The May 19 Chronicle of Higher Education article “The Long Odds of the Faculty Job Search” featured a review of an Ohio University faculty search in the Department of English Language and Literature in the College of Arts & Sciences. The creative writing position was filled by Patrick O’Keeffe, whose second novel will be released by Viking Penguin in March 2014. The article also quotes Professor Dinty W. Moore, chair of the search committee.
Together, the applications provide unusual insight into the competitive nature of academic job searches. The CVs show that candidates are competing against people they know, and that applicants possess a wide range of credentials. They also reveal that the qualifications necessary for landing a tenure-track job are ever escalating.
At Ohio the search for a junior professor to teach fiction writing officially began just days before Christmas in 2011. Master’s of fine arts or Ph.D. required, the job posting read. Must have published at least one book. Expected to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in fiction writing while publishing and directing creative work. Send a 20-page writing sample.
The first application arrived the same day the job was posted.
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