Suggestions for New Threads/Discussions/Forums

[spork]

While the new fora is under construction, I thought I'd create a single thread to house suggestions for new discussions -- perhaps to minimize the proliferation of redundant threads that would get few/no comments.

I suggest "Online Teaching" as a thread in the General Category > Teaching section. About half my teaching is online, others teach online, and the same thread on the CHE fora got some attention.

[polly_mer]

Are you asking for a child board, like the CHE fora has, that would house many threads all in the area of online teaching?

I ask because all registered users can start new threads and see how the discussion goes.  A child board, though, does require an administrator.

[spork]

No, child boards (which I am personally averse to). If folks are fine with new threads, I'll create one about teaching online. I just would prefer to avoid the spread of multiple threads on the same topic.

[marshwiggle]

I'm not sure if this is the place to ask, but will there be information somewhere about why this board exists in addition to/in place of the CHE fora?

Also, will threads created on here that mirror ones on the CHE fora (like Jedi Mind Tricks) have link to those, so that all of the previous discussion/wisdom of the ages will be preserved?

(I have to say, the post without recaptcha freaks me out since I have a Pavlovian expectation of that extra step.)

[Hibush]

I'm not sure if this is the place to ask, but will there be information somewhere about why this board exists in addition to/in place of the CHE fora?

Also, will threads created on here that mirror ones on the CHE fora (like Jedi Mind Tricks) have link to those, so that all of the previous discussion/wisdom of the ages will be preserved?

(I have to say, the post without recaptcha freaks me out since I have a Pavlovian expectation of that extra step.)

You can follow the model of Colleges in Dire Financial Straits, where the initial post copies the first and last post of the thread at CHE forum, with links. Then there is a post back at CHE providing a link to the continuation thread at thefora.org.


This method does not require any fancy interaction between the site, nor any future coordination.

I did a couple threads that I hoped to see continue. It's pretty easy to do ones you like.

[mamselle]

(I have to say, the post without recaptcha freaks me out since I have a Pavlovian expectation of that extra step.)

I had that response here, and the opposite one there.

Except my response here was more about how freeing it was NOT to have to look at grainy, unclear photos of traffic and figure out if there were a fireplug somewhere off in the distance there.

My feeling there was...Oh, yeah, right, don't close the post yet, you have to prove you're not a zombie thread-starting spammer now...!

M.

[mythbuster]

I would suggest a health issues board. I am currently finding some of the threads there more informative than my doctor.

[downer]

We need forums aimed at part time faculty, short term faculty, adjunct faculty, and other variations from the standard tenure-track.

Also, forums on technology and online programs that faculty have or want to use, LMSs like Blackboard, WordPress, creating your own own home page, buying computers, apps, and the like.

[eigen]

We need forums aimed at part time faculty, short term faculty, adjunct faculty, and other variations from the standard tenure-track.

Also, forums on technology and online programs that faculty have or want to use, LMSs like Blackboard, WordPress, creating your own own home page, buying computers, apps, and the like.

That’s the complete opposite of the forum organization that had been requested in the previous discussion.

The old CHE forums divided by type of position (admin, TT, contingent, staff, grad student) which it seems like a lot of posters felt was exclusionary and limiting.

For the new design, we have areas that invite discussion for anyone involved in doing that type of work.

Could you have laborate on what you feel like the drawbacks of this approach are, or what the. See for those forums is that we’re missing in the current scheme?

[downer]

We need forums aimed at part time faculty, short term faculty, adjunct faculty, and other variations from the standard tenure-track.

Also, forums on technology and online programs that faculty have or want to use, LMSs like Blackboard, WordPress, creating your own own home page, buying computers, apps, and the like.

That’s the complete opposite of the forum organization that had been requested in the previous discussion.

The old CHE forums divided by type of position (admin, TT, contingent, staff, grad student) which it seems like a lot of posters felt was exclusionary and limiting.

For the new design, we have areas that invite discussion for anyone involved in doing that type of work.

Could you have laborate on what you feel like the drawbacks of this approach are, or what the. See for those forums is that we’re missing in the current scheme?

(I'm guessing that you are referring to just my first comment, not the second one about a technology forum.)

There are some issues where your job title does not make any difference to the topic, and so for those I agree that it is silly to separate discussions out for different groups.

However, there are some issues that are relevant to just being a grad student or just being a part time worker. That seems very clearly true for being a grad student, although these fora are not particularly aimed at grad student life.

In regards to being a part time worker, I think of issues like strategies for getting more job security, maximizing income, how many places to teach at, how to get jobs at places with better students, when to ignore "mandatory training" and "required faculty meetings" and where to meet students or keep student papers when you don't have an office. These sorts of discussions depend very much on one's faculty status.

[polly_mer]

In regards to being a part time worker, I think of issues like strategies for getting more job security, maximizing income, how many places to teach at, how to get jobs at places with better students, when to ignore "mandatory training" and "required faculty meetings" and where to meet students or keep student papers when you don't have an office. These sorts of discussions depend very much on one's faculty status.

I agree and I started a thread for those topics: http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=34.0.  Contribute questions and concerns to that thread or start your own threads on relevant topics.  Let's see how the discussion progresses and decide a new board name based on the discussions being had.  We might be surprised at how certain areas overlap (e.g., grad students who also teach as adjuncts at other institutions) instead of deciding now what the organization ought to be.

Likewise, I agree that faculty probably have technology concerns.  Let's start the discussions as threads and see what develops instead of starting a board that may get little initial traffic based on what a similar community had been doing recently.  I've gotten us started with http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=84.0

[ciao_yall]

We need forums aimed at part time faculty, short term faculty, adjunct faculty, and other variations from the standard tenure-track.

Also, forums on technology and online programs that faculty have or want to use, LMSs like Blackboard, WordPress, creating your own own home page, buying computers, apps, and the like.

That’s the complete opposite of the forum organization that had been requested in the previous discussion.

The old CHE forums divided by type of position (admin, TT, contingent, staff, grad student) which it seems like a lot of posters felt was exclusionary and limiting.

For the new design, we have areas that invite discussion for anyone involved in doing that type of work.

Could you have laborate on what you feel like the drawbacks of this approach are, or what the. See for those forums is that we’re missing in the current scheme?

(I'm guessing that you are referring to just my first comment, not the second one about a technology forum.)

There are some issues where your job title does not make any difference to the topic, and so for those I agree that it is silly to separate discussions out for different groups.

However, there are some issues that are relevant to just being a grad student or just being a part time worker. That seems very clearly true for being a grad student, although these fora are not particularly aimed at grad student life.

In regards to being a part time worker, I think of issues like strategies for getting more job security, maximizing income, how many places to teach at, how to get jobs at places with better students, when to ignore "mandatory training" and "required faculty meetings" and where to meet students or keep student papers when you don't have an office. These sorts of discussions depend very much on one's faculty status.

How about a single discussion board for adjuncts? With the caveats that...

• No adjunct-related whining appears on other threads. If people want to talk about or read things adjunct-related they can go to that board. But please don't keep dragging every discussion into such a conversation.
• Nobody responding on those threads is allowed to say "just get another job if you don't like it."

Deal?

[marshwiggle]

How about a single discussion board for adjuncts? With the caveats that...

• No adjunct-related whining appears on other threads. If people want to talk about or read things adjunct-related they can go to that board. But please don't keep dragging every discussion into such a conversation.
• Nobody responding on those threads is allowed to say "just get another job if you don't like it."

Deal?

On the old RMP forums, some common topics had PSAs which were re-published every couple of months or so, identifying key argumants about common issues. (The main one I remember was about "I have a crush on my prof!!!!", which indicated consensus about when and why it was a good or bad thing.) This helped to cut short periodic rehashing. Perhaps this could work for things like an adjunct thread which could mention points on both sides, such as "some people have few choices due to spouses having a full-time job" as well as "lf you have to live out of your car maybe you should rethink your options" so that people feel less need to restate these things.

[aside]

How about a single discussion board for adjuncts? With the caveats that...

• No adjunct-related whining appears on other threads. If people want to talk about or read things adjunct-related they can go to that board. But please don't keep dragging every discussion into such a conversation.
• Nobody responding on those threads is allowed to say "just get another job if you don't like it."

Deal?

I like the concept, but then someone has to police what constitutes "adjunct-related whining" in comparison to simply posting from the experience and perspective of an adjunct.  Your second caveat would be easier to moderate.

[eigen]

My suggestion for most of these things would be that we start with threads, and if the discussion magnitude grows such that it would consistently fill a forum, we move it there.

For instance, I'd suggest threads specific to adjuncts in teaching (for teaching issues), or general issues for contingent faculty in the "general academic" discussion.

I think that while there are different takes on specific issues, dividing the community by rank or job type, especially with such a small community, is problematic.