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#21
Teaching / Re: Favorite student emails
Last post by the_geneticist - March 27, 2024, 01:20:44 PM
Quote from: kaysixteen on March 15, 2024, 08:49:00 PMOk.   Will you perhaps however consider replying to Stu, telling him about the inappropriateness of his request?

I wrote back to say that the grade cut-offs were in the syllabus. It was an honest question & deserves an answer.  It's not inappropriate to ask if I would be doing a curve* (which students really don't understand), it's inappropriate to demand that I do so.


*The students want to know if we will be lowering the threshold for what counts as a A- vs B+.  Plus, I fundamentally disagree with the idea that grades should follow a normal bellcurve.  Grades are earned individually & everyone has the opportunity to earn all the points in my classes.
#22
General Discussion / Re: placeholder
Last post by fleabite - March 27, 2024, 01:14:00 PM
Quote from: apl68 on March 27, 2024, 06:14:11 AMMy ears have been hurting off and on for two days now.  At the moment my right ear aches so much I can hardly concentrate on what I'm trying to do.

Sorry to hear that. Have you seen a doctor? Strep throat can cause a nasty earache.
#23
The State of Higher Ed / Re: Colleges in Dire Financial...
Last post by apl68 - March 27, 2024, 12:43:24 PM
Quote from: spork on March 27, 2024, 05:11:36 AMBluffton University will "merge" with University of Findlay.

I saw a news story where Bluffton's administration swore it had nothing to do with financial problems, but was about "getting ahead of the demographic cliff."  So perhaps more a matter of trying to head off fiscal trouble that they can see coming as a result of continuing projected declines in the number of students to recruit from.  It would suggest more foresight than many troubled schools have shown in recent years.
#25
Research & Scholarship / Re: March Research Thread
Last post by darkstarrynight - March 27, 2024, 11:25:27 AM
Though I did not do any book writing yet, I did complete a manuscript review yesterday.
#26
Research & Scholarship / Re: The best predatorial journ...
Last post by Liquidambar - March 27, 2024, 11:06:11 AM
Quote from: bio-nonymous on March 27, 2024, 06:45:41 AMI am a biomedical researcher, why would I have an astrophysics article sitting around waiting for this opportunity?

Don't we all have astrophysics articles waiting around for such opportunities?
#27
General Discussion / Re: NYT Spelling Bee
Last post by ab_grp - March 27, 2024, 10:52:11 AM
Good morning!

Past genius with pangram so far.  I also got to QBABM yesterday with final word udon.

No luck on LB again! Congrats on your solutions! Some interesting words!

To those who have gotten the shingles set of vaccines: I know your experiences have been discussed here and there, but can you let me know what you would recommend in terms of scheduling? Husband has to get his soon, and we are trying to figure out how much down time he might need to prepare for and the timeline of issues.  I think I have heard/read that the second one is the worst but am not sure.  Thanks for any insights!

Still undilating from my appt with regular eye doctor, but he said everything looks the same as two years ago so just to keep seeing the retina guy and come back as needed.  Is that what happens? Just see a specialist? I thought he'd at least say come back every X years.

Happy solving!
#28
The State of Higher Ed / Re: IHE: Arizona Bill Restrict...
Last post by lightning - March 27, 2024, 10:38:30 AM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on March 25, 2024, 07:24:23 PM
Quote from: lightning on March 25, 2024, 07:24:56 AMThis is way too specific of an attack on governance, so I can't chalk it up to some broad ideological attack from the GOP and certainly not the MAGA wing of the GOP.

An attack on faculty such as this had to have come from someone with insider knowledge of how governance works and doesn't work in higher ed. It probably came from an administrator (or former administrator) who has the ear of state politicians.

Some higher-ed administrators (who knows--maybe a lot of them now) would gladly align themselves with an ideology that they disagree with, in order to limit the power of those pesky faculty members.

I don't know how you separate the ideologies in the Republican party.

This seems to me like a pretty typical conservative ploy to demonize faculty in some way, whether it comes from an insider explaining how faculty governance works or not.  The supposed insider found a welcome ear in the Republican halls that they would not find in the Democrat halls.  The dem governor will certainly veto this.

The public justification for the bill is financial mismanagement, which anyone with an inkling of university administration knows is not done at the professor level.

I cite these three paragraphs:

QuoteThe impetus for this change is a bit of a mystery: House Bill 2735's prime sponsor, Republican representative Travis Grantham, has said it's related to financial issues at the University of Arizona, but it's unclear how. That financial crisis, brought on largely by the flagship university miscalculating its amount of cash on hand by millions, was caused by administrative issues—not by any problems with faculty power. Yet Grantham has stressed the need to reiterate the power of the University of Arizona president, in particular; faculty senate members have argued the bill would increase the president's power.

Grantham, who didn't respond to interview requests Friday, has made some critical comments about faculty members. He's told the Arizona Daily Star that University of Arizona faculty members "took control" of the university and that "the most left of the left" are "grabbing and clinging to power." He went on to say they should take civics classes because they don't understand the legislation, and that he doesn't know or care who caused the financial crisis on the campus.

HB 2735 is just one of multiple bills that GOP-controlled state legislatures have pushed this year that threaten to diminish faculty members' power and freedoms. Two weeks ago, Indiana's Republican governor signed legislation that could deny and revoke tenure for faculty members who don't foster enough "intellectual diversity" to satisfy their campus boards. Last week, Alabama's governor signed a ban on professors requiring course work that advocates for "divisive concepts". And earlier this year, Arizona Republicans proposed a "grade-challenge department" that could change professors' assigned grades for students who accuse them of political bias—though the legislature has yet to pass that bill.

How is this not pure partisan politics and propaganda?

It is pure politics and propaganda. The insider is leveraging it to advance their own agenda. The wording of the change

QuoteThe legislation, nearing passage, would bolster the power of presidents and regents while reducing faculty members to merely "consulting" on governing, academic and personnel decisions.

tells me that an insider in the university system is the "impetus" for the change and not the broader right-wing attack on higher education. Right wing attacks on higher education are framed in much more brusque and oafish language. Using the word "consulting" or "advisory" are the words that an admincritter uses to surreptitiously degrade governance. That kind of language comes from the inside of higher ed.
#29
General Discussion / Re: NYT Spelling Bee
Last post by cathwen - March 27, 2024, 09:29:08 AM
Good afternoon!

QB for me yesterday, too, with 1LH to find my last word, journo. Today I'm at QB-1.

LB: Hooray! I finally found a 2fer yesterday: stickups-shorn. None yet today.

Happy puzzling!

#30
The State of Higher Ed / Re: IHE: Arizona Bill Restrict...
Last post by larix - March 27, 2024, 09:10:58 AM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on March 25, 2024, 05:39:33 AMArizona GOP Bill Would Stifle Faculty Power in Governance

Lower Deck:
QuoteThe legislation, nearing passage, would bolster the power of presidents and regents while reducing faculty members to merely "consulting" on governing, academic and personnel decisions.


I'm not sure about the rest of you but this is already how "shared governance" works at my institution. Faculty really have no power and all recommendations by faculty senate are "advisory" to the President. Our bylaws don't even have no-confidence votes built in. And this is in a purple state.