…I’m kicking ass and taking names.

Isn’t it so funny how things sometimes work – my life is falling to shit in one area, but at least another area is alive and thriving!

I’m so grateful to have a job where I feel so much personal fulfillment, I’m fairly compensated, I have a flexible schedule, I have great colleagues-turned-friends. I mean, just all around I like what I do, I’m good at it, and it feels meaningful and rewarding.

Good thing I like it so much, because I’ve been doing a lot more of it, too!

I was recently awarded this “Fellowship” thing.

That’s how I describe it to people because it feels so pretentious otherwise, lol.

Long story short, I got a high-ranking administrator to agree to fund a Program I’ve designed (and will oversee), and he decided I needed a title to make it official so I’m a “fellow” now. 🙂

The problem is…..I’m not actually going to earn any more Money for it. The administrator’s office will be paying for course releases (1 Fall, 1 Spring) so I have time to dedicate to the program, and the office will also pay for the direct costs related to the program as well. But I didn’t actually ask for any additional income for myself. I don’t even know how I’d approach that.

The thing is, I’m still an “early career” faculty member. And I’ve never had a real, true mentor. I mean, I had advisors in graduate school: people who I worked with on research and whatnot. But no one has ever been a more general “career guide” to help me in things like negotiations or making big decisions, etc. I’ve always just flown solo on that (and I feel like I’ve done pretty well, but it’d be nice to have a sounding board or someone with more life and institutional knowledge to help me out sometimes).

Sooooooo, I’ve committed to oversee and run this program for the 2018-2019 academic year. But if the program gets renewed for another year….I want to ask for more money, right? The weird thing is that I don’t think it can be salary. My salary is paid by my home department and this project is for another unit on campus. So my direct boss (my department head) isn’t going to give me a raise for work I’m doing for another unit. I think it’d have to be “supplemental compensation” or something???

Here’s the deal. I don’t even know! And I don’t have anyone to ask.

Right now I’m just crowdsourcing opinions from the BAD community. Anyone with higher ed experience? Maybe doesn’t even have to be higher ed experience. Just some better skill and know-how when it comes to negotiations and such. Is this a “thing” at public universities? And what would I even ask for? I already got course-release time. Would I continue that AND ask for more money? Should I ask my departments’ business manager?? Like, I literally don’t even know where to start. Any advice?

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