Judecorp.

I know it's exciting, but hold off on the cover letter until you're back from vacation (unless you're leaving for 2 weeks); give us some time to fish for the real info on what they're looking for, as opposed to what the job description says. If it's anything at all like the search committees I've been on, they honestly will not look at that stuff until the 15th, at which point the dept secretary will make copies of everything and send 'em out to the cmte, who may or may not actually have a meeting scheduled to do a first-pass weedout before scheduling interviews. Given the student-support nature of the position, my guess is the participants will be up to their eyeballs getting ready for school to start (or taking their last chance at vacation), and you won't even get called for an interview until mid-late september. Remember, except under extraordinary circumstances, hiring professional staff at UMass probably averages 4 months from app deadline to job offer.

If you didn't see the email from my friend I forwarded a little while ago, a huge component is going to be to bring in budget and staff efficiency ideas.