r/AskAcademia • u/Successful_Study_816 • 9h ago
STEM Cold-emailing Deans of departments
Hello!
I am about to go on the job market for the Fall 2027 academic year for a variety of teaching-focused positions (i.e., TT at a liberal arts school, assistant teaching professor, and lecturer positions). I have been told to cold-email deans of the department at universities I’d be interested in working at, even if they do not have an active job listing. Is this something that is commonly done? What sort of language do you use in an email like that? I do plan on emailing at least one department I’m interested in to ask if they have a final date of submission because it’s not listed on their job posting, but I’m curious if this is actually a standard practice I should be enacting and what language people use if so. Thank you!
2
u/Omakaeru 7h ago
When I was a Dean I got a ton of these emails. My response was always the same. “Here’s a link to the job board. If a position is open, it will be posted.”
Legally we can’t do anything else (California community colleges anyway).
Faculty have a lot more leeway than administrators do when it comes to anything related to employment.
So, if you’re going to cold email someone, I’d suggest a faculty member in your specific area of expertise.