مکالمه ی دوم

Listen to a conversation between a student and a Professor.

Hi professor, Edkins. You wanted to see me?

Hi, Bill. Thanks for coming. I wanted to talk to you about…

Is there something wrong with my research paper?

No, not at all. In fact, it’s very good. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.

Oh, thanks.

I think you know that the department is looking to hire a new professor.

Are you familiar with our hiring process?

No, but what is that got to do with me?

Well, Bill, we have several qualified applicants we’re serious about and as a part of the interview process we have to meet with the committee of the professors and students in our department. They also have to give a talk.

You mean like a lecture?

Yes, like a sample lecture on one of their academic interests.

Oh, see you can see their teaching style.

Exactly

Hah…Make sense

So I’d like to know if you be willing to join us as a student representative on the interview committee. It’ll be a good experience for you. You could put it on your resume.

Oh… That’d look good for my graduate school application, I guess. So, what do I have to do?

The department’s secretary will give you a schedule of the applicants’ visits. If you are free, we’d like you to attend their talks and then later you can give us your opinion. Oh and we usually serve lunch or snacks, depending on what time the talk is.

Cool, that’s another good reason to do this. Um… when is the next talk?

We actually haven’t had any yet. The first one is next Friday, at 10 AM, then lunch and then formal discussion with the applicant right after.

Oh, well, I’m free on Fridays. If all the talks are on Fridays, I will be able to make it to all of them.

That’s great. Now you should know that this job candidate is interested in the life cycles in the forest.

That’s what my research is about.

Yes, I know. That’s why I feel it necessary to point out that even though these applicants’ research interests were similar to yours, we want you to tell us what you think about the teaching of all these applicants – your perspective is as a student; how the applicant teaches in the classroom. That was important to us.

I understand. So how many applicants are there?

Let’s see. We have 4, all very good candidates, that we will be looking at over the next few weeks. It’s going to be a tough decision. But it’ll be a good experience for you, especially if you’re going to graduate school.

Thank you. It’ll be cool to do this. I’ll get the copy of the schedule from the secretary on my way out.

You’re welcome. See in class this afternoon.