Holy Crap!

I have a full time job. It's a miracle!

I just got back from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, and they have offered me a full-time position, and I have accepted!

No, I do not have to move to SLC. Here are the deets:

WGU: an all on-line University that is non-profit. It's funded by the Gates Foundation, amongst many organizations, and it is (despite the expectations of the area) a secular institution. Its mission is to use on-line and current technologies to reach students who would not normally go to college for financial and/or regional reasons. It is also competency based rather than credit-hour based. They can place out of sections with which they are already familiar and excel. They can then focus on areas that they need to learn and work through.

My role: I am an Academic Mentor. This means I work with students to make sure they have their questions and concerns answered. I will work from home, and students can contact me via IM, chat rooms, discussion boards, email, and on the phone. The other part of my job is to report back to the coordinators with what works and what does not, in terms of curriculum. I go to SLC for two graduations (January and July), for a full week for faculty development, and then as needed, depending on whether or not they need us to come in to discuss curriculum changes, etc.

The Dean also encouraged me to publish (although it is not publish or perish!) and to attend conferences in order to personally develop and, well, let's be honest: this kind of visibility makes the University look good!

I do not grade. That's right. I do not grade! They have a bank of graders who do this. The Dean told me it's because they don't want to wear down the Mentors (it sounds like they will soon be changing our titles to Professors, by the way, but since it is not a typical Professorship, the original choice for "mentor" was made to reflect this) and want us to focus our energies on a caseload of students.

They will send me a laptop, phone, and will pay for my internet; they will pay for all of my travel expenses.

Did I mention how stunned I am?? How did this happen? Where did this come from?? I'm amazed.

It's a 4-year position that has all of the things I love about mentoring/teaching with none of the stuff I hate (grading). There are no gaps in pay (for those of you who teach, you know what I mean); I get a grown-up salary every month of the year, I have full benefits, 2 weeks paid vacation, and a retirement plan.

WTF?!?!?

I am still in shock.

So, 3 more weeks of Cornish, a week of finals, K's and my trip to OR, and then I fly back to SLC on May 11th for my first day of work and training.


WOOOOOOT!!