Applications

Towards the end of 2012 I started submitting applications for Paul. I submitted well over one hundred applications for him over a period of about 18 months. I had a break from that process until I began submitting applications for myself towards the end of 2015. That came to an end towards the end of spring 2016. Only a few times I have I even gone on any of the websites to check for job openings (for myself). Most of the time I haven't been giving that any thought over the past about 14 months. One of the requirements for the Curriculum and Instruction certification I am pursuing is to have five years of experience. Since none of my experience was in a public school district in PA, I have to submit a form to my five previous employers that will document my twenty years of experience in the field of education. The new chair at Bloomsburg (the previous one recently passed away) encouraged me to submit my materials into their temporary pool. I did that this week. They haven't been using many (if any) adjuncts the past few years, but hopefully at some point their enrollment will start going back up and they'll need an adjunct or two as they did in the past. I would love to be an adjunct professor for them! There are two state universities that are less than an hour from our house - Kutztown and Lock Haven. I would be delighted to teach for either of them.

This email dialogue led me to check on one of the job websites. At first I was looking for any positions posted for teaching on-line courses, and then I thought I'd see what was available in the state of PA in general. I was surprised to see that Kutztown (where I taught from January 2003- May 2004) was hiring part-time adjuncts. The reason I was surprised is that my friend, Rosalie, had been an adjunct there for ten years, but then they also had put a hiatus on adjuncts due to a lower enrollment. She hasn't taught there for about three years I believe. When I taught at Kutztown before, I had a 45 minute commute. From our current home it would be a two hour commute (one way!). Yikes. I certainly wouldn't want to spend four hours on the road 3-5 days a week, but I am thinking I might be open to doing it 1-2 days a week. We shall see. They posted the job last month so for all I know they might be well into the search process. I might be too late. I have no idea if anything will come of it, but I figured it was worth submitting my materials and seeing what happened. When I taught at Bloomsburg there were three (tenured) colleagues in my department who had commutes of around two hours (or more). So I know it's something that some people do, but it's not something I've ever contemplated previously. My longest commute to work (ever) was 45 minutes to Kutztown. Paul currently has a 50 mile (one hour) commute to work each day which translates to 600 miles/ 12 hours a week driving to and from work for him. When I was working on my doctorate I had a 4.5 hour commute (one way) to class every weekend, but in general I am not a big fan of long commutes.

I contacted Rosalie, and she said she wasn't planning to return to Kutztown. She is teaching an online class through Gratz College at the moment. I actually know the woman who is the chair of that program. She was one of the two women who threw me a bridal shower at church in 2001. Rosalie suggested I contact Jessica. I did so today. I think the pay would be considerably less per class, but I would be able to do it from home, which is certainly the most convenient. So at the moment there are three irons in the fire. I have my name in the temporary pool (again) at Bloomsburg. Something may or may not come about as a result of that over the next year. I have applied for a part-time position at Kutztown, and I have given my vitae to someone at Gratz College in pursuit of possibly teaching an online course for them at some point in the future. It would be most helpful if I could earn some money. If I could make enough to compensate for the drop in pay Paul took when he went back to the family business, that would be terrific. Right now we don't have it in our budget to go on vacations (aside from ones that are practically free like the one we just took to Long Island), and I'd really like to go to San Diego in October 2018. I think I can use credit card points to get us free airfare, but we still need some money to be able to do that. Also, Paul, Ian, and I need to see an eye doctor and some of us might need new eyeglasses. That really isn't in our budget at the moment either. If I got a job, then we could afford things like a vacation and eyeglasses. Plus I love teaching. I have missed it the past almost five years! It was about this time in 2012 that I finished teaching an online class, which proved to be the last one I taught for Bloomsburg. I was on maternity leave in the fall 2012 semester, and then I resigned in January 2013.