tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post3735263950596092565..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Hiram is Thirsty And Baffled About TenureUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11292265232245174502015-07-04T04:58:37.715-04:002015-07-04T04:58:37.715-04:00It may be more than you planned to reveal, OPH, bu...It may be more than you planned to reveal, OPH, but I'm glad you did. I get so much from your writing.<br /><br />More than that, I hope your situation is getting better.EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-80327410636656656652015-06-28T16:02:31.715-04:002015-06-28T16:02:31.715-04:00Sometimes, I think, the people who didn't set ...Sometimes, I think, the people who didn't set out to fill a particular kind of position (tenured professor, elective office of some sort, sometimes even some family roles) make at least as good a job of it as those who aimed for it all along, precisely because they tend to stop and think about what the position entails, and where the possibilities and pitfalls lie. <br /><br />It sounds likeContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15215105120008484502015-06-28T15:57:45.089-04:002015-06-28T15:57:45.089-04:00I, too, like your list. That sounds to me like wha...I, too, like your list. That sounds to me like what tenure *should* be, and what I hope I'd make of it if I had the chance. <br /><br />Commiserations on your provost's obliviousness to the way research works. I try to teach my students that it's a *good* thing if no one else has done research exactly on their topic, since that means there's an opportunity to contribute tContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83816134658225722262015-06-27T21:46:26.484-04:002015-06-27T21:46:26.484-04:00I like the idea of teaching-intensive tenure track...I like the idea of teaching-intensive tenure track. The methodology of teaching is itself research that can benefit at least one's colleagues.<br /><br />In the 3-dimensional mix of teaching, service, and research, there is no one recipe that is optimal for all professors. Yet tenure is important to each of those job functions, and as the university benefits from them all, tenure should be Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-59269770309458412802015-06-27T21:33:30.248-04:002015-06-27T21:33:30.248-04:00I should have thought of the research. It is a tes...I should have thought of the research. It is a testament to how much my own research has taken a dump in the last couple years that it apparently fled my brain. <br /><br />My joint just heaps the service and teaching on till the camel breaks. Even so, the provost had an annoying habit of "stopping by" to tell us about the shiny new research topic that he read about in some press Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-3412577067561045602015-06-27T20:57:49.184-04:002015-06-27T20:57:49.184-04:00My other thoughts on what tenure means are offered...My other thoughts on what tenure means are offered in comments on other posts, such as <a href="http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-end-of-tenure.html?showComment=1435029105178#c2976578489750100226" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href="http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2015/06/nadine-du-nord-sends-in-some-wisconsin.html?showComment=1434029054129#c3853963619921481683" rel="nofollow">hereOgre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-36518533330998860022015-06-27T18:39:57.006-04:002015-06-27T18:39:57.006-04:00My list looks a lot like OPHs. with one addition:...My list looks a lot like OPHs. with one addition: I can research the material I think has the most scholarly value (as per my obligations as a scholar), not the work that is going to give some funding committee a boner.Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81700684985213057842015-06-27T16:40:10.822-04:002015-06-27T16:40:10.822-04:00I like these lists. They match responsibility with...I like these lists. They match responsibility with privilege.dmckeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18052641757203089416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-53657869477606224532015-06-27T09:14:51.280-04:002015-06-27T09:14:51.280-04:00Tenure means:
* I don't have to worry whether...Tenure means:<br /><br />* I don't have to worry whether my students "like" me. Interestingly enough, when I got tenure and began to focus on what students need (per EC1, above) their outcomes and my satisfaction improved, and my evaluations didn't decline. <br /><br />* I have an obligation to speak truth to power when enacting their misinformed directives would unnecessarily Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72365333183040113152015-06-27T03:01:21.178-04:002015-06-27T03:01:21.178-04:00You've just summed it up perfectly, EC1.You've just summed it up perfectly, EC1.Pennsylvania Pennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17554566920089893921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14368253151012750612015-06-26T22:39:51.688-04:002015-06-26T22:39:51.688-04:00Tenure allows me to focus on what the students nee...Tenure allows me to focus on what the students need, and not what they want.EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9246215102013923312015-06-26T20:16:05.654-04:002015-06-26T20:16:05.654-04:00Mostly, I think tenure would provide some protecti...Mostly, I think tenure would provide some protection from the rules being changed, and changed again, unpredictably and without warning, and nobody batting an eyelash, because, you know, that's supposed to be expected when you're in a contingent position (of course, it's increasingly happening to people in tenured positions, in Wisconsin, and in other places where "restructuring&Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-86279086860261930422015-06-26T20:15:28.596-04:002015-06-26T20:15:28.596-04:00For those of us not currently tenured or on the te...For those of us not currently tenured or on the tenure track, I think Brunnhilde describes the only sane approach, because really, the chances of anyone in that position (whether current grad student or long-time contingent faculty member) ending up on the tenure track are, indeed, low enough that it would be less than sane to treat it as the only possible, or even a likely, outcome. <br /><br /Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-85401739731375088492015-06-26T19:50:24.079-04:002015-06-26T19:50:24.079-04:00Being put on the tenure track means I feel secure ...Being put on the tenure track means I feel secure enough to buy a house.<br /><br />But I have also just watched a college fail his third-year tenure-progress review so epically that he's been given a deadline for finding a place to succeed elsewhere, so I hope that was the right thing to do. And I'm motivated to not be <i>that</i> that big a screw-up and <i>that</i> politically blind. dmckeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18052641757203089416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51716641503004057632015-06-26T14:40:14.473-04:002015-06-26T14:40:14.473-04:00Apparently it doesn't protect you from being f...Apparently it doesn't protect you from being fired for using offensive language:<br />chroni.cl/1J9rTM0Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15711314415244801354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-22628175862305786372015-06-26T11:02:11.699-04:002015-06-26T11:02:11.699-04:00Yep.
Tenure means that I can try out different a...Yep. <br /><br />Tenure means that I can try out different approaches in the classroom - and fail.<br /><br />It means that I can get a bad year of evaluations without wondering whether I will be able to pay the mortgage next year.<br /><br />It means that I can insist that, if fractions give you the vapors, you'd better get over it or you won't pass.<br /><br />It means I can be a introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23345553436528072422015-06-26T04:08:17.531-04:002015-06-26T04:08:17.531-04:00Having tenure means that I can bust cheaters for c...Having tenure means that I can bust cheaters for cheating, and I can assign students the grades they've actually earned. Adjuncts and people who are still hoping for promotions can't do that. Unfortunately.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15711314415244801354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-86531250854272487832015-06-25T23:08:56.592-04:002015-06-25T23:08:56.592-04:00To me, tenure is like a vintage motorcycle: you ha...To me, tenure is like a vintage motorcycle: you have to use it at least some of the time, or it actually decays more rapidly into something with no function other than as a showpiece. <br /><br />To me, "what does tenure mean to me" has two aspects:<br /><br />* What does tenure do for me as a person?<br /><br />* What do I think tenure does for my, or any, institution?<br /><br />If I Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-90574981687439827372015-06-25T15:41:26.070-04:002015-06-25T15:41:26.070-04:00I've had tenure a couple of times and left it ...I've had tenure a couple of times and left it behind. It was a timing issue with my spouse's career, and I don't have any bitterness or sadness about it.<br /><br />I did get into the profession in part because of the AURA of my favorite undergrad proffies. They were all tenured, relaxed, brilliant. They took no shit. Taught fearlessly, and I was half in love with all of them.<br /><Compound Calicohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059155949950433688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41160408794550539032015-06-25T15:38:49.889-04:002015-06-25T15:38:49.889-04:00I really like your take on this!I really like your take on this!Compound Calicohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059155949950433688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81459603200229174942015-06-25T13:34:23.075-04:002015-06-25T13:34:23.075-04:00As a recent PhD and current adjunct, I and many ot...As a recent PhD and current adjunct, I and many other members of my cohort feel this way about tenure because we have to. The chances of us getting a T-T job and tenure still being around in 5-7 years are--or at least feel--miniscule. I love academia and I want a job as a tenured professor. But with higher education being in such a bad place, hanging all of one's hopes there seems BRÜNNHILDEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12077988176385246842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29184882946121937132015-06-25T09:07:47.913-04:002015-06-25T09:07:47.913-04:00I want it for two reasons.
1. to keep my job for a...I want it for two reasons.<br />1. to keep my job for a few more years<br />2. for reasons of pride. <br /><br />I will be up for tenure when I am almost 60, so I'll be close to retirement. So it's not like I'd be young and wondering how to start over in my 30s if I don't get it. I'll just retire. But, it'd be a painful blow to my pride. <br /><br />Getting tenure would Middle-Aged and Morosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046076243513948921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41459702004208555722015-06-25T09:02:27.103-04:002015-06-25T09:02:27.103-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Middle-Aged and Morosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046076243513948921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34358803596697104862015-06-25T06:18:54.710-04:002015-06-25T06:18:54.710-04:00I didn’t really find myself in my profession. It f...I didn’t really find myself in my profession. It found me, at age five. The reason I am in my profession is that I get to be an astronomer, and that’s even cooler than being a cowboy. (Sorry, Bubba.)<br /><br />My Dad was an intelligent fellow, who was well-loved as a high-school teacher. This was before the 1960s, when teachers were much more respected than now. Teaching was therefore something Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.com