next »

[hulkhogan]

What does one do when one is untenured in a department where student evaluations are the major factor in annual evaluations and in T&P decision when a few senior faculty have given up all pretense of rigor or integrity and stay only to collect a paycheck? Here are some of the things these colleagues are known for:

1. "Dumbing down" graduate courses to almost nothing. Think two one-page assignments (in a writing-intensive field that is not a science) for the entire semester. Classes are often let out early or canceled.

2. Anyone who completes the assignment and reaches the page limit gets an A. Content is not bothered with.

3. Anything goes in advising. "What, you'd like to take intro to basketweaving instead of the mandatory research methods class? Sure, no problem."

4. Work with students is minimized. The colleagues have for several years refused to chair or advise dissertations or theses.

You think I exaggerate? Think again. You wonder how I know this? Because these colleagues will proudly tell anyone who will listen. I know I must STFU because since these colleagues are tenured, they cannot just be let go, but they can certainly torpedo my career advancement chances.

At the same time, our students have become comfortable with the no-work-required approach to graduate studies, and those of us trying to preserve a semblance of rigor get punished in evaluations.This is an RU/VH. I have already reduced the workload in my classes to half that of the graduate classes I took, and I still get complaints about too much reading, too many assignments (I have four), and material that is too difficult.

The require-nothing colleagues get stellar evaluations each semester. I get excellent ones, too, but nothing like the 5 of 5 across the board they get. My chair told me once that my score of 4.3 was reason for concern, and I'd have to work to increase that.

How does one manage such a situation? Do I become a cynic, throw my integrity overboard, and do whatever it takes to match the do-nothing colleagues' evaluation scores, or do I just not worry? After all, I'm still here. Then again, maybe it is time to start looking.

[seniorscholar]

Then again, maybe it is time to start looking.

Yes. Take advantage of your "reduced workload" and get those publications and conference papers out. And network like mad at the conferences, too.

[imawakenow]

I know I must STFU because since these colleagues are tenured, they cannot just be let go, but they can certainly torpedo my career advancement chances.

Then again, maybe it is time to start looking.

You've given yourself good advice. Take it.

[tortugaphd]

I'm reading your post with a lot of empathy, because I found myself in a similar situation when I first got hired at my current job.  However, my department is in the middle of a cultural transition when it comes to standards.  The junior faculty who were hired in the past few years are really making an attempt to raise the intellectual profile of the department, and given that there is now a critical mass of us, it seems to be working.  The graduate students who have entered the program since we've been here are motivated to work harder than their predecessors, and these newer students tend almost exclusively to work with the junior faculty rather than with the "senior deadwood."

I was one of those faculty who got burned by the older grad students who entered before most of the current junior faculty got here.  Like the students you described, they were resentful of what I was asking them to do in my courses after being used to the older standards that were maintained by the "senior deadwood."  However, now that there's a fresh crop of junior faculty and a fresh crop of grad students who are motivated to strive for those higher standards, I'm more inclined to stick around.

What's the situation in your department like with faculty who are similar to you in terms of standards?  Are you the only one, or do you have like-minded colleagues?  Are there any grad students at all who are trying to exceed what has been traditionally expected?

[larryc]

I know I must STFU because since these colleagues are tenured, they cannot just be let go, but they can certainly torpedo my career advancement chances.

Then again, maybe it is time to start looking.

You've given yourself good advice. Take it.

Yep.

[spinnaker]

A was gonna say the opposite of all the advice you've heard so far. You've got two problems: one, you are surrounded by idiots, and it's ruining your life, and two, you are appalled and disillusioned that such a place can even exist. So I was gonna say stay there, do what you have to within reason to get tenure, and then work steadily, subtly, incrementally, to make this place into something that you can respect. Outlast the deadwood.

[larryc]

Outlast the deadwood.

That is a good strategy too--departments do change and even improve sometimes. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, you can work to improve your department at the same time you are sending out applications.

[stemasstprof]

The original post resonated a lot with me, since I feel myself in a similar situation. I have been advised multiple times to just do the bare minimum, to not try to raise the students' level because they wont like it, etc. I understand the STFU principle. But seriously, is this not shameful? How do we claim to be working in the ivory tower, to be above the standards of the Wall Street bankers, and then we shamelessly choose to, as an entire academic community, advise that we should just STFU and play along to get the tenure. Really? I mean really? Is it just me who has been feeling guilt at not doing justice to the kids who deserve to know and not just get A's? Or are there other like me? If the latter is true then how did we get to a point where we are essentially willing to sell our souls for the word "tenured" in front of our titles?

Every day I get more disgusted by the ugly aspects of academia, including petty fights and personal egos. But nothing disgusts me more than seeing that more and more of us don't give a s**t about turning ignorant kids into knowledgeable ones. Rather, we are just concerned about evaluations and our tenure decision. Who gives a f**k if this means dumbing down the new generation.

I am a foreign implant into the US and I am very worried about raising my kids in this culture and the future of this country. But I am also worried about the seemingly complete disregard in our community to not speak out against this injustice and instead shower the "STFU" advice on anyone who comes asking for help. What is the difference between me and a corrupt guy in any organization? I get paid in tenure and someone else gets paid in cash. But what's the difference?

I am sorry for appearing "holier than thou" but is this not what our entire academic community has been doing lately, given the ugly realities of academic life?

[zharkov]

As the saying goes, Things are the way they are because the got that way.  I don't think most people just turn into deadwood, but get frustrated, beaten down, maybe sidelined, then just cop an attitude. So, OP, it may help to try and understand why things got the way they are.  Asking neutral questions is one approach.  "I was wondering why some faculty assign brief papers?"  And just to be clear, don't debate, just listen. 

Also, let's keep in mind that most of us teach at schools and programs that are not as good or highly ranked as the ones we ourselves attended.  So saying, "At my school, we did this and that," is often not a fair comparison.  Unless, of course, your current employer is putting the time, energy, and resources into becoming as good as your alma mater.

[tortugaphd]

As the saying goes, Things are the way they are because the got that way.  I don't think most people just turn into deadwood, but get frustrated, beaten down, maybe sidelined, then just cop an attitude. So, OP, it may help to try and understand why things got the way they are.  Asking neutral questions is one approach.  "I was wondering why some faculty assign brief papers?"  And just to be clear, don't debate, just listen.  

Also, let's keep in mind that most of us teach at schools and programs that are not as good or highly ranked as the ones we ourselves attended.  So saying, "At my school, we did this and that," is often not a fair comparison.  Unless, of course, your current employer is putting the time, energy, and resources into becoming as good as your alma mater.

Thanks, zharkov!  These are sage words that put things into perspective.

[tenured_feminist]

I've always found that investing my time and energy in the graduate students who are smart enough to realize that being pushed hard by me will help them to be more competitive on the job market works just fine. Is there any reason you can't just let the older faculty and the older grad students drift merrily down the river to oblivion?

The key to this approach is being completely up front about what you are doing and why you are doing it, and then let the students make the choice about the path they wish to pursue in grad school ("you can take my class and write a 25-page research paper in three drafts that you'll then be able to present at a conference and ultimately publish, or you can take Billy Bob's class and, um, well, I guess he can serve on your exam committee"). This should, if done well, preempt the evaluation problem.

Once you're tenured, become the director of graduate studies and you can then resolve the rest of the problem.

[seniorscholar]

Conversation a dozen years ago with a grad student who asked me to direct his/her dissertation:
Me: I'm surprised you asked me to be supervisor -- Prof. A and Prof. C are both closer to your intended area.
Grad: Yes, but you're the only person on the faculty who didn't give me an A in a seminar. [It was an A-]

That charmed me into saying "yes" -- and this is the only dissertation I've directed that got an advance contract from a reputable university press before revisions were even started.

I'll admit that I was already tenured at the time, which makes some difference, but do pay attention to tenured feminist's advice.

[usukprof]

Wow!  You are at a RU/VH but teaching evaluations are the most important criteria and 4.3 is a problem‽  Im in a mid-tier RU/VH, and my engineering school make a big deal how (almost) all classes are taught by full time tenured or TT faculty.  And I thought my departments 4.0 threshold for acceptable teaching ratings was over-the-top!  We tell our TT faculty that we want outstanding research and reasonable teaching for tenure, but they quickly learn that we expect outstanding ratings in both.  This results in TT folk being in utter dread of the ratings each semester (including me before tenure after a single mid-3 rating for a big freshman class and even though my overall weighted average at the end was about 4.8).

I also had a situation where my primary annual graduate class was competing against a very senior slacking prof.  The word on the street quickly became that the other class was the easy A.  My enrollment suffered, but never below the level needed for the class to make (which also used to terrify me every semester in advance).  I kept my standards high and made them clear on the first day.  The result was high ratings and a desirable self selection in which I had to deal with fewer slackers in my class and more students who heard that my class was the place to really learn.  

Sounds like I was in a bit better position than the OP in that there were plenty of other challenging graduate classes in my department, and it is only a small subset of senior slackers with which I have to compete.

[lizardmom1]

All of this advice for the OP to stay sounds great, and I believe the posters mean well. However, I am here to tell you that the road to screaming, pi##ing, vomiting hell is paved with well-meaning people. I am struggling to get tenure at my "lovely" place, and it is a nightmare. If OP has options, I would encourage him/her to start putting out those applications and publications NOW, and to network like crazy at conferences.

Dysfunctional places MAY change, but that change may actually involve becoming worse rather than better. The truth is that the dysfunctionality serves some institutional purpose; otherwise it would not have bee allowed to fester to such an outrageous extent. Senior administrators either can't bring change, or they don't want to.  Meanwhile, every minute of OP's life that is spent in that hell-hole will be s&%t.

How do I know this? I live it, Baby, and it bites.

[observer3]

You can't do anything if you are untenured. But the students can.

If you know these things because students are telling you, nudge them to do a little research into what they can do about it. A group of students going to the dean sounds like the right path here. And there could be a number of ways they could go about this if it matters to them. Their money is at stake, not yours. If they only care enough about your educations to complain to you and not do anything else, then there is no reason for you to endanger yourself.