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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: polly_mer on May 29, 2019, 06:44:41 AM

Title: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on May 29, 2019, 06:44:41 AM
From https://www.chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,30991.0.html

Quote from: acrimone on November 18, 2006, 08:29:48 AM
As the OP, I'd like to set a few ground rules for this, which I consecrate as the Hall of Fame for the Chronicle Forums.

1) You may not post your own posts here.  You can only quote someone else's.  There is not, however, a limit on the number of posts you may submit.

2) Please use the quote function (it's like an HTML tag that just has brackets instead of greater than/less than, and uses the words "quote" and "/quote") and clearly identify the person quoting.

3) No commentary on the posts, please.  This thread is hereby established solely to contain those posts which someone sees as truly exceptional, in a good way.  It may be because they are insightful, funny, sagacious... the criteria are entirely subjective.

4) Do try to be discriminating.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on May 29, 2019, 06:45:27 AM
Quote from: downer on May 29, 2019, 06:31:53 AM
The features that the article mentions are nice enough but personally I'd run a mile from being on a committee for shared governance having to sit around with Deans.

Gimme money, that's what I want.

Well that, and students who want to learn.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on June 02, 2019, 05:56:28 AM
Quote from: spork on June 02, 2019, 04:42:15 AM
I'd say someone's answer to the "is college worth it?" question is probably heavily affected by what kind of student the person was. The person who believed that a bachelor's degree was by itself a magic ticket to an effortless, lucrative career is probably going to be disappointed by their earnings after four years of box checking.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on June 12, 2019, 05:09:46 AM
Quote from: ergative on June 11, 2019, 11:04:42 PM
(The jar has now been emptied with extreme prejudice and coriander seeds are no longer welcome in my kitchen. If it wants to be my friend, the coriander will need to sprout some leaves like a grownup.)
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on June 14, 2019, 04:49:00 AM
From The best predatorial journal come-ons thread:

Quote from: Scout on June 14, 2019, 04:24:24 AM
I mean, I'd be doing the common man such a service!

ETA: my sister, who is also a faculty member, suggested this title:

Title - The Papers of the Very Esteemed, Most Famous in World and Often Very Busy Dr. Scout written in Lay Language so that Nobody will be Left Out
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: mamselle on June 14, 2019, 05:45:13 PM
From the Limerick thread...

QuoteThere's a rhy-thm to lim'-ricks, you know,
An-a-pest-ic-al-ly they should flow
So it's not just the count
Reverse dac-tyl we flount
We like our ducks all in a row.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on June 29, 2019, 10:17:04 AM
From Examples of Why Fabulous Candidates Still Don't Get the Job:

Quote from: Hegemony on June 29, 2019, 10:14:18 AM
But being a fabulous person does not automatically translate into being a fabulous candidate.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on July 20, 2019, 09:03:56 AM
From Something I Just Realized:

Quote from: pedanticromantic on July 20, 2019, 08:13:09 AM
Me at start of semester: "ah! Don't ask me to do something for you, it's the start of semester! I'm busy!"
Me in middle of semester: "ah! Don't ask me to do something for you, it's the middle of semester! I'm busy!"
Me at end of semester: "ah! Don't ask me to do something for you, it's the end of semester! I'm busy!"

Me in summer: "ah! Don't ask me to do something for you, it's summer! I'm busy!"
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Liquidambar on July 24, 2019, 10:08:14 AM
Quote from: Puget on July 22, 2019, 09:57:19 AM
As promised here's the guide I wrote, lightly edited to be non-campus specific. As warned it is long. Use at your own discretion and risk-- not a substitute for professional guidance or your own campus protocols!

Talking with a student in distress

Every conversation is going to be different and you need to take your cues from the student, but this may help give you an idea of how a conversation can be productively structured. Use your own words that are appropriate to you, the student and the situation: these are just some examples to help get you started.

Remember, you don't need to do this perfectly (there really is no perfectly)— just having an empathetic conversation were the student feels cared can make a huge difference!

1. Let them tell as much or as little of their story as they want to. You don't need to probe for content.
"I'm concerned and wanted to check in about what's been going on for you lately" can be a good way to start the conversation if they don't initially volunteer anything— this allows them to either talk about emotions or events to the extent they feel comfortable. You may also follow that up with what you've observed, said in a non-judgmental way,
"I've noticed that you [seem upset, don't seem like you've been taking care of yourself, haven't been coming to class, etc.]"

2. Paraphrase what they are telling you— this can include both emotional and content paraphrases, e.g.,
"It sounds like you've been feeling. . ."
"It sounds like your class work is really overwhelming right now"

3. Let them respond. Express empathy and paraphrase some more— the goal is to help them feel heard and validated.

4. Ask about suicidal thoughts—
"Sometimes when people are feeling/experiencing [use their words for what they are feeling/experiencing] they have thoughts about wanting to die or killing themselves. Have you had any thoughts like that?"
This is hard and takes practice, but there is strong evidence that asking directly and openly decreases risk- just telling someone decreases risk that they will act. You will not "put ideas into their head" or otherwise harm them by asking.

5. If yes but doesn't elaborate—and only if you feel prepared to do so in a calm and nonjudgmental manner, try to get a rough assessment of risk:
"What kind of thoughts have you had?" / "What have you thought about?"
"Have you thought about a plan?" "How close would you say you've gotten to acting on that plan?"
The goal is to get rough idea of risk so you can communicate that when you make your referral. You don't have to probe too much, just get an idea of risk.

6. Express care and support—
"I'm so glad you told me, that's a really important, brave step and now we can work together to make sure you're connected to the resources to help keep you safe and get to a place where things don't feel so [hopeless, overwhelming, however they've described it]."

Emphasis that there is a whole team on campus ready to support them, they are not alone. Avoid minimizing but normalize and reinforce hope— many students go through something similar and have gotten help and gone on to thrive.

7. Ask if they have told anyone else or are currently getting any care (e.g., going to the counseling center).

8. Let them know what is going to happen now and make the referral. If they have concerns about you making the referral, you can address their potential fears that they will automatically have to leave campus (can't promise that this will never happen, but it is rare*). *Find out what the protocol is on your campus-- in the US it's not actually legal to force students out just for reporting mental health problems, as these are disabilities, but some campuses have a bad record on this.

If the have expressed or you suspect they may be suicidal, or you have heard/observed other things that really concern you (trust your gut):

•   Tell (don't ask) them that you are going to call now and make a referral.
•   Make sure you are clearly communicating to the person who answers the phone that you are making an urgent referral for a suicidal student who is currently with you. If the student has expressed having a plan tell them that right away.
•   The therapist will likely ask to speak directly to the student on the phone. Stay with the student during this conversation—the therapist will likely need to speak with you again afterward.
•   If possible, keep the student with you until there is a plan in place for their care.
•   If the plan is for the student to go to the counseling center right away, offer to walk over with them ("How about we walk over there together? is more likely to get a yes than if you make it sound like a real choice).

If things seems less urgent: 
•   Suggest it might help to talk to a therapist.
•   Ask if they would like your help in doing that, and if so offer to sit with them while they call or call yourself and put them on the phone.
•   Give them info on urgent care walk-in hours (if your counseling center has these), and if it is during those hours offer to walk them over.

In either case, consider submitting a care team report (if this exists on your campus), as this will mobilize additional resources for them.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on July 28, 2019, 06:32:04 AM
From: How much does "face time" matter in today's digital world?

Quote from: ciao_yall on July 27, 2019, 08:14:08 AM
A lot.

Because nothing is funnier than all the conferences all about the Digital World where everyone gets together and schmoozes about the end of Traditional Education and the Rise of Online Learning and the Death of the Sophocles-Style Classroom.

Over coffee, donuts and cocktails.

In big hotels, with nametags, passing business cards around.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Cheerful on August 15, 2019, 12:50:10 PM
From: The Venting Thread

Quote from: LibbyG on August 15, 2019, 10:49:52 AM
Dear president, provost, and dean,

Please accept my warm invitation for coffee so that you three can get acquainted. Apparently you don't know each other. Why else, in the last two years, would ALL THREE OF YOU add all-but-mandatory re-education professional development sessions, each one four-six hours long, in the week before classes start?

Don't get me wrong. I love, with the heat of a thousand suns, those exercises that reveal to me with rapturous revelation what kind of leader I am. I'll laugh, I'll cry, I'll never be the same. And those table-by-table summaries of break-out discussion! I must stop talking about it, lest I audibly groan with pleasure.

But, y'know, maybe I should be at my desk instead? Fielding calls from students needing last-minute scheduling changes and, I dunno, prepping my own classes?

Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: ciao_yall on October 10, 2019, 12:03:06 PM
Quote from: Caracal on October 10, 2019, 11:34:11 AM

Seems like part of this particularly American belief that you can fix everything through education, oddly married to consistently underfunding the same educational systems that are supposed to fix everything.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: mamselle on December 20, 2019, 04:58:43 PM
From: What's the longest you have been on the job market?

Quote from: jerseyjay on December 20, 2019, 04:03:09 PM
I understand the anxiety, the vulnerability and fear of instability.  I would be feeling the same--I did feel the same when I was on the job market.

But there really is no answer to your question. If I tell you I spent 3 months on the job market before being hired at Harvard (not true), that wouldn't help you get a job. If I told you I spent 20 years looking for full-time work (which is actually almost true if you factor in the time while I was ABD), I don't think that would help you either. If I tell you have X amount of time before you have "expired" stamped on your forward--would you look for work any harder?

The only thing you can do, in my opinion, is to expand your search as wide as possible (i.e., don't limit yourself to only one type of school, be willing to commute a bit, etc.) and look for non-academic positions. Then hope you get something--maybe you will, and maybe you won't.

In other words, there are things you can do to improve your chances of success on the job market, but there is nothing you can do to guarantee success. And much is beyond your control.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: spork on January 01, 2020, 01:59:35 PM
Quote from: mamselle on December 31, 2019, 09:02:35 PM
The thing about being scholars who appreciate witty remarks and the occasional display of well-crafted wit In discourse is that we have to remember the human side of our discourse and rein in the wit when it has the potential to hurt someone.

I agree, Wahoo's post was very funny and well-written, but it might have been better posted on the 'Asides' thread.

There is a serious component in this thread which is being overlooked, and that is that innocence, a certain measure of unwitting ignorance, and simple human need can get people entangled in things that create certain levels of confusion as they progress.

When something like the need for an unbiased letter heaves its head up in what has been a pleasant, unstressed ocean of calm connection, the sudden need to define things that were going on pleasantly undefined can be a shock to that pleasant system.

I was also raised to think well of people, work towards best ends, and base my expectations of others on the belief that they were doing the same. In my case it landed me in an abusive marriage because I had no idea of what to look for. Thankfully, the OP's situation is less dire.

But they are being brought up against this sudden wall of confusion that they might--but also, reasonably, might not--have foreseen or realized earlier as they went down that pleasant path. There are really two crises going on at once: one is the momentary question of whether to seek a reference letter from someone (In this case, I'd probably avoid doing that if possible: optics for younger females are still a minefield and you don't need that potential complication going forward). The other is the feeling of being brought up short by the larger question of defining a relationship that has seemed like something pleasant and non-threatening that didn't need definition: in fact,, a loss-of-innocence thing.

I can be as cynical as the next one, but I happen to think that innocence is a precious, tender commodity that should not be ripped at and torn away when it needs to be shed in some specific setting. When someone trusts you to share a crisis that involves its loss, I'm in favor of respecting the person who maintained the courage to go on in their innocence as long as they could.

Human beauty in behaviour is a rare thing, and even if (as it may, rightly, here, I think, need to be abandoned, either because, optics, or because the situation may have run its course) that's a hard thing to do alone. We're being asked, respectfully, for wisdom on the issue.

The least we can do is be respectful in return.

M.

and

Quote from: nescafe on January 01, 2020, 01:37:37 PM
Quote from: writingprof on December 31, 2019, 07:44:58 AM
I, for one, am having trouble reconciling the politics of this thread.  I mean, presumably you all hate Mike Pence and the "Pence Rule," but it seems that most of you also instinctively dislike the OP's mentor.  Why?  Is it really just that he's white and old?

You're not known for your exercise in good faith debate when it comes to this topic, but here goes: it's not appropriate for faculty mentors to maintain close personal relationships with their students. It's a blurring of the hierarchical boundaries that exist in the mentoring relationship, and it puts the student in a potentially difficult space of having the navigate "optics," socially injure their mentor, or risk retaliation for non-academic reasons. No, it's not purely about sex, but it is often the case that advisors that push for these blurry relationships are also sexual harassers.

Reading only what OP reports in this thread, I don't see evidence of sexual harassment or tension. But that doesn't mean the advisor hasn't crossed a line they shouldn't have. That the OP is questioning themselves is one natural manifestation of the problem. It's the least toxic outcome of a poor mentorship style... but it's still a toxic outcome that could easily have been avoided.

TLDR: they are students, not buddies. Trying to make them buddies is usually about the advisor's ego, and that is toxic.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: ciao_yall on January 27, 2020, 11:23:06 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on January 26, 2020, 06:24:21 PM
Many years ago, I got phoned at home one night by an extremely angry helicopter mom.  I had had one of those "reply all" disasters and turned out her darling baby was on the distribution list
I tried multiple times to apologize to helicopter mom  but she was not having it.  She wanted to chew me out - over and over and over.

As the conversation went on, I knew we would eventually get to the "I pay your salary mister!" part of our little talk.

So....  like a hitter waiting on the fastball he KNOWS is coming, I sat back, took her insults and anger and waited on my pitch.  Sure enough....

Helicopter mom: Listen you, I pay your salary.

Your worthy correspondent: Uh, no ma'am.  Actually the university pays my salary.

HM:  Well where do you think they get the money????

YWC: Oh, ma'am.  University budgets are really very very complicated.  For all I know, my salary dollars come out of the sale of basketball tickets.


HM:  Sputter, sputter, sputter, but, what, huh, sputter, but, but, but sputter what?.  Silence.

Our conversation ended shortly thereafter.  She kicked it all up to the dean and I was forced to write a letter of apology to her idiot kid for the lapse of judgement that started this whole fandango.  The kid transferred to the business college later that week and I never saw him again.  Not sure what happened to HM.  Writing my entirely fake apology was a small price to pay for driving one batshit crazy parent apoplectic with rage. 

Ain't I a stinker?
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Cheerful on March 08, 2020, 09:03:45 AM

From "Favorite" student sentences:

Quote from: AmLitHist on March 08, 2020, 08:38:54 AM
Some of the negative constipation around the vaccination issue is based on individual liberty and religious freedom.

Uh.....
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Hibush on April 18, 2020, 11:09:27 AM
Quote from: selecter on April 18, 2020, 07:26:27 AM
Had to look up grok, and when searching for SPADFY, most of the results come from the Chronicle, including more than I'm in VT, having relocated to work at a college that is no longer in Dire Straits, and which has instead passed from this mortal coil. It is deceased. Stone cold dead. And while I followed Polly's advice as much as I could in the last ten years (it really is sound advice) I didn't realize said college was bereft of life because it was resting on a perch it had (in fact) been nailed to. It had incredible plumage. Some deft 990s and fraud papered over the deepest trouble, and NECHE's double-secret-probation (which is called, privately, "notice of concern") didn't help. The college I left (in the midwest, which might even be Super Dinky) is a worse college, with worse plumage. It has no pulse, but the time of death has not been called.

Hundreds of other humanities programs are nailed to the perch, and I'd say at least a hundred whole colleges are similarly propped in their cages. The math has caught up with higher ed, and covid-19 has accelerated realizations, while worsening all underlying financials. The colleges that will be here in 2024 will have a brand already, will be nimble, and will have cleaned up their operations over the last ten years (which will necessarily have included one of the following: a) an enormous endowment, or b) a serious and continuing de-emphasis of humanities programming.) I think those colleges will prosper.

I like the rescue plan offered by NAB, and I believe the humanities and SLACs have value and power. Not more value, though, than other things that are similarly *undervalued* by "starve the beast" politicians and consumers who vote with their feet. This retrenching is long overdue, and the scarce resources we've got simply aren't best-allocated toward the humanities. This thread will be useful for those wanting to tell the history of humanities-based higher ed. It was a luxury, and seems like it was a fun ride, but it was never actually the center of the universe, as it had imagined.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZw35VUBdzo
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Hibush on May 07, 2020, 06:59:52 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on April 28, 2020, 06:49:16 AM
There was a study comparing active learning to regular lectures which found that students learned more from active learning, but felt they learned more from regular lectures, since it wasn't so HAAAARD.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: polly_mer on May 23, 2020, 06:11:39 PM
Quote from: Hegemony on May 19, 2020, 09:15:12 PM
I am heavily in favor of asynchronous. You will have students with all kinds of challenging situations. Some will have poor internet in their buildings. Some will live in rural areas, where internet is still very spotty. Some will be taking care of children during the day, or working, or sharing a computer with other people who have time-essential requirements like working from home. I had a student who couldn't be online one day because he was living back on the family farm and had to help with the lambing, which doesn't stop for a synchronous class. Don't assume they're all carefree young adults with lots of time and technology. When some of them want to get online, they have to drive to McDonald's, which has free wifi, and sit in the parking lot.  Sure, they "should" be more available, and they "should" have other childcare or jobs that don't interfere. But if we want to help the students where they are, and not make things worse for the segment that are strained in time or resources, I think it behooves us to be flexible.

The thing about successful online teaching is that it is not just classroom teaching broadcast via computer. It is a whole different ballgame. Don't try to just import your regular teaching style online.  Your in-person classes sound great, with all the real-time interaction, but that's just not the strength of online classes. Instead of trying for a third-rate version of in-person classes, instead magnify the strengths of what online teaching can do.

One real bonus to online teaching is that both you and the students will have more time to think before you discuss. In asynchronous teaching, nobody is put on the spot, everybody genuinely has an equal chance to contribute, and the formerly shy and hesitant people can also shine.

As an example, my own son has a stutter that only comes out when he feels everyone is looking at him. Occasionally he feels confident enough to speak in class, enough so that his teachers deny to me that there is a problem. But I know there is one, because he's confided in me and because I've observed it. The real result is that he very rarely speaks in class, because he dreads the stutter coming out. But he's voluble and thoughtful in online classes, because he can write out his thoughts and post them when he's ready, and no one will ever hear that he has a stutter. There are more of these hesitant students than you may think. You will love hearing from them in an online discussion board.

But about the lectures. They simply don't work. It's not a format that works online. It is boring as hell — a talking head droning online. Even if it were synchronous, it's far removed and impersonal-seeming, and students will feel very awkward chiming in. They will also not watch long videos. YouTube has done a lot of study of this, and the average YouTube video is watched for under 4 minutes. I don't mean that the average YouTube video is under 4 minutes — I mean it's longer and the viewer gives up in under 4 minutes. I also had occasion to watch a number of recorded lectures of my fellow professors, a while back. OMG, the tedium. Not only are they grueling to watch, but you are competing with the polish of TV, which every student will be familiar with. Look at how news broadcasts do it. They break frequently, they have fancy graphics, they have clips — there is no footage of just a head talking for many minutes in a row. That's for a reason. And TED talks? Massive rehearsal, polished script, polished graphics, walking around — those are as good as it gets, and none of us are going to have that degree of polish.

Go ahead and watch these online lecturers, who are trying hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AycTgPJtBP0 (quick roundup of the history of philosophy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fbrl6WoIyo (introduction to psychology)

How long before your attention started to wander? And these guys are doing a good job. They are much better than a random prof talking in front of a computer screen. But still — I can bet you stopped watching partway in.

Also, if you have a either a video of you talking or a lecture in real time, how do hearing-impaired students access it? You will need to interpret or caption it — in fact the ADA requires it. Hearing-impaired and deaf students take more online classes in greater proportions than other students, because they are more accessible. So when you think about formats, think about whether it's easy to make it accessible for them.

Instead of lectures transferred online, put the same information up spread between a variety of formats. If you insist, have a 1-2 minute video of you talking informally and showing something visual that is relevant to the course — a Napoleon hat, or a fossil, or something you can light on fire, or something. Then have a little online video made by a professional outfit, like a TV documentary about Napoleon, or whatever. There are tons of these for almost every subject. Bonus: they will usually be already professionally close-captioned. You can also include the occasional delightful video, like a relevant song from Horrible Histories, or a clip of Monty Python doing the Philosophers' Football Match.

Then have a little sheet of interest facts and questions about Napoleon, with pictures. TOP TEN MYTHS ABOUT NAPOLEON, or whatever. Sneak a lot of learning and thinking in there. Then have a substantive PowerPoint about Napoleon's campaigns, with snazzy graphics and information they should know. Then have the readings, which will be the same readings as an in-person class.

Then have the lively discussion board, with an intriguing question that requires real thought (but not outrageously complex) and allows for differing interpretations. They have to make the first post by a certain point in the week, and then two substantive responses to others' posts later in the week. Grade these posts afterwards by slapping a number on them. (I give full points for each unless the post is really, really stupid — but I make it clear up front that saying "I agree!" or "I really like your remark" gets a failing grade. But you won't have that trouble — they love the discussion boards.) Comment widely yourself on the boards, in supportive ways, but redirecting in a kindly way if they start to get facts wrong or interpretations that really won't fly. Divide your discussions ahead of time into groups of 8-12, or they become too big for everyone to read everything. The computer will divide them automatically (be sure to do this at the beginning of the course — it won't divide them once discussion has started).

Then have a short computer-graded multiple-choice quiz about the essentials. Make sure it's uncheatable (have the system select random questions from a larger question bank, have it mix up the order of the answers, and make it time-limited). That will keep them on their toes, focused on the facts as well as the interpretations, and give an incentive not to slack on the reading.

At regular intervals you also have short writing assignments (2-4 pages works best, I find) that allow them to integrate the material and work on questions at greater length.

These elements let students go back over the material and find things with ease, and the combination of words and visuals makes providing the visual material easier than in an in-person class.  Another bonus is that you can set it up ahead of time (indeed, you have to) and push a button and it does run by itself. Then what you do is to send out chatty reminders when deadlines are approaching — summing things up and providing a personal touch — stop by the discussion boards when discussion is going (this part is really fun and you will have to restrain yourself from being on there too much), and grade assignments when they come in.

I've done this for a number of years and I find them really great. The student feedback is that they find these classes engaging, admirably organized, and very worthwhile — and that they really appreciate the flexibility and the lack of demand to be synchronous. That's in normal years — even more so in a pandemic.

I actually have handouts on how to do all this if anyone is interested and wants to PM me — but it's basically the same as I've said here, with some details about the LMS.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Cheerful on June 18, 2020, 01:46:52 PM
Quote from: Bonnie on June 18, 2020, 10:41:47 AM
No. My university administration has not really embraced communication with faculty and staff as a critical tool.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Vkw10 on August 14, 2020, 04:45:06 PM
From The things you wish you could say

Quote from: FishProf on August 14, 2020, 08:08:26 AM

Blanket policy decisions are typically both too broad and too narrow.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Hibush on August 16, 2020, 04:25:30 PM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on August 16, 2020, 02:12:50 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on August 16, 2020, 11:36:58 AM
Shoot. I thought I existed. My bad.

Well now you know.


From How can people still take the Bible or other the religious texts literally?  (https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1661.30)
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: AmLitHist on September 07, 2020, 09:48:49 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on September 07, 2020, 06:34:04 AM
I have to set goals with my dept head during each annual review.  I wonder if I can amend them all to read, "Get out of this shit show alive."

Words to live by.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: little bongo on September 14, 2020, 09:35:59 AM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on September 14, 2020, 09:24:10 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on September 14, 2020, 08:46:25 AM
Quote from: tuxthepenguin on September 14, 2020, 08:34:59 AM
Quote from: Caracal on September 14, 2020, 08:24:30 AM
Maybe some places it works, but I know of places that do have strong unions and it is still a disaster.

Unions exist to protect the faculty. Tenure exists to protect academic freedom. I know there are those that don't understand what tenure protects, or who tell stories that confuse ineffective administration with tenure, but that's what it's there for and what it does in practice. Unions and tenure are completely different animals that can coexist or stand on their own.

More correctly, unions exist to protect themselves. Unions despise non-union workers in any field, including academia, and they're even not very supportive of faculty who belong to the bargaining unit but choose not to join the union. They often oppose flexibility in work arrangements because the more uniform they can make working conditions the more they can ensure that faculty interests align with union interests. Where they differ, union interests win.

You've always been a fan of the blanket statement, Marshy.  Careful with those.  What you've said is not necessarily true.

A long time ago, when I was unskilled blue-collar, I worked for a union shop.  It was Big Brother.  It coddled the incompetent.  I also defended the weak.  I landed right after the union sued our employer for forcing workers to finish their shifts off the clock if they didn't get their work done.  Illegal and immoral.  The union defended truck drivers who would be awakened in the middle of the night at their motels by shift managers who could not locate this or that on a palate.  I don't know about you, but I don't want a driver hauling one of those big rigs through mountain passes who's been awakened at 2am after a hard day driving----yay union.

We've worked for both a non-union and a union school.   

God Bless the union.

I might suggest watching fewer movies.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Cheerful on September 18, 2020, 10:25:18 AM
From Preparing for Coronavirus thread:

Quote from: secundem_artem on September 18, 2020, 09:12:23 AM
Excuse me please, I'm looking for The Fora.  I accidentally seem to have wandered into an episode of Doomsday Preppers.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: San Joaquin on October 21, 2020, 07:49:12 PM
Pure genius from apl68:

"Who knew that getting an education required learning so much stuff?"
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: WidgetWoman on March 05, 2021, 10:11:10 AM
From FishProf in Favorite Student Emails:
Quote from: FishProf on March 05, 2021, 04:21:43 AM
When I have a syllabus that doesn't need to be updated to close another "loophole for the stupid" I will have found the Holy Grail and shall retire.

It doesn't look likely anytime soon.

:edit: link to post
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: spork on April 17, 2021, 04:54:51 PM
Quote from: mamselle on April 17, 2021, 01:32:50 PM
Someone once said to me, "Don't get on a negative power trip."

I think they meant, don't go down the slope of assumptions that start with the idea that you have no power and no agency and the only way out is down so you might as well self-immolate to begin with (to mix destructive metaphors).

I don't have enough experience from my own perspective, but I've worked for people who did things like turn all the reviewer's objections around by the end of the week, and saw their piece out before the rival lab on the other coast.

So it might be worth it to stay in the game longer--you can't talk anymore to someone you've hung up on.

M.

Boldface added.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: permanent imposter on April 23, 2021, 11:42:20 AM
From the legalization of heroine thread:

Quote from: Kron3007 on April 19, 2021, 04:14:47 AM
I invite you to come smell me if you like, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: mamselle on May 11, 2021, 11:08:43 PM
From the mental health thread:

Quote from: Hegemony on May 11, 2021, 01:54:28 PM
I think the key is that our lives are not worthwhile in proportion to the amount we produce, the career objectives we achieve, or the number of people we interact with, or even to what degree we help those people or inspire warm and fuzzy feelings in them. I always remember what a determined and happy friend said once: "Your life is for you."

It's true that as academically minded people, we're used to looking at how well we scored on that exam or the grade we earned in that class, and that translates into "What career achievements do I have?" when we graduate into being professionals. And if we want to do those things (actually want to do them and savor them, not just cross them off the list or feel we are "keeping up'), then we should aim at a reasonable amount of them. But there's no finish line where someone says, "You have kept up with the highest performers in your peer group, you are now worthy, you can feel comfortable now." We're used to that finish line (the test scores come out, the class grades come out). We have to adjust to the lack of that as adults.

And we all have a tendency to look at the people who perform best at the easily measured things and compare ourselves to them. The person from the grad school cohort who got the job at Harvard or the big grant or the TV gig, or maybe all three. And the people who come right after that person, with visibly "successful" lives. Of course even those don't tell the whole story. I once talked to someone who deals with a lot of the top Hollywood celebrities. She said, "They're rich and famous, but none of that insulates you from family difficulties, health problems, and emotional pain. Believe me. They have as much of that as anyone. I have talked to them a lot and I know."

But comparing ourselves to the high achievers doesn't give us a true sense of where we stand in the scheme of things, even if we're determined to measure our success in relation to other people. How many people from your high school got derailed and never finished, or finished under a cloud? How many are struggling in part-time grocery store jobs with no benefits? I would imagine more than one would think, because those people are typically less visible on our personal radar. People have children with terrible problems, siblings with terrible problems, a whole range of challenges and difficulties. All of us were led to believe we had bright shiny futures and if they didn't turn out bright and shiny, something was badly wrong (probably with us, but maybe we were uniquely targeted by fate) and it is all bad and a failure. But the truth is that everybody's life is a mixture. (I am leaving out people with genuinely appalling life circumstances, like traumatized refugees and the desperately poor in ravaged countries, and people like that — although they're on the scale of what our lives could have been like too.)

But anyway, everyone's life is a mixture of benefits and hardships. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with us or that we were uniquely singled out. It's the human condition. And the human challenge is to learn to savor the good things, despite the hardships. Because they are there, and they're there for us. Gladioli, ice cream sundaes, bath beads, puppies, a book lent by an old friend, a pillow that is just right, lovely remarks on Twitter (try Tom Cox), whatever pleasures speak to you — all those things are there for us. Despite all the rest of the challenges. The one doesn't cancel out the other, though our response depends a lot on where we turn our attention. It is an act of kindness to ourselves to let ourselves have a space where we relish and savor those things that are there despite how we feel about our CVs or our life achievements. Sometimes we have to bring our attention back to the good things a hundred times a day, because our internal alarm system has set itself on high and is determined to pay attention only to the ways we can feel bad. Turning our attention back to the good is a practice that rewards itself. Hang in there.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: ciao_yall on August 13, 2021, 06:38:29 AM
Quote from: quasihumanist on August 12, 2021, 04:48:23 PM
Quote from: apl68 on August 10, 2021, 07:22:05 AM
The admins I'm talking about aren't a bunch of phonies or incompetents.  They're all good people, as far as I know.  But in their line of work you seem to get pushed to follow a new fad every couple of years.

When you're trying to solve problems that you don't have the resources to make even the slightest dent in, you end up injecting yourself with bleach quite often.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: apl68 on September 23, 2021, 07:25:48 AM
From the "Academic Freedom and Cancel Culture" thread:


Quote from: marshwiggle on September 22, 2021, 08:55:06 AM

I didn't even know therapy goats were a thing.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: mamselle on December 09, 2021, 11:44:24 AM
Per: FirsProf

From: Ways to end the quarter/semester when everyone is over it.

Quote from: apl68 on December 09, 2021, 07:25:44 AM
Quote from: ciao_yall on December 08, 2021, 04:52:04 PM
I ask students to reflect on the semester and share out...

1) Their biggest surprise
2) The most important thing they learned


1)  My biggest surprise this semester
Prof. ciao_yall really meant it about no extra credit!


2)  The most important thing I learned this semester
There's stuff in the syllabus that you actually need to know to do you work on time.  Who knew?

M.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: mamselle on March 31, 2022, 05:08:33 PM
Quote from: Hegemony on March 31, 2022, 04:17:13 PM
I don't think accommodating people's concerns about COVID safety needs to be a landslide towards people shirking all their duties.

COVID diagnoses and hospitalizations are on the climb in many places in the world -- places where the BA.2 variant is predominating, which is what's about to hit the U.S. We're at ~700 deaths per day, which is still not great, and seems likely to head upward again soon. And there are a lot of conditions that the ADA doesn't count as "serious," but which predispose people towards worse outcomes: being over 60, being overweight (= 68% of the U.S. population), asthma, etc. – or all of the above at once.

And there are many people who are caretakers for the immune-compromised: caretakers for people undergoing treatment for cancer, or for people who've had organ transplants. Or they simply have children too young to be vaccinated. Or they have children who are too young to be vaccinated and who have health vulnerabilities. None of those categories qualifies for ADA accommodations, but all of them have real and serious incentives to be cautious. You will get more cooperation from faculty if you recognize these possibilities. And they should not have to describe their health conditions or those of their family to warrant flexibility on the part of their administrators.

I'd suggest dividing up the responsibilities. Some people can do the in-person stuff; other people can do not-in-person stuff. Students can be advised via Zoom. As we've seen in the past two years, a whole lot of functions of the university can be delivered without requiring everyone to show up in person for everything. And offering Zoom options for students is also an equity and inclusion issue -- those students themselves may be caretakers for the immune-compromised, for children too young to be vaccinated, or for children too young to be vaccinated who are immune-compromised. None of those categories is rare.

So figure out some way that the faculty who are reluctant to show up in person can contribute meaningfully to the functioning of the department while staying remote. Assign them the troublesome assessment report or the library status report or whatever. Assign them the Zoom advising function. Figure out ways in which everyone can contribute.

And then figure out ways to make the office situation work. Presumably if they were using their offices, you wouldn't be telling them that they're the reason that 4-6 graduate students have to be shoved into a small office. So they're not the sole cause of this problem. I think the way to go here is to raise the matter at the next department meeting, get the department's suggestions, and vote on it as a department. Maybe the people who want to stay remote should let others inhabit their offices (with or without the original person removing their stuff) for a two-year period. Maybe there should be a rule that if they don't hold regular office hours for X amount of time (six months? one year? two years?), they lose their office. Maybe some other arrangement. Let the faculty figure it out and vote -- then there will be buy-in and it is less likely to be seen as unfairly handed down from on high.

From the point of view of one of those people with conditions that the ADA and that the university does not consider "serious," but which cause me to remain cautious, here is my take on the situation. For the past two years I have been knocking myself out to keep things going here. When the pandemic struck and the university decreed, I converted all my courses to online, and even though I've taught some of my load online for years and know how, it was a massive time-suck. I've tried to stay alert to student issues, from not knowing how to navigate online courses to family deaths from COVID from pandemic-related loss of jobs and income, meaning I've been extra flexible on deadlines, assignments, and mentoring. I've gone the extra mile to keep our grad students afloat. I've bought about a zillion masks and handed them out to students, and poured a lot of my own money into extra precautions and equipment, from fans for classrooms to microphones for online teaching. I've managed the faculty in my programs who were navigating all of the same thing, while having their own crises of family health, personal health, etc. I've coped with a mountain of bureaucracy loaded on me by all this, plus all the regular bureaucracy which was already too much. Zero acknowledgement for all this, of course, other than a campus-wide email from the president about how excellent we all are. And now, because I don't want to show up in person to meetings that could equally well be done remotely, the university is regarding me as a slacker. After two years of knocking myself out to keep them afloat. 

Does this attitude make me want to continue going the extra mile for the university in any way whatsoever? Not – one – bit.

So my moral is: be sure you're not causing yourself problems down the line, by treating the cautious faculty as if they're shirking, when I would bet that (acknowledged or understood by you or not) they have also been going the extra mile for two years, and are already beyond exhausted.

M.
Title: Re: Posting Hall of Fame
Post by: Hibush on September 11, 2023, 06:30:11 AM
Quote from: lightning on September 10, 2023, 07:53:38 PMThe HLC would have gotten around to it sooner, but the HLC first had to make sure that Union's SLOs were standardized and measurable, unit faculty were collecting lotsa data about learning, unit heads were making reports, deans were making reports of reports, Academic Affairs were making reports of reports of reports, and everyone was closing the feedback loop and muttering some stuff about Bloom's Taxonomy.