More impressions of PSU

Now that I've been at PSU for a couple of weeks, it's time to reassess: How do I like it here? Overall, my impression is still very positive. I like my colleagues - it's so exhilarating to have people around you who share your passion for the field and do very exciting research. I wish I had the time to take some of their classes. I'm also excited about working with the students here. So far, I'm working with 2 students but that number is bound to get a lot higher. For her thesis, Katie is looking at how learners of English use social networking sites like Facebook and My Space. How cool is that!? And Claudia is doing a project for her M.A. instead of a thesis. This is a unique option in our program, which doesn't focus on research but on a very practical issue and involves the development of material. Claudia wants to develop materials to facilitate team-teaching in community ESL programs.
By now, I've also discovered some negatives. I wasn't so naive to think that all would be rosy here. One biggy for me is the lack of statistical support. UT has a statistical consulting center and I had a consultant who worked with me on my projects. PSU has zero support. I did take some stats classes in grad school but I'm no statistician and don't feel comfortable selecting appropriate analyses and tests. I've gone back to my textbooks to refresh my mind but it's so complicated. The ironic thing about this is that my name tag for orientation listed me as a new member of the statistics department. LoL!!
But I have to give cudos to the administration. It seems that they do want to hear about our problems. At orientation, I asked about grant writing workshops. After all, it's in my contract to apply for 2 major grants. Afterwards, I got an e-mail from the Provost (!) with some information. And last week, I was at a luncheon for new faculty where members of the administration asked us about our transition and took detailed notes about our problems. That's an important first step (never experienced anything like that at UT) - let's hope action follows.
TGIF and it's not raining today!!