Life as a new faculty member: Week 1

I've reached the end of my first week at Agnes Scott College and have mostly been pleasantly surprised. People here - perhaps it is a 'Southern' thing, or particular to Agnes Scott - are amazingly nice and helpful. This has made the week be very fun and not too overwhelming.

The biggest frustration so far is the timescales involved. I need to be ready with 3 different courses by August 28th. This is a very fixed deadline! For one class, I'm trying to find a new book. I'd like to get 'examination' copies of a few different textbooks to determine which one best meets the goals of the course. To request exam copies, I must have a registered profile with the publisher. I've started that process, but they must verify that I am actually a faculty member teaching a relevant class. I don't know how long that will take, and *then* they send the book and I can start reviewing it. So I might not be choosing the book for one of my classes until the end of July, which feels way too late for me.

I've been positively surprised by how much has already been done for me. I met with IT to discuss computers - they've already been ordered! Unfortunately they were aiming to have them ready at the end of July, but they said they would try to accelerate the process for me. My phone line has already been set up and my profile information is visible on the website. Things rarely happened this efficiently at MIT or Stanford, especially little details like website updates.

I've been challenged by juggling the 'personal' and 'work' things I need to take care of. I feel like I must start on course planning, but I also need to set up furniture and do shopping trips. Living across the street from campus had led to a lack of compartmentalization - I've spent afternoons at home and evenings at work, occasionally popping to the other for 5 minutes. I'm trying to cut myself some slack - now is the time to spend all day at Ikea, because I won't be able to do it when classes have started.

I have some panicked moments where I think that I won't have my courses together or that I don't know enough to be teaching these classes, but those moments are few. Mostly I've been excited about discovering aspects of my new life here. There are fireflies here! I haven't seen fireflies much in the past 10 years. My office comes with a (second) lab space! My house has so many closets! There are ginormous butterflies! I'm having great conversations about teaching with my colleagues that help me feel like a peer and that I will be ready for the fall. Only once has someone said I look like a student...

Next week: Will the publishers really send me a bunch of free books? Will I succeed in ordering office supplies? Does anyone know what my password is to get to voicemail?