Lesson Number One: The Academy can be a Very Lonely Place
Lesson Number Two: University administrators preach the virtues of teamwork and collaboration, but evaluate faculty primarily in the basis of individual accomplishments.
Lesson Number Three: Colleagueship exists in the halls and, for the most part, in faculty meetings; it rarely exists in the classroom, library carrel, or laboratory.
Lesson Number Four: Most faculty eagerly make invidious distinctions between themselves and their colleagues.
Lesson Number Five: The gulf between junior faculty and senior faculty is often much too wide, to the detriment of both.
Lesson Number Six: University Administrators have little confidence in the ability of departments to evaluate the achievements of their members.
Lesson Number Seven: Graduate schools have traditionally done a poor job in preparing prospective faculty for the actual duties they will face in an academic position.
Lesson Number Eight: Administrators are, for all practical purposes, invisible to faculty-especially at larger institutions.
Lesson Number Nine: Most faculty are convinced the university administration doesn't care about what they think.
Lesson Number Ten: The loyalty of faculty members is bound much more closely to their disciplines than to the institution that pays their salary
Lesson Number Eleven: Faculty evaluation is ubiquitous and constant in academe, yet most faculty learn little that is helpful from these evaluations.
Lesson Number Twelve: Faculty development funding seems to be among the first items to be cut during times of fiscal belt-tightening.
Lesson Number Thirteen: Only we faculty members can change the system.
I would add: Lesson Number Fourteen: The loyalty of faculty is bound more to their research and publication than to students.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /~\ /\ /\ (229-333-5947) /^\ / \ / /~ \ /~\__/\ / \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \ /\/\-/ /^\___\______\_______/__/_______/^\ -_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ _ _ / don't practice on mole hills" -\____
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