I am a tenure-track assistant professor at Winston-Salem State University. It is a rewarding career, but it is a balancing act. As a teacher, my primary responsibility is to my students. However, as scholarly research has become increasingly valued as a way to assess job performance, teaching must be balanced with my scholarly responsibilities as an academic on the tenure track. When these responsibilities are combined with time spent in service to the college, it leads to a busy, but fulfilling life.

 

When non-academic friends hear that I teach 12 hours a week (four classes) and have eight hours of office hours, they mistakenly assume that I work only 20 hours a week. Instead, I easily work 50 to 60 hours a week. I teach two sections of World Civilizations (77 students), and one section each of African-American History (37 students) and United States History (42 students). Having 156 students in three different classes is very time-intensive. To make grading easier, it would be easy to give the students Scantron exams and require no writing assignments, but I feel that taking these shortcuts would not adequately challenge my students and prepare them for life after college. All of my exams include essay questions; as my students move from lower-level to higher-level classes, their exams become increasingly writing-based. In addition, students in all of my classes are required to complete multiple writing assignments and to use both primary and secondary source material. Grading this much writing consumes a great deal of time, but it is worth it.

 

I think that my students see me as someone who wants to help them and whose door is open. My students call, email, and stop by my office every day. Their concerns range from help with assignments to requests for letters of recommendation. Advising those who are history majors also requires time. I believe that it is important to build these relationships with students outside of the classroom. In addition, I also spend time serving on hiring and other committees, attending faculty meetings, and designing new courses.

 

I try to balance student commitments with scholarly commitments. I have a book contract with the University of Missouri Press. My research has required travel to Kansas and Missouri, as well as numerous trips to UNC–Greensboro. My spring break was spent at UNC-G and in my office, writing. The manuscript is due this summer (2006), so most of my summer break will be spent writing and revising. In addition, I completed two biographical entries for the Salem Press, and have been regularly presenting my research at conferences (the next is at the University of Nebraska). I try to use my research, and the fact that I am actively researching and writing, to inform my teaching and to help inspire my students to be active scholars.