There are so many potential aspects to my career that I will have to make some decisions about what is important, what my assets are right now where I am, and how I can best develop those for the future.
The first thing: I don’t want to live here. But I have lots of things to take advantage of in my current position, so I am not ready to move on just now. Besides, there is K. to think of (more on how he fits in later).
First, I need to develop my skills in the job I am in. I am doing that, and intend to do more. I am meeting with a mentor at SF State every week, and meeting with my supervisor once a week as well. I’m doing a lot of reading, reflecting, and large-scale planning. In addition, I have some courses I have taught that I would be comfortable revamping and making better, and I have some new ones coming up that interest me. At the end of next year I will have something like a portfolio of courses. I will probably feel even more confident about my materials for my course portfolio at the end of 2009-2010.
I will also probably be out of debt by then, or sooner.
I need to decide if I am going to go to a symposium this summer in New York. I also need to decide if I can get money for it from my school (that is probably a yes).
I am going to assume that I feel significantly better about this job after the end of next year (signs point to it) but that I still don’t want to stay here (signs point to that also). At the end of next year I can start a discussion with K. about moving and what it would take for him to do so. If I have put everything I have into this job, I think that he will listen to me on that point.
One factor that I can not entirely control for involves my supervisor’s future plans. He and I have not discussed this, but I am aware that it might become an issue. At some point in the next few years he may wish to retire. It is difficult to know what that will mean for me, but it depends on my changing relationship with my current position. If I get into a groove with this job and feel better integrated in my current position, will he wish to tap me to head my area? I have heard scuttlebutt that this was the original plan when I was hired, but I am sure that it was never decided upon by the powers that be. But it is possible that that may be an opportunity; also possible that it won’t be. If it is, I’ll have to add that to the mix. It might mean that I might consider staying here longer (sigh) so that I can learn more.
In the meantime, whether I look to leave in two years or five or seven, I need to decide if the next step is in another academic position, or if I want to parlay my academic experience into something else, such as editorial work, administration, information science or arts management/education of some sort. It seems no matter what I do (even if I stay here forever) there is training that I can make use of. Chief would be courses in information science, especially database management and training in sound file management. I would also like to take a history of the book course. That would probably only help me in academia somehow. But in general, information science coursewook in the summer would be a smart move no matter what happens.
The second thing that would be helpful in just about anything is more languages. I probably need to improve my skills in modern Western European languages as a priority, although having limited skills in an Eastern European, Middle Eastern or Asian language could help in library work, some kinds of editorial positions or if I ever went to work for Naxos.
Besides coursework that I might take over the summer, there is also the issue of fellowships for research projects and internships. I have a long list of those. Some are summer, some are longer term. At the moment I’ll continue to concentrate on summer opportunities because I can’t really take a leave where I am now. Besides, once again, there is K. to think of. He might be ok with me being gone for a month or two in the summer, but not for a whole semester, at least not at the moment. We might be able to coordinate with his vacation time one year, so that is something to think about. None of this is happening this summer, though.
This is getting to be an unwieldy post. I think that in order to come up with a useful five-year plan I need to start with a two-year plan and keep the following in mind:
1. teaching: what do I want to see happen in my teaching over the next two years? This question is independent of whether or not I jump ship.
2. research: this area seems stagnant right now. How much progress can I make in publishing articles and starting my bibliography in the next two years? What kind of funding should I plan on applying for?
3. performance: this seems painfully stagnant right now. I will leave aside the question of day to day freelancing since that isn’t as important to me as my currently-dormant chamber music group. What long-term projects am I not completing or even working on right now? How can I reasonably get back into managing that, and will I need to hire help for it?
4. what kind of training do I want to invest in?
I am hoping that with sufficient work on #1 I will get to the point that I am not spending every waking moment on #1 and can get back to #2 and #3.
Ok, back to #1 for the day. I have a lot of reading to do this afternoon.
