Women and gender studies professor Michael Bronski takes the Dartmouth Coach between Boston and Hanover every week, which leaves little time for house cleaning and garden tending. Bronski is one of many professors at the College who endure long commutes for the sake of teaching undergraduates and engaging with the Dartmouth community.
To ease the burden of long travel times, some professors commute together Bronski and geography professor Susanne Freidberg, who both live 120 miles from the College in Cambridge, Mass., sometimes take the Dartmouth Coach together. Freidberg described her travel companions as "a little pack of us professors on the bus."
"I prefer an urban environment," Freidberg said. "Small town living didn't grow on me."
Bronski said his decision to remain in Cambridge where he has lived since 1973 leaves him with less time to spend at home than he would like. Working so far from home requires strong planning skills and prioritizing regarding daily activities, according to Bronski, who cited an instance when he invited guests to his home for Easter dinner and had to decide between cleaning off his front steps and cooking a good meal.
"I'm not at home as much as I want to be," he said. "The house is always dirty, I barely have time to take care of the garden."
When Bronski is at the College, he stays at the Norwich, Vt., house of English professors Ivy Schweitzer and Tom Luxon. Because of his commute, he wears the same suit jacket to every class and leaves it in his office in Carpenter Hall when he returns home to Cambridge, he said.
Asian and Middle Eastern studies department chair and history professor Steve Ericson moved to Morgantown, W. Va., with his family when his wife took a job at the West Virginia University Medical Center. Ericson commuted weekly by airplane to teach at the College until 2007, he said.
Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Ericson was able to schedule convenient itineraries, but airlines cut down on their regional flights after the attacks, making his commute more complicated, he said. After moving to New Jersey in 2007, Ericson said he currently commutes 5.5 hours each way by car from Morristown, N.J. Ericson usually drives to Hanover on Monday evening and returns to New Jersey on Friday, he said.
Although he initially rented a room in which his family could "camp out" when they visited, Ericson said he bought a house in Hanover seven years ago.
For the past 18 years, history professor Ronald Edsforth has commuted 150 miles each way on a weekly basis from his home in Greenwich, N.Y., he said.
Edsforth uses the basement of history professor emeritus Jere Daniell which Daniell also lends to alumni during big football weekends as his home away from home while in Hanover, Edsforth said.
"I feel like I'm part of their family," he said. "It's a very welcoming environment, and I couldn't have [commuted] this long if it weren't for the Daniells."
Jody Diamond, an Asian and Middle Eastern studies professor, takes the Dartmouth Coach between Hanover and Boston several times per week so she can also teach classes at Harvard University, she said. The commute is 3.5 hours door to door, and she occasionally travels back and forth in a single day, Diamond said.
"I've never driven in four years not one time," she said. "I have the whole Dartmouth Coach schedule memorized."
Diamond began teaching gamelan a group of Indonesian instruments and Indonesian history and culture classes at the College in 1990 when her husband, Larry Polansky, was offered a full-time teaching position in the music department. Although she currently lives in the Upper Valley, Diamond will soon be moving to Boston because of the city's vibrant gamelan community, she said. Once Diamond moves, she will need to find to a place to stay while in Hanover, she said.
While on the bus, Diamond said she either works or watches a movie. Bronski, who has commuted to Dartmouth for the 10 years he has taught at the College, said he prefers to listen to music or sleep.
The academic calendar at the College allows professors to live outside the Upper Valley, and many departments are accommodating for professors who commute, several professors interviewed by The Dartmouth said.
"Dartmouth may be one of the few places where it's halfway doable with the teaching schedule that we can have," Ericson said.
Most professors said they prefer to teach classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays because it allows for longer weekends at home, but Ericson said he is teaching a class this term in the 12 hour for the first time, which is "a little bit more of a juggling act."
Instead of holding class Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Ericson holds class during every X-hour on Tuesday in addition to class on Wednesday and Friday.
"Even though I may not be here physically every day of the week, I'm always on email and I bend over backwards to stay in touch with students," he said.
All five professors interviewed said their distance from the College does not affect their availability to students.
"When I'm up here my schedule is very intense I'm seeing students at night," Freidberg said.
Friedberg said when she is not in Hanover, she advises students via Skype videochat.
Students who have taken classes with commuting professors generally agreed that their professors made themselves adequately available.
Evan Curhan '14, who is currently in a geography class with Freidberg, said he Skyped with Freidberg last week because she was not in Hanover at the time.
"It went well it was pretty quick," he said. "It's just a weird way of interacting with a professor. I'd prefer meeting in person with anyone, but especially with a professor."
Uthman Olagoke '11, who took a class with Bronski in the winter, said Bronski was "always available on [BlitzMail]" and had students sign up for office hour slots, guaranteeing that everyone was able to see him when needed.
Although teaching is rewarding, living so far from the College necessitates various sacrifices, according to several professors. Spending so much time away from his family and eating many meals alone in restaurants "can be rough," Edsforth said.
Because of his regular absences from home, child rearing fell mostly to his wife, who is a professor at Skidmore College, Edsforth said.
"It is a real strain," he said. "But if you have a strong, loving relationship, you make it work."
Edsforth said he endures the long commutes because of the strong sense of community at the College, which is comprised of friends in Hanover, administrative support and the College's "welcoming" environment. "In different circumstances, I would have wanted to leave," he said.
Staff writers Clare Coffey and Matthew McNierney contributed reporting to this article.
