This may be my first response to this list. And writing this from home, before going to the office, how appropriate! First, more professors may be on campus than you realize, as many in my department close their doors and turn off their lights for the reasons I list below. I have to agree with Janet and the other comments. After 10 years, I am more part of the campus establishment. However, I feel many (not all) newer members of the faculty do not view seriously the expectations of the four-days-per-week, on-campus requirement. Particularly if they have young families and working spouses. We have job requirements that may be accomplished largely with work away from the office. In other words, if research most effectively occurs between 9pm and 2am, then why be in the office during that time period?
From a practical viewpoint, campus parking is a serious problem, and if more faculty members were around with greater frequency, well, it wouldn't be pretty. In addition, many departments share offices. Effective performance and completion of academic and research work is reduced in this environment, for a great number of reasons: office door open more than usual, customary greeting and chitchat with office mate, student interruptions, need for privacy, so one office mate must leave, the occasional presence of children and spouses, and so on.
When I was a newer faculty member, I wished more faculty were around more frequently. Once my Division moved everyone to Netzer, we know who is around and who is not, and most of us are now around, if not all day, for portions of four days per week. Today, I feel somewhat similar, but I also think, no offense to the group, that chairs and managment/administration are more concerned about the appearance of the empty desks of professors during the work day. Many workplaces, from what I hear from family and friends, have freeloaders, persons who get by on the 10-1130, 2-330 8-hour day shifts. At least the vast bulk of our academic employees complete their assigned tasks satisfactorily whether they are around or not. Of course, I am on campus four days per week during the assisgned work period, so my views may be biased. Having said that, my Division reminds us at the beginning of the semester that we are required by the faculty handbook to be on campus at least four days per week. My chair also gently tells us that while he couldn't possibly monitor the requirement with any effectiveness under current practices, he requests we make the effort to get on campus four days per week.
Best regards, Mike McAvoy
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From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Day, Janet ([log in to unmask])
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Holidays
Hi all,
To Janet's point about why so few are on campus and Jim's question, some of my faculty want me to schedule their courses for only two days a week--the Tuesday/Thursday pattern. They argue that they need uninterrupted time do their research--a requirement for tenure and promotion. Others want consideration in scheduling to accommodate their child care/school drop off/pick up duties. Others do not live locally. Given the cost of gas and the time it takes to drive back and forth, others want to limit their trips to only two or three days a week. The use of technology can be a means to control the work environment--triage the emails and deal with them accordingly in a time frame that is convenient.
My comments are merely observations. I am here four and five days a week, but I live locally, I am a grandmother with grandkids in another state, and I should be doing more research than I am!
Best,
Janet
Janet E. Day, Ph.D,
Assistant Professor and Chair
Department of Political Science
SUNY-Oneonta
412 Fitzelle Hall
(607) 436-2754
-----Original Message-----
From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Fleisher, P. Jay ([log in to unmask])
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 8:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Holidays
Yes, technology now facilitate "working" from a home office, which can be almost as efficient as being on campus (actually more so due to fewer distractions), but lets not lose our perspective on why a search committee selected us to be on the faculty. Much of this had to do with how well we would interact with students, and that requires having the student and the professor in the same place at the same time - ergo, we schedule classes. Sure, we have to consider extenuating circumstances to justify alternatives, but I am of the "classic" school of education that says we learned as much about how to be a professional from my professors and mentors by being at their elbow as we do about the content of our profession. Granted, I have to know a lot about geology to teach geology, but the most effective teacher knows how to interact with his/her students, and that takes contact. Now you know why I would have made a very unpopular Dean (not that I ever wanted to be a Dean). The academic calendar condenses education within definite calendar confines, which is why the State says you must meet students for X number of contact hours to justify X number of academic credits. There will always be gray areas, but an attendance policy is good business for preparing students for the "real world", and faculty attendance is a given. When I took attendance the students were either there or they suffered the consequences. Why? Unjustified absence on the job will get you fired, that's why. Students who dictate the circumstances of their participation based on a consumer perspective might as well discard their groceries before getting them home. To quote a person with far more wisdom then I ever enjoyed once told me, "just because you can doesn't mean you should". A university should be for the students, but not run by the students - that's our job. Its called leadership, and to lead requires attendance by the leaders. So, I am for classes on five days a week and prime time scheduling should be restricted to entertainment, not education.
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From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Greenberg, James ([log in to unmask])
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 8:07 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Holidays
Janet (and others),
Some of this may also be related to what model of education (consumer or credential) we are seen as. Do students see us as something they consume (why should I have to go to class if I don't want to, I'm paying for this) or as some authority that credentials them (we certify you as knowing something by bestowing this degree on you)? In the former it makes sense to not hold class before a vacation if they don't want us to. In the latter is doesn't.
The observation you make about faculty not being on campus as much as in the past certainly got my attention. Do you think this is more about the growing number of adjuncts than about professional commitment? From my perspective, many faculty are contacting me very early in the day (before 7 am yesterday) and very late in the day (often after midnight via email) so if what you say is true (and I believe you) I wonder what role email and technology play into this? How many of us communicate with our students after hours via technology? How many of us work at home developing content, etc. more than we used to because technology enables this for us?
Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York 13820
blog: The 32nd Square at http://32ndsquare.blogspot.com
wiki: The 32nd Square at http://32ndsquare.wikidot.com
email: [log in to unmask]
phone: 607-436-2701
fax: 607-436-3677
IM: oneontatltc
Twitter: greenbjb
"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"
P Think before you print! Please consider the environment before printing this email
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From: Janet Nepkie <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:06:09 -0500
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Holidays
I concur wholeheartedly with Jay's comments.
Faculty should meet their classes, with only rare exception.
There is related to an interesting change of attitude developing among some faculty that they should not be required to be on campus as much as has been generally the case in the past. I don't want to start a conversation that may turn into a terms and conditions discussion, but this IS a situation that is growing larger at a rapid pace and that affects our students directly.
I think it relates, in part, to our vision of what our college should be. Are we primarily a "teaching" institute? Are we trying to re-balance our institutional goals so that we make research more important and teaching less of a central function for our institution?
I'd like some input, even some guidance about this issue.
Thanks,
Janet
Dr. J. Nepkie
SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
Professor of Music and Music Industry
State University College
Oneonta, NY 13820
tele: (607) 436 3425
fax: 607 436 2718
[log in to unmask]
________________________________
From: <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:35:02 -0500
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Holidays
Sooner or later one must "draw the line" and stand behind sound and justifiable policy. Rewarding anyone (students or not) for doing what would otherwise be expected of them (part of their job) is simply bad policy. Let's try to keep as much of the real world in academia as possible, and canceling class out of convenience is hardly the message we want to convey to the professionals and leaders of the future. Let's try to keep as much of reality in academia as possible. Its part of training our students for the "real world" that lies ahead. I am in favor of avoiding slippery slopes that gradually lead to unacceptable behavior. Sooner or later you cross a threshold after which everything is different, then you stand back and say, "how did we allow things to get this bad".
Jay
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From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jagels, Fredric ([log in to unmask])
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 9:47 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Holidays
Harry et al,
I found this line in that article not a little curious, "One issue Loewner wanted to stress, however, was that the target of the resolution wasn't students who skip classes, but professors who call them off." Some employees are encouraged to use benefit time for the Friday after Thanksgiving or the week between Christmas and New Years because most people take that day off anyway. Is something similar happening with students on the day before a holiday week and some profs have given in? What is the opinion towards profs who give extra credit for attendance on such days, or tests, or quizzes? It shouldn't be necessary, but it reinforces the idea that "good studenting" includes attendance and the holiday, or vacation, begins when it begins-not the week before.
Rick
Rick Jagels
Education Specialist
College Assistance Migrant Program
111 Wilsbach Hall
State University of NY College at Oneonta
(607)436-2297
[log in to unmask]
From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pence, Harry ([log in to unmask])
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Holidays
Dear TBers,
Here is an interesting article on a college faculty who have taken a position against those who declare a holiday the day before the holiday really starts.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/28/vacation
Enjoy,
Harry
Harry E. Pence
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
SUNY Oneonta
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