About Karen Kelsky
I am a former tenured professor at two institutions--University of Oregon and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I have trained numerous Ph.D. students, now gainfully employed in academia, and handled a number of successful tenure cases as Department Head. I've created this business, The Professor Is In, to guide graduate students and junior faculty through grad school, the job search, and tenure. I am the advisor they should already have, but probably don't.
As a professor at one such university, I think that the “In addition, my family resides in the area/my research will thrive in the area/I have a personal connection to the area” comment is probably the most effective thing you can write in order to convince the search committee that you might be a good candidate.
In my experience, the greatest concern that search committees at my institution have about candidates from the Ivys is that they don’t know and have trouble adapting to our student body, which usually means that folks with teaching, or at least TA experience, from the large state R1 programs have a considerable advantage in finding quick success with our heavy teaching load (and let me tell you, that first semester is rough). There have been some notable cases of folks from the Ivys who just couldn’t (or rather, just wouldn’t) work with the student body here. Rural liberal arts colleges might be a different story, but if you are applying to teach at a ‘soybean state’ school and lack teaching experience at a non-elite institution, the best thing you can do to make yourself attractive is to demonstrate some connection to, and knowledge of, the region and its people.
With such a rough job market, a lot of smaller, regional, rural colleges are seeing quite a few applications from graduates from elite colleges. I would say check the educational credentials of recently hired faculty (assistant profs) at the target school and see what they’ve come to expect. At my regional university, we have come to expect that applicants will be from the country’s most highly ranked universities. Which is to say, be careful not to overemphasize this, or it might draw attention to you in a negative way (it might not have occurred to them to wonder why you might be applying to work at their lovely college).
Just be sincere about your interest, and avoid talking about your Ivy credentials as somehow making you an unlikely fit.
Librarian, are you saying that my recommended wording would be a mistake, then?
I might not use the word “elite.” Actually, I think your paragraph is perfect, minus the first two and last sentences. I’d worry that otherwise it might become a doth protest too much thing.
Hmmm, ok. I think I will add an addendum to the post with these comments in mind, since you are obviously the expert here. Hey, want to write a guest post? If you’re interested, please email me at gettenure@gmail.com Thanks for your input.