The North West Passage

Posts Tagged ‘gripe’

I’ve seen some of the budget info for the philosophy department at Guelph. It seems that the “current economic climate” has hit academia too, in the form of reduced transfers from the province, and fewer new student enrolments (hence less money from tuition). The chair of the department is really quite good at making sure everyone is in the loop about such things. There’s not much that can be done about some parts of the budget, such as the salaries of the tenured profs, or the garunteed funding for some of the grad students. However, it appears that the sessional budget is one of the areas where there is a lot of flexibility. It follows that I think it rather more likely than usual that I’ll lose my job, as soon as the term is done.

I will also be moving out of the house in May, as the renovations will be mostly finished, and the landlord and her family will move in.

On top of that – the next “tour” of Europe is set for the same month. I will be visiting St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy; and depending on my budget, England again. I do like England, and as most of my British friends attend a certain pagan camp that takes place on the Beltaine weekend, I’m hoping to attend it too. But I might need to skip England, in order to save money.

Bren’s Irish Friends: Did I hear you say you like England? Aren’t you Irish?

Bren Sshhh.

But the prospect of losing the teaching gig at U of G, and at Guelph/Humber (it’s a joint program), right at the same time as I lose my current lodgings, has been on my mind a lot lately. So, I have been applying for other jobs, everywhere. I apply for sessional teaching work at every university within commuter range. I’ve recently applied for “real prof” jobs at Concordia, Montreal; Purdue Uni, Indiana, USA; University of Ghana, in Accra, Ghana. (Yes, I have to cast a very wide net these days!) Also: I’ve an interview for a federal government job next tuesday. If I get this job, I will be moving to Vancouver. My fall-back plan, if all of these things fail, is to move to Ottawa and sign on with a temp agency that places people in the federal public service. In Ottawa I could also try for sessional teaching work at four universities locally, and I might be able to reach places in Montreal or Kingston.

Somewhere in there, I want to have enough time at home alone to write my book.

Any suggestions for other things I could do are most welcome.