Last time I mentioned that I was helping The Boy look for a job. To clarify, he's looking for a university teaching job in what he does. He would prefer a smaller department, preferably without a graduate programme that does new works, doesn't dedicate its resources to "butts in seats" seasons (shows that will bring in an audience but are otherwise without performance merit for college students- The Sound of Music, etc.). Really, he's looking for a place like our undergrad.
While we were there, the TD position changed hands four times. The TD was promoted to department head in the middle of year, and they handed the reins over to a student who had been in school for something like seven years and was married to one of the faculty members. A good guy, knew his stuff, this was not a jerky move on their part, and, just to make things fair they also hired two or three different former students to come in and sort of help.
The second year they hired a guy who was the reason I switched jobs. I had been working backstage and went to the Box Office mid-year because I couldn't stand the jerk. He was busy sleeping with one of the students and left at the end of the year. The job was handed over temporarily to one of the designers before they hired a former student on a temporary contract. He ended up dating one of the students and married her. (That was mostly above board, although not exactly ethical.)
When we left, they had found yet another replacement. I remember hearing at the time that it was supposed to be yet another temporary position and then they would be looking again in another three years.
Since TB was going into exactly the position they were going to be looking for right when he graduated, I remembered this. Last year, when I was up visiting, I asked about the new guy, whether he was working out. Casually, because I was interested (they liked hiring him because he was married with two children and therefore extremely unlikely to try sleeping with the students), and because I thought if they really wanted to keep him, they might just transition him.
I got a lot of "oh, great"s followed up with asking how TB liked grad school. I came back curious. Profs who had never talked to me otherwise sought me out to find out what my plans for the future were, and also no clear sign that the current guy was just temporary.
Well, I just found the ad today, it was posted on Friday. And, suddenly, I have mixed feelings.
The city is nice, in a small town Midwestern sort of way. It's conveniently located a short drive from both my hometown and TB's hometown (2 hours and 45 minutes, respectively). I like the idea of living there, except for the tiny little part of me that has taken root and grown down here saying, "Go. Go now, go far away from home while you've got the chance. Run! You may never get the chance to see the world, just live someplace else for a while!"
At the same time, though, I want to go someplace and stay there. So, I obviously don't know what I really want.
It may just be because cool new ideas have opened on the horizon and this seems like a return to the familiar. We've been there, we know that, and, frankly, TB probably has a really good shot at getting the job. I would even go so far as to say that I suspect they're hoping he'll apply.
They had a lot of trouble finding the guy they have currently, between people who simply weren't qualified at all and people who were, but wanted more money. I think the trouble is that they can't offer it as a real "faculty" position because they don't have the pay slots open for it- someone tried to explain this once my second year, it makes no sense and mostly has to do with the strange way in which people are still considered part of the department even if they aren't.
I think there's a slot that continues to be considered "held" by a prof who retired almost ten years ago, but because her position was also retired, they can't hire anyone new into it. So there's money that isn't going anywhere. At the same time, every few years they have to beg to keep one of our designers and the costume shop foreman because they're technically just staff rather than faculty, never mind they're doing just as much work.
I'm getting too tired to think straight. Bedtime.