Tenure is supposed to protect college faculty from termination if their speech or writing disturbs school officials. That protection is getting weaker and weaker. For example, Marquette is trying to get rid of tenured political-science professor John McAdams because of a blog post that criticized an instructor’s handling of a controversy with a student.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Monday, November 27, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
Thanksgiving week
I'm grateful for all contributors here.
Thank you.
Your real gosh-darned moderator,
Zooze
Sunday, November 19, 2017
on the one hand
Clayton Christensen is saying that "50 percent of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. will be bankrupt in 10 to 15 years."
Fortunately, Christensen says that there is one thing that online education will not be able to replace. In his research, he found that most of the successful alumni who gave generous donations to their alma maters did so because a specific professor or coach inspired them.
Among all of these donors, "Their connection wasn't their discipline, it wasn't even the college," says Christensen. "It was an individual member of the faculty who had changed their lives."
"Maybe the most important thing that we add value to our students is the ability to change their lives," he explained. "It's not clear that that can be disrupted."
Fortunately, Christensen says that there is one thing that online education will not be able to replace. In his research, he found that most of the successful alumni who gave generous donations to their alma maters did so because a specific professor or coach inspired them.
Among all of these donors, "Their connection wasn't their discipline, it wasn't even the college," says Christensen. "It was an individual member of the faculty who had changed their lives."
"Maybe the most important thing that we add value to our students is the ability to change their lives," he explained. "It's not clear that that can be disrupted."
Monday, November 13, 2017
Fresno State professor to pay $17,000 after erasing students’ anti-abortion messages [The Fresno Bee]
The flava:A Fresno State professor will pay $17,000 and undergo first amendment training after he erased students’ anti-abortion chalk messages on campus, according to Alliance Defending Freedom.
Greg Thatcher, a professor of public health, was sued in May by two students after video showed him scrubbing out messages like “women need love, not abortion” with his shoe and instructing other students to do the same. A court order filed last week forbids Thatcher from “interfering with, disrupting, defacing, or altering” any similar student activities.
The article:
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article183731526.html
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
A Rant, from Wombat of the Copier
My favorite students are the no-excuses kids who are willing to come for extra help any time between 7 AM and 9 PM.
They sit in my office or the conference room (if there's a test coming and a crowd assembles) and work work work - they get cramps in their hands from all the writing. When I tell them a B is a good grade, they tell me it isn't good enough. They don't want to be doctors because it looks cool on Grey's Anatomy. They want to go to the Carribbean and bring starving babies back from the brink of death and they have a tear in their eye when they talk about it.
They have bags under their eyes and big dreams in their hearts and they understand that the dream is at the end of a long hard road.
And every year the fucking Greek system poaches a few of them from me with a hologram of "connections" and every year it fucking pisses me the fuck off.
Pledge "week" (it goes on for like a fucking month - oh yeah, there will be lots of f-words from here to the end - why do they call it a "week"?) leads up to the 3rd of 4 major exams. And Exam III is on drop-deadline-eve. I just looked at my fucking roster and my fucking favorites have been cut in half. As usual.
Know what "connections" are good for? Finding a fucking place to get a fucking drink when you're out of fucking town and need a fucking drink because you hate your fucking job because you were going to save babies in developing nations, but you took a W in Gen Chem so med schools put you on their "send letter about how competitive we are to soften the blow" list.
When you were in my office with your friends spilling your guts about where you came from and how you got out and how you want to do more, did anyone take your phone, tell you what to wear, or tell you to stare straight with your mouth shut? No? It was nice, right? When you were in with your "sisters" and they were telling you to keep your head straight and your shoulders square and that your hem wasn't right and you weren't getting your phone back for an extra hour because of it, did it cross your mind that if you told them what you told us, they wouldn't give a flying fuck?
Why does this institution exist? Why do colleges allow this stupid fucking anti-academic fucking shit to go on?
I feel like someone brainwashed and kidnapped my kids every year at this time. Bye, kiddo, it was great knowing you. I hope your old (actual) friends enjoy building the future you had wanted.
--Love, WotC
They sit in my office or the conference room (if there's a test coming and a crowd assembles) and work work work - they get cramps in their hands from all the writing. When I tell them a B is a good grade, they tell me it isn't good enough. They don't want to be doctors because it looks cool on Grey's Anatomy. They want to go to the Carribbean and bring starving babies back from the brink of death and they have a tear in their eye when they talk about it.
They have bags under their eyes and big dreams in their hearts and they understand that the dream is at the end of a long hard road.And every year the fucking Greek system poaches a few of them from me with a hologram of "connections" and every year it fucking pisses me the fuck off.
Pledge "week" (it goes on for like a fucking month - oh yeah, there will be lots of f-words from here to the end - why do they call it a "week"?) leads up to the 3rd of 4 major exams. And Exam III is on drop-deadline-eve. I just looked at my fucking roster and my fucking favorites have been cut in half. As usual.
Know what "connections" are good for? Finding a fucking place to get a fucking drink when you're out of fucking town and need a fucking drink because you hate your fucking job because you were going to save babies in developing nations, but you took a W in Gen Chem so med schools put you on their "send letter about how competitive we are to soften the blow" list.
When you were in my office with your friends spilling your guts about where you came from and how you got out and how you want to do more, did anyone take your phone, tell you what to wear, or tell you to stare straight with your mouth shut? No? It was nice, right? When you were in with your "sisters" and they were telling you to keep your head straight and your shoulders square and that your hem wasn't right and you weren't getting your phone back for an extra hour because of it, did it cross your mind that if you told them what you told us, they wouldn't give a flying fuck?
Why does this institution exist? Why do colleges allow this stupid fucking anti-academic fucking shit to go on?
I feel like someone brainwashed and kidnapped my kids every year at this time. Bye, kiddo, it was great knowing you. I hope your old (actual) friends enjoy building the future you had wanted.
--Love, WotC
Monday, November 6, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Google's "Education Evangelist" shares a few thoughts. . . .
The least-watched video from The New York Times 2017 Higher Ed Leaders Forum.
Wombat of the Copier says, "I need the grammar cops."
Does this need a hyphen?
I can't tell if I'm going to get a Vassar t-shirt from Michael's Arts & Crafts that I have to color myself with markers made in China, or kid leather appliqués of an Adelphi logo on Himalayan cashmere.
--Wombat of the Copier