(Lack of) summer research productivity?

[futureapppsy2]

I've always heard that summer is supposed to be the best for research productivity for TT faculty, but this summer is... not that for me so far. There's a variety of factors--I'm doing all the individual and group supervision for our practicum students (9 of them) this summer, which also includes supervising their fieldwork portfolios and all the interface and evaluation with their site supervisors, and that eats up a lot of time; I have a new SO (which... absolutely zero complaints about spending time with such an awesome human being; I took 1.5 weeks basically off in May to see my parents for the first time since the pandemic started (again, zero regrets there); the pandemic was sort of boon for me in terms of publishing because it intersects with my pre-existing work and so I did a lot of writing in 2020 on that (7 COVID-focused pubs) and am tired; etc.

So far, this summer I've a) submitted a federal grant app (as co-PI); b) submitted a foundation grant app (as PI); c) turned around some R&Rs; and d) gave three conference presentations (not that really counts when you're faculty, heh). I currently have 95 pubs (13 this tenure year so far [late September to late September]; 22 for the previous two tenure years). I have two MSes under review that I'm fairly certain will be accepted before this tenure year ends (one is an invited one for a special issue with a set timeline; the other one is at the "minor revisions" stage to the point where the editor is line-editing it, so I'd be shocked if it were rejected--not trying to count unhatched chickens, though) and an R&R that is due this week.

I'm worried about going into the next tenure review with very little under review.

Thoughts?

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[MCParent]

I think you’re solid w that record.

…but I’d suggest to your faculty revisiting how the prac is structured. That sounds totally unreasonable and far over what you’re being paid for in terms of credit hours/effort.

 

[WisNeuro]

Yeah, the work you are doing in supervision and coordinating with site pracs sounds like what the DCT should be doing. Supervising a couple students seems fine, but that definitely sounds excessive unless you're getting something extra out of it.

 

[thebalmofhurtminds]

I'm not trying to be insensitive, but dude. Come on.

 

[Sanman]

 

[MCParent]

Yeah, the work you are doing in supervision and coordinating with site pracs sounds like what the DCT should be doing. Supervising a couple students seems fine, but that definitely sounds excessive unless you're getting something extra out of it.

I thought about this post more after making my initial post and upon further reflection it feels even more unbalanced than when I first read it.

Do senior faculty ever teach this class? (Guess: no, or if they do they do something that involves way less time.)

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I second/third/fourth/wherever we are what everyone above has said about the clinical supervision: you're doing well above what should be expected if you aren't the DCT or clinical advisor for all of them.

Also, not to be "that guy," but I'd triple-check your licensing board reqs and stipulations. Some states put a cap on the number of supervisees you're allowed to have, which can sometimes vary based on their level of training.

 

[Ollie123]

I'm not trying to be insensitive, but dude. Come on.

As for your main question, I think this is the most appropriate response. Everyone knows research ebbs and flows. You're looking at publishing 15 articles in a year, what you do or don't have under review is irrelevant. Two grants as PI in one summer already probably puts you around the 90th percentile in productivity, assuming they were at least modest-sized applications (I'm guessing the federal one was, foundation grants vary from 2 pages to even more than federal grants).

Agree with others its worth checking to see whether the prac supervision normally works the way it seems to be for you. Frankly, I'd say do that and then spend the rest of the summer chilling at the beach. And I'm saying that as someone who I think you were intending to work on a paper with in August

 

[futureapppsy2]

Yeah, the work you are doing in supervision and coordinating with site pracs sounds like what the DCT should be doing. Supervising a couple students seems fine, but that definitely sounds excessive unless you're getting something extra out of it.

We do have a dedicated fieldwork coordinator (FT NTT faculty position), but for some reason, they don’t handle the portfolio piece, so that falls to whoever is supervising that semester. Advanced prac is pretty light outside of doing the initial, mid-term, and final meetings with the students and their site supervisors, because they only have group supervision with the university supervisor (and individual with their site supervisor), but in beginning prac, the group supervision is a clinical issue discussion and the hour of individual university supervision is for case discussion (they also have individual supervision with their site supervisor). I love supervising, though, so I don’t mind that much.

 

[beantownpsych]

I've always heard that summer is supposed to be the best for research productivity for TT faculty, but this summer is... not that for me so far. There's a variety of factors--I'm doing all the individual and group supervision for our practicum students (9 of them) this summer, which also includes supervising their fieldwork portfolios and all the interface and evaluation with their site supervisors, and that eats up a lot of time; I have a new SO (which... absolutely zero complaints about spending time with such an awesome human being; I took 1.5 weeks basically off in May to see my parents for the first time since the pandemic started (again, zero regrets there); the pandemic was sort of boon for me in terms of publishing because it intersects with my pre-existing work and so I did a lot of writing in 2020 on that (7 COVID-focused pubs) and am tired; etc.

So far, this summer I've a) submitted a federal grant app (as co-PI); b) submitted a foundation grant app (as PI); c) turned around some R&Rs; and d) gave three conference presentations (not that really counts when you're faculty, heh). I currently have 95 pubs (13 this tenure year so far [late September to late September]; 22 for the previous two tenure years). I have two MSes under review that I'm fairly certain will be accepted before this tenure year ends (one is an invited one for a special issue with a set timeline; the other one is at the "minor revisions" stage to the point where the editor is line-editing it, so I'd be shocked if it were rejected--not trying to count unhatched chickens, though) and an R&R that is due this week.

I'm worried about going into the next tenure review with very little under review.

Thoughts?

My sincere thoughts are to decrease this reassurance seeking behavior (this is one of many threads you've posted along similar lines despite board members reassurance that you are kicking butt) and to get some help to address this worry/anxiety around academic productivity.