tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post5870750385239099261..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Friday Thirsty -- Students Come First vs. Teaching Comes FirstUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8928724408078474562016-04-11T13:05:24.299-04:002016-04-11T13:05:24.299-04:00Thanks, all! You're right, and I think I have...Thanks, all! You're right, and I think I have a better handle on why the phrase bothers me. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5720626047985302232016-04-11T09:18:13.577-04:002016-04-11T09:18:13.577-04:00Seems like one of those phrases people say that ha...Seems like one of those phrases people say that have no meaning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-61513591109182084322016-04-08T23:39:11.670-04:002016-04-08T23:39:11.670-04:00I visited a friend who owns a farm. We were out wa...I visited a friend who owns a farm. We were out walking in a field, and I was enjoying the vista so much that I lost track of where I was treading. Sure enough, I stepped in a big pile of "Students Come First".<br /><br />"Students Come First" is what administrators who have never actually been in front of students---save for 10 minutes each at orientation and commencement--Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87898014834712762512016-04-08T19:06:16.323-04:002016-04-08T19:06:16.323-04:00This fixation with customer service is like an arm...This fixation with customer service is like an arms race crossed with a circular firing squad.<br /><br />We spend more and more on frivolities and end up – at best – shooting ourselves in the foot. There’s no money for the toner the copy machine needs because we spent it all on organic rose petals to scatter in front of the little dears as they glide about the campus.<br />EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5493918895321847152016-04-08T16:49:11.670-04:002016-04-08T16:49:11.670-04:00Here it now has come to mean "students have o...Here it now has come to mean "students have options:" what type of dorm/apartment, types of classes, flexible "majors options" (mostly just badges I think! sympathetic deans ready to change grades, excuse 10 or more absences, etc.1184 Days until Retirementhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09915199543025704045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46663232838695724812016-04-08T14:46:31.129-04:002016-04-08T14:46:31.129-04:00My ideal campus motto would be, "Mister Roger...My ideal campus motto would be, <i>"Mister Rogers comes first."</i> Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89399944385074108052016-04-08T13:57:56.453-04:002016-04-08T13:57:56.453-04:00I think that begins to get at what bothers me. We...I think that begins to get at what bothers me. We're actually moving toward active learning and similar pedagogies which students don't necessarily enjoy, and I don't think we're going to stop (though I also suspect this trend isn't going to suddenly create respect for departments which have been teaching this way all along). But "students come first" doesn't Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-22117649463837755052016-04-08T13:50:33.471-04:002016-04-08T13:50:33.471-04:00That's another possibility, a set of phrases t...That's another possibility, a set of phrases that seem to bridge the gap (both between research and teaching, and between teachers and students), but may or may not actually do so: "the pursuit of truth comes first" (the "Wisconsin Idea" included -- and I believe still includes, after a Walker-created kerfuffle -- the phrase "search for truth")or "increasingContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34618726365624294172016-04-08T13:42:32.442-04:002016-04-08T13:42:32.442-04:00"Students come first" can mean that thei..."Students come first" can mean that their education comes first (in which research can play a role) but more likely the administration means that students' desires and opinions come first. Students complain about boring lectures but they complain more when the professor expects them to show up to class prepared to actively engage in activities which show whether they've thought Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14483579776836464882016-04-08T13:20:15.157-04:002016-04-08T13:20:15.157-04:00Honestly, fuck students. What comes first is rigor...Honestly, fuck students. What comes first is rigorous and appropriate instruction.<br /><br />NickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89633788569396004552016-04-08T13:18:47.102-04:002016-04-08T13:18:47.102-04:00At a minimum students coming first doesn't say...At a minimum students coming first doesn't say anything about what relationships the faculty have with them<br /><br />Something like: "<i>First</i> we need to get a lot of decent grad <i>students</i> in here and exploit them as teachers and TAs so that we can get on with our important grant writing activities" seems to be admitted by the phrase. <br /><br />Your versions all put dmckeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18052641757203089416noreply@blogger.com