Thirty-seven percent of faculty are over age 55. The fact that so many faculty members can shop at their grocery store during hours restricted to those at high risk of serious illness from COVID means that campuses need to prepare now for faculty who use sick leave. Others will be using the Family First portion... Continue Reading →
The Existential Threat to Higher Education is Not What You Think mo
It's not online education. It's a return to physical campuses in the fall. And while this is in part practical--When you kill students, retention necessarily falls.--it goes beyond the numbers of dead and lifelong injured that will result from a physical reopening. Reopening campuses is an admission that science, math, logic, moral reasoning, history, and... Continue Reading →
Helping Students Stay Motivated in Online Courses
One of the realities of teaching online is that students have to be highly motivated to succeed. Drop-out rates at public colleges are an injustice that reflects broader inequities in American society, but they are even higher in online programs. What that means for Fall 2020, when many otherwise traditional students will be online students,... Continue Reading →
For students’ sake, use your LMS’ gradebook
If you haven't taught online before, you may never have used an online gradebook (though many who do teach only F2F still use the gradebook in their LMS). In terms of helping me manage the unpleasant tasks of teaching, I think the gradebook is especially helpful. It will likely save you hours (like, many hours)... Continue Reading →
Ten Time Saving, Stress-Reducing Tips for Online Teaching to Implement Before Your Semester Even Starts
Make deadlines the same day and time each week; make all work, including exams, available for at least one weekday day and one weekend day. Most classes can function with a single deadline each week. I recommend Sundays at 11:59 pm since students may be relying on family to provide childcare and that is more... Continue Reading →
The Email You SHOULD be Getting from Your Chancellor This Week
Let me dream, for a minute, that this was the email we were all getting this week: Dear faculty, Thank you for your service during the Spring 2020 semester. The quick pivot to remote teaching was a reminder that excellent teaching remains the heart of the university. As in-person social activities fell away, your classes... Continue Reading →
Preparing for Fall: Choose Your ICE contact
You probably have an In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact in your cell phone--the person to be called if you have a heart attack on the street, the number accessible even if your phone is locked. You need one for Fall 2020 teaching. It's possible that you, as a teacher, will become ill in the... Continue Reading →
Open-but-Physically-Distant Campuses are Unworkable (And You’d Probably Hate Them)
Last Friday was National College Acceptance Day, the day when colleges traditionally ask students to plunk down their deposits for the next school year. Though many schools have extended that deadline, they remain in a race against students and coronavirus: Many universities keep insisting that campuses will be open in the fall. It's hard not... Continue Reading →
College educators can (probably) read the Chronicle for free
If your college or university has a site license to the Chronicle of Higher Education, you can access it from home (since you can no longer swipe the hard copy from the dean's office). Here's how. Now, no more pesky barriers to reading "premium content"!
What is college without the liberal arts?
When was the last time you went to a faculty meeting where "pending budget cuts" wasn't an agenda item? I can't even recall. Two years ago, we stopped purchasing letterhead in our department. We pay our administrative assistant--a 12 month, full-time position that lists a BA as a preferred qualification--under $22,000 a year. That's under... Continue Reading →