A Very Odd Conversation

Yesterday I stopped by the Writing Department, which is one of the three departments I teach for at CU Land. I had to do some administrative stuff, including submit grades and sign a few things. I literally had 10 minutes, so I was hoping to get in and out without any lengthy conversations.

As I was heading out, I was stopped by the head of the department, a very nice woman who reminds me of someone I worked with at Southwest College. What followed was a very odd conversation.

Dr. Chair: Dr. Nice Guy (the chair of C's department) tells me you're looking for permanent work.

Me: Yes, I'm on the market.

Dr. Chair: I hope that you will keep me informed of the status of your search, especially if you'd get an offer. Dr. Nice Guy and I want to work on keeping you here.

Me: Oh.

Dr. Chair: Yes, but for negotiation purposes, you'll need to have another offer in hand.

Me: Oh, well, unfortunately, it's been a really bad year.

Dr. Chair: Yes, I know, but still, I hope you'll keep this in mind.

Me: I certainly will. In the meantime, I hope I'll still be able to teach for you part-time.

Dr. Chair: There is no question of that.

Me: Thank you for taking the time to tell me that. I appreciate it.

Dr. Chair: Feel free to stop in and see me anytime.

Now, this conversation was odd for a lot of reasons. First, I've only spoken to Dr. Chair a handful of times, so for her to stop me to have such a pointed conversation about wanting to hire me seemed a bit odd. Second, I enjoy teaching in the Writing Department, but I don't know if that is where I want to be hired on. None of my research is in writing (and I don't think it ever will be), and I do not want to teach Technical Writing for the rest of my career. I can teach composition courses, but that's about it. My doctorate is in Literature, not writing, so I don't feel like I'm equipped to teach there--at least not anything more than the intro courses I'm already teaching. That said it was nice to have someone openly express an interest in giving me a permanent tenure-track job at CU.