What I did this summer

As a professor, I am sometimes asked: “What’s it like to have summers off? That must be nice.”

Indeed, the academic calendar is a kind one, especially compared with the night/weekend/holiday schedule that I worked for many years at newspapers. But summer in the academic world is not a long vacation consisting of sitting on the beach and drinking margaritas.

Summer brings a different sort of work, a lot of this and a little of that. Here’s a look at what I did this summer at UNC-Chapel Hill:

• Revised and expanded a textbook chapter on copyright law that will be published soon in the North Carolina Media Law Handbook.

• Judged entries in a contest that honors the best in travel writing.

• Wrote a book review for Journalism & Mass Communication Educator.

• Wrote posts and conducted interviews for this blog.

• Served as “editing coach” for 100 Gallons, the latest edition of the Powering A Nation project.

• Organized and moderated a panel discussion for  journalists visiting from South Korea.

• As a member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, met with colleagues who are going up this year, offering guidance about their CVs, teaching statements and letters of recommendation.

• Learned about my new role on the campuswide Faculty Grievance Committee.

• Led a discussion on headline writing for the student staff at WhichWayNC.

• Made a presentation on alternative story forms to Triangle-area writers and editors.

• Taught a session about online headlines and Twitter at a workshop sponsored by the North Carolina Press Association.

• Wrote questions for the new grammar and usage test that students will take this fall.

• Served as one of three instructors at an editing bootcamp in Chicago sponsored by the American Copy Editors Society.

• Oversaw the inaugural ACES Award for Research in Editing.

• Organized and moderated the annual Breakfast of Editing Champions at the AEJMC conference.

• Learned Sakai, an online teaching tool that UNC is using in place of Blackboard.

• Revised my syllabus (.pdf) and handouts for my editing course.

• Prepared to teach my first online class, Writing For Digital Media, which is part of a certificate program in technology and communication.

It’s been a busy, productive summer, and there’s still a week to go before the fall semester begins. And there still might be time for a beach day and a margarita before autumn’s chill arrives.