the economics of this sort of position. For many many many professors, these roles do not pay “well” and instead has us piecing together different streams of income to make the dream work. It’s a hustle in its own way, and that doesn’t always feel great after doing so many years of school.
But on a whole, I am thrilled to have the job that I do, where I do. My institution is a very nice place to work, my colleagues are awesome and my students are generally inquisitive and thoughtful. I really think I’ve lucked out in having a life/career that suits me at a school that I really enjoy. I think the pros outweigh the cons for me in many ways while recognizing that’s not the case for everyone.
