Category: General Interest
September 23, 2010, 03:05 PM ET
The Myth of the Lazy Professor
What's a day in the life of a tenured professor like? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't (usually) involve golfing or "polishing the fixtures on our yachts," FemaleScienceProfessor writes in a recent column. And, in fact, professing is but a small slice of the professorial-duty pie, she points out. Much of a tenured professor's time is actually spent working outside the classroom on an array of (largely unheralded) administrative tasks, FSP writes:
After tenure, our service commitments ramp up, and we serve on committees at our own university and beyond. Some of us edit journals and hold other positions in professional organizations. And we spend a lot of time advising students and other researchers, helping them reach their career goals. Most of us are busier after tenure than we were before.
Universities really do "get what they pay for: hard-working faculty members," FSP adds....
Read MoreJuly 29, 2010, 10:00 AM ET
Regalia Revisited
Summer graduations are finishing up this week, and I thought I'd note a fashion upswing that has developed over the past few years: flashy regalia. No longer is the black on black of the traditional cap and gown the default. At one time it was easy to see who had a doctorate from a European university, the dapper half-gowns and vests or flowing smocks standing out among the boring, basic American gowns. A few universities have been ahead of the fashion curve by selecting gowns in their school colors of burgundy, navy, or deep green, but I've started seeing other splashes of color showing up at graduations, convocations, and inaugurations. I've even seen at least one that is gold with black-velvet lapel panels. Some of the lapel panels even include ornate embroidery of landmark buildings, spires, or rooflines.
One of the reasons for the shift away from the generic is that universities...
Read MoreJuly 21, 2010, 03:05 PM ET
When Student E-Mail Attacks
E-mail may be a useful tool, but academics are drowning in it, thanks in large part to a growing tidal wave of silly student messages, the Berkeley law professor Mary Ann Mason observes in her most recent Balancing Act column. It's "not just e-mail messages from professional associates, friends, family, and spammers that demand our attention," she writes. "Students, sometimes by the dozens, e-mail their instructors daily, seeking an immediate response" to "trivial or inappropriate questions, like 'Sorry I missed class today, can you send me the lecture notes?'" (Sound familiar? If not, check out this 849-page thread in The Chronicle's Forums in which professors share their "favorite" student e-mail messages.)
Gems such as this one ...
It has come to my attention that you have an attendance policy for our class of which I did not know because I did not read all of the syllabus before now....Read More
July 21, 2010, 02:54 PM ET
Stupid Meeting Tricks
Gary Olson's recent column
about improving meetings has spurred me to reveal a secret I've
guarded carefully for 25 years of teaching.
I cannot imagine how many scores of hours I have spent sitting in
meetings during those years. From faculty meetings to committee
meetings to admissions panels to ad hoc advisory boards, I have
spent my adult lifetime in gatherings that have happened in rooms
large and small. My retinas are permanently scarred with the
outline of the dead tree branches that were visible from a
particular room where I sat for dozens of meetings at a former
institution.
As an administrator I have a high tolerance for meetings, but there
are times when I just cannot stand sitting in a chair for one
second longer. When that happens in small rooms, especially in the
afternoon, I unleash my secret weapon. I carefully but not too
discreetly cover a fake yawn. After a few minutes, ...
June 21, 2010, 01:00 PM ET
Teaching to Fail/Failing to Teach
The story
about the professor at Louisiana State University who was "benched"
during the semester due to low test scores caught many an eye and
has generated a great deal of discussion. Now that the talk has
cooled down a bit, I wanted to pose a serious question based on a
fictional amalgamation of several true incidents I've heard about
from different academic administrators.
Let's say you are the department chair, dean, or academic vice-president and you have an endless stream of students complaining about a new professor's grades. As you generally do, you tell the students to buckle down and try their best, to see how the rest of the semester goes, and to await their final grades for the course.
When the semester concludes, the phone calls and visits intensify, so you pull the final grades for the professor's courses and you find that he has assigned a grade of "F" to each and every...
Read MoreMay 25, 2010, 08:00 AM ET
Graduation Thoughts
Perhaps you saw the recent piece in The Chronicle about what presidents are thinking during commencement.
Since I have to read names of graduates as a part of my duties as dean, I spend the entire time thinking about the pronunciation charts that students have provided me for their names. After I'm done with that task, I'm pretty much a blank slate for the remainder of the ceremony. I'm just ready for the arrival of summer.
I can't help but ask: what do faculty members think while they're sitting through commencement ceremonies?
May 20, 2010, 04:05 PM ET
Degrees of Familiarity
If you're around academe long enough, you'll develop a network
without even trying. You'll get to know people by way of
conferences and other professional activities, through publishing,
by connecting with friends of friends, and simply being plugged in
to the life of college education in the United States.
Since I wound up as an administrator, my career has taken me to
several institutions. In turn, many of my colleagues there have
moved on to other places, taking on different professional roles as
they go. Added to this group are all the people with whom I went to
grad school who have found their way into academic positions, along
with the smaller number of undergraduate friends who have done the
same.
Once I account for most or all of these people, it's interesting to
see that I have friends, acquaintances, or former colleagues at a
large array of institutions around the country. It is ...
April 14, 2010, 10:15 AM ET
Removal of Professor Causes Furor at Louisiana State U.
Faculty members at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge are seeing red over the administration's decision to yank a tenured biology professor from the classroom last month for grading too harshly, The Ticker reports. According to the university's student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, Dominique Homberger, who has taught at the university for nearly three decades, was removed from teaching a Biology 1001 section after giving the second of four exams for the course. Her replacement hiked students' grades on the first exam 25 percent.
The Louisiana State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors submitted a written complaint to the system president, John V. Lombardi, on Monday, calling Ms. Homberger's removal and the subsequent changing of student grades a "violation of academic freedom and faculty rights," the Reveille notes.
Kevin Carman, dean of the...
Read MoreApril 7, 2010, 11:15 AM ET
Looking Beyond Present Circumstances
I just returned from spending a week in Ukraine, lecturing and
meeting with faculty members and administrators at several regional
universities. I enjoyed my time with these stalwart educators, who
were gracious at every turn and who honored me with their time and
thoughts.
One of the lessons I came away with was a renewed sense of the
importance of educators to a culture's future. Ukraine regained its
independence only in 1991, so its professors have an opportunity to
shape the future of their country, which is one of the most
important of the post-Soviet nation-states. They labor at the front
lines, and their work is valuable.
Now that I've returned to the U.S., I am reminded that in the
difficult economic times we are facing, academics here, too, have
an opportunity to shape the future. One of my mentors said more
than once: "Education lifts up our eyes above the immediate to see
that...
March 24, 2010, 01:04 PM ET
Tricks for Boosting Student Evaluations
Student course-evaluation season is coming our way in a few short weeks. We all know that the process of soliciting information from students is fraught with many serious concerns and complications.
Despite the serious nature of the process, I often chuckle at how faculty members will sometimes wheedle and cajole their students to give higher marks. Local doughnut shops tend to see sales rise that week as professors buy treats for their classes. Extra-credit assignments seem to pop up like mushrooms after a nice long spring shower. Pep talks about how much the students make life worth living are heard resounding in the hallways.
What is the most interesting "trick" you have seen faculty members use to bargain for better student evaluations?
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