Days in the Lives of Slippery Rock Faculty Members

APSCUF faculty work hard at their jobs and we want you to know what we do, and when we do it. And, perhaps most importantly, we also want you to know that we love what we do—working with students, in classrooms, in laboratories, via email, and in our offices is tiring, but rewarding work.

Sometimes people—managers, students, and community members—wonder how faculty members at Slippery Rock University spend their days. This curiosity is perhaps the result of seeing faculty members stopping by the grocery store or hardware store at odd times of the day, or of seeing faculty members driving to work well before classes begin for the day, or arriving home late at night when most people have been home for many hours.

Some people believe that because our contract obligates us to 17 ½ hours of in-class/in-office work each week there is no other work done outside of that 17 ½ hours. Not so. Take a look at the Time Diaries of the faculty members below and you’ll likely wonder at the lack of meals, family time, and just plain old down time.

Time Diary, Faculty Member #1—

6:30-7:45 a.m.—Exercised at gym

8:00-8:30 a.m.—Got children off to school

8:30-9:15 a.m.—Met with Slippery Rock elementary and middle school principals

regarding upcoming Kaleidoscope Arts Festival

9:30-11:30 a.m.—Attended E-portfolio session

11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.—Had lunch while meeting with two faculty members to discuss E-portfolio session

12:30-1:30 p.m.—Answered phone calls and e-mail

1:30-2:00 p.m.—Attended Rehearsal #1

2:00-2:30 p.m.—Attended Rehearsal #2

2:30-3:00 p.m.—Attended Rehearsal #3

3:00-4:30 p.m.—Met with faculty to discuss curriculum issues

5:00-6:00 p.m.—Attended Mentoring Dinner (had to leave early to attend next event)

6:15-7:30 p.m.—Attended the Slippery Rock Business Association meeting to discuss upcoming Kaleidoscope Arts festival

7:45-8:30 p.m.—Helped get children ready for bed

8:30-11:30 p.m.—Graded 21 essay tests

Time Diary, Faculty Member #2—

5:30-7:00 a.m.—Woke up, worked around house, breakfast, etc.

7:15-7:30 a.m.—Drove to school

7:30-7:45 a.m.—Photocopied handouts, printed new Power Point lecture.

7:45-8:00 a.m.—Set up for class (test computer, projector, etc.)

8:00-9:00 a.m.—Class (talk with students after class)

9:00-9:15 a.m.—Prep materials for a test of a new lab exercise

9:15-10:00 a.m.—Met with students about homework assignment

10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.—Office hours, worked with student on independent study project, discussed writing an honor’s contract for a course this semester, worked on Power Point for next day, wrote up instructions for lab procedures

12:00-12:15 p.m.—Ate lunch at desk

12:15-12:25 p.m.—Walked to APSCUF meeting across campus

12:30-1:30 p.m.—APSCUF meeting

1:30-1:40 p.m.—Walked back to office

1:45-2:00 p.m.—Collected materials (and prepared) for a classroom observation

2:00-2:50 p.m.—Observed a colleague’s class for a peer evaluation

3:00-4:15 p.m.—Worked with a colleague, trying out a new procedure for next day’s lab

4:15-5:00 p.m.—Set up digital microscope, laptop and borrowed project for use in next day’s lab

5:00-5:30 p.m.—Prepped cells for next day’s lab

5:30 p.m.—Left for home

5:45-6:15 p.m.—Read the mail, fed the cat, watched a bit of the news and the weather

6:15-8:30 p.m.—Dinner out with friends

8:30-8:45 p.m.—Mom called

9:00-11:30 p.m.—Prepared lecture and lab handouts for next day’s classes

11:30 p.m.—To sleep, perchance to dream, and do it all over again tomorrow

Time Diary, Faculty Member #3—

5:00 a.m.—Alarm goes off!

5:00-7:15 a.m.—Work around the house, eat breakfast, feed cats, etc.

7:15-10:45 a.m.—At my desk. Review Ch. 4 of text for class. Open yesterday’s mail, toss junk, file, deal with piles of stuff. Finish class exercise. Write quiz. Phone rings—talk with speaker for upcoming class. Upstairs to copy materials for class. Phone rings. Student with questions. Finish class notes for lecture. Check email to answer student questions. Upstairs to search for faculty member to ask questions about assessment. Phone call. Discuss assessment question. Try to finish grading papers to return to students later in day. Colleague comes to office to ask questions about assessment. Another phone call. Planning for workshop with student club that I serve as the advisor for.

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.—Class

12:15-12:30 p.m.—Dash to library to put book on Reserve.

12:30-1:00 p.m.—Eat lunch while recording quiz grades. Call colleague to ask questions for use in lecture.

1:00-2:00 p.m.—Trying to finish grading for another class. Cutting it close here! President of student club drops by. We make posters for club meeting and set up agenda. Phone call. Another student. Advising issue. Five minutes.

2:00-3:15 p.m.—Class

3:15-5:00 p.m.—Office hours. Record quiz grades. Return three phone calls that came in while I was in class. Answer 6 emails. Phoned potential speaker. Phoned library to ask questions about materials. Start agenda for campus group meeting.

5:00-7:30—Class (Can I fall over now, please?!)

7:45-8:30 p.m.—Meeting with student groups to discuss group projects

8:30-9:15 p.m.—Review notes for morning meeting tomorrow (7:45 a.m.) because leader of group is over the top!

9:15 p.m.—Drive home

9:30-10:15 p.m.—Acknowledge spouse. Forty-five minutes of personal time. Grab some food

10:15-11:15 p.m.—Working again. Reading chapter for next day’s class. Updating notes. Developing leadership exercise to go with lecture. (Of course, House is on TV and the cats are jumping on and off my books so this last hour isn’t really all that bad.)

11:30 p.m.—Bed, thankfully.

Time Diary, Faculty Member #4—

6:30-7:45 a.m.—Exercised at gym

8:00-8:30 a.m.—Got children off to school

9:00-10:00 a.m.—Answered phone calls and e-mail

10:30-11:30 a.m.—Met with prospective student and parents

11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.—Met with advisee (while eating lunch)

12:30-1:45 p.m.—Attended APSCUF Membership Meeting

2:00-3:15 p.m.—Taught class

3:30-4:30 p.m.—Taught a shortened class (to seniors) due to evening performance

4:45-6:10 p.m.—Picked up Child #1 and went home, did homework with Child #1 and fed her dinner. Waited for husband to return with Child #2.

6:10-10:30 p.m.—In the theatre, ran box office for performance and watched the rest of the performance.

10:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m.—Met with faculty to determine what portions of performance will be presented at regional festival. Bed, finally, at 12:40 a.m.

Time Diary, Faculty Member #5—

6:00-7:15 a.m.—Get self ready for work, children ready for school

7:15-8:00 a.m.—Drive to work

8:00-8:45 a.m.—Meetings

9:00-11:00 a.m.—Office hours—see students, if no students, grade paper, do committee work (I sit on 7 committees at both the department and university-level), prepare for class

11:00 a.m.-11:50 p.m.—Class

11:50 a.m.-12:00 p.m.—Assist students between classes

12:00-12:50 p.m.—Class

12:50-1:00 p.m.—Quick lunch in office

1:00-1:50 p.m.—Junior seminar (class)

1:50-2:00 p.m.—Assist students between classes

2:00-2:50 p.m.—Junior seminar (class)

2:50-3:00 p.m.—Assist students

3:00-3:15 p.m.—Drive home

3:15-3:45 p.m.—Homework with kids, give kids snack.

4:00-5:00 p.m.—Volunteer work—teach class at YMCA

5:00-6:15 p.m.—Prepare dinner, eat dinner

6:15-6:45 p.m.—Clean kitchen

6:45-7:45 p.m.—Homework with kids

8:00-10:00 p.m.—Grade papers, prepare for class, do laundry, get kids ready for bed, grade more papers

10:00-10:30 p.m.—Check email and respond to students and colleagues

10:30-11:30 p.m.—Grade more papers

11:30—Go to bed

Time Diary, Faculty Member #6—

6:15-7:30 a.m.—Get ready for school, fold laundry, toss in another load, wash dishes, drive to school, drop off child at high school

7:30-9:00 a.m.—Check and respond to student and colleague email. Collect phone messages. Return phone calls. Check out news headlines in preparation for day’s classes. Minor preparation for 9 o’clock class (real prep took place between 9:30 and 11:30 last night)

9:00-9:50 a.m.—Class

9:50-10:00 a.m.—Answer students’ questions after class

10:00-11:00 a.m.—Office hours—meet with students, check email, check off student assignment (reading notes), minor prep/review for next two classes

11:00-11:50 a.m.—Class

11:50 a.m.-12:00 p.m.—Talk with students after class, answer questions

12:00-12:50 p.m.—Class

12:50-1:15 p.m.—Talk with students after class, answer questions

1:15—5:30 p.m.—Grading, meet with students (no office hours but still have door open so as to be available), review Pew Forum articles in preparation for night class, finish reading for night class, type up class notes, develop a list of discussion questions, copy handouts for class, continue grading

5:30-8:00 p.m.—Class

8:00-9:00 p.m.—Meet with students about papers, also meet with student to discuss scheduling

9:00-9:15 p.m.—Drive home

9:15-10:00 p.m.—Dinner with family

10:00-11:00 p.m.—Check email, grade more papers, union work.

11:00-12:00 a.m.—Read and highlight articles for class

Time Diary, Faculty Member #7—

7:00-7:30 a.m.—Check email, respond to student enquiries

7:30-8:15 a.m.—Travel to campus

8:15-8:30 a.m.—More email in office

8:30-10:00 a.m.—Chairs’ meeting

10:00-10:30 a.m.—Open mail, review schedule, respond to phone calls, clear more email

10:30-11:00 a.m.—Meeting with graduate coordinator, strategic planning

11:00-11:30 a.m.—Meet with student regarding comprehensive exam outcome

11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.—Respond to email

12:00-1:00 p.m.—Write up faculty evaluation

1:00-1:30 p.m.—Lunch

1:30-2:00 p.m.—Discussion with student about journal article/professional issues

2:00-2:30 p.m.—Consultation with faculty member

2:30-2:45 p.m.—Correspondence regarding research

2:45-3:30 p.m.—Professional reading

3:30-5:00 p.m.—Supervision

5:00-5:30 p.m.—Dinner

5:30-6:00 p.m.—Class preparation

6:00-8:30 p.m.—Class

8:30-9:00 p.m.—Respond to student questions

9:00-9:45 p.m.—Drive home