Curriculum Vitae

I am beginning to think about jobs right now. Part of the job application process in academia is your Curriculum Vitae, or CV. It's basically an academic resume, listing your contributions to the academic community in terms of teaching, research, and service. You list relevant positions that you've had, publications you've put out, presentations you've made, and anything you've done that might convince some institution that they want to give you a chance at tenure. Since I am a graduate student, I don't have a lot on my CV yet - a handful of presentations, a few unpublished manuscripts, and a hefty smattering of teaching experience (which I hope is a strength in the upcoming job search).

I'm also looking for a new committee member. One of the members of my committee passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. He was very young and it's very sad. I don't have many more words for this. Unfortunately, graduate school responsibilities still go on and I now need to find a new person to fill his place. I originally chose this committee member for his specialization, and I'd like someone with a similar specialization on my committee, but I don't know many people on that side of the education building. So at the suggestion of my advisor, I've been combing through the faculty pages and reading through CVs to find promising candidates for the position.

This is very intimidating. If you get hired at the University of Michigan, it means you've done an awful lot compared to the average academician. And in addition, most of the people I'm looking at have been on their career track for 20, 30, even 40 years. I know should not be comparing my own paltry CV to theirs, that no one out there is going to expect my CV to look a thing like the CV of a tenured U of M professor. But as I look at pages and pages of listings of refereed publications and leadership positions and awards and grants, I just feel so...inadequate. Like with the contributions I have made to academia at this point in my life, I deserve to be a part-time community college teacher without benefits for the rest of my career.

So I've been thinking about how I might bulk up my Curriculum Vitae. It may look short now, but if I just expand the criteria a little bit, I have writings and presentations and research and responsibilities and service galore. Here's a sampling:

Research
Jeppsen, A. (2004). An analysis of the differences between the University Parkway and Provo Center Street freeway exits, and the associated consequences for vehicle travel time for university students. Archived at http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=5238.

Jeppsen, A. (2005). A qualitative analysis of patterns in M&M-eating habits of math education graduate students. Miles Away From Here web archives.

Jeppsen, A. (2009). Trends in weblog topics and popularity over the course of three hundred consecutive web posts. Miles Away From Here web archives.

Published and Unpublished Works
Jeppsen, A. (1997). "River." Journeys Literary Magazine, Crescenta Valley High School. A poignant stream-of-consciousness story of a young woman's angst as she witnesses the tragic and untimely drowning death of her sister.

Photo Montage (2009). A study of mathematics, culture, and aesthetics.

Jeppsen, A (2009). The Poetry of Amy Jeppsen: An Anthology, Vol. 1-3. Includes beloved and renowned works such as "Eyes in the Night," "Sinfonia," and the laundry poem.

Presentations
Use of the example of painting toy cars to explain the invert and multiply rule for fraction division. Lecture given to young single adults of the Hill Street Ward, October, 2007.

Shock and Awe: On multiple viewings of the movie Waking Ned Devine in diverse gatherings. Moderation of post-viewing discussion and analysis, various occasions, 2000-2009.

A detailed description of the shortcomings of the Comcast business model for customer service, and the adverse consequences of the existence of a local monopoly on the general psychological well-being of individual consumers. Lecture prepared and presented in multiple small-group settings during the late summer and early fall of 2009.

Other Contributions to Society at Large

• Created the world's best chocolate chip cookie recipe and made it available, free of charge, to the general population.
• Adpoted a homeless canine and currently helping him work through the long-term effects of a troubled childhood, including dog anxiety and an persistent urge to run away from problems rather than confront them.
• Involved in an ongoing struggle to free the world from the tyranny of plastic bags.

This all makes me feel a little better about myself and my future. My potential offerings to my future institution of employment are way more diverse than my academic talents.

(Also, please forgive the inconsistency in my citations. With a background as diverse as mine, APA is quite frankly insufficient.)