tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post7434786482033105742..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Big Thirsty: Fewer Students or More Money? From Cassandra.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11373005563767444612016-04-22T20:35:11.236-04:002016-04-22T20:35:11.236-04:00Preps do matter. Since I teach almost entirely a ...Preps do matter. Since I teach almost entirely a single course (which comes in different disciplinary versions, but my approach, which is inquiry-based, is very similar in all sections, in part because students tend to sign up for the section that will fit their schedule rather than the one they're supposed to take because it fits their discipline), that doesn't really play a role in my Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-20060958230225883932016-04-22T20:29:39.799-04:002016-04-22T20:29:39.799-04:00I do realize that I may be suffering from a grass-...I do realize that I may be suffering from a grass-is-greener view of service. Still, after some time sitting through department meetings where I can speak but not vote on most matters, I'd still say that the only thing worse than doing service may be being forbidden from doing service. <br /><br />The sorts of things we'd like to be doing are things like classroom visits/evaluations, Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15639766364163871102016-04-22T00:54:19.814-04:002016-04-22T00:54:19.814-04:00As Madame Librarian states, it truly does depend o...As Madame Librarian states, it truly does depend on the type of class taught.<br /><br />One year, I taught a 4/4 load (with a research side job) as an adjunct at 2 schools. For one course, I had an office; for the others, I had to meet with students for office hours in the hallway, cafe, or some other public venue. 4 of the courses were writing intensive; the other 4 had writing components Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-4549282367267946642016-04-21T19:13:03.083-04:002016-04-21T19:13:03.083-04:00My initial reaction was much like Frod’s, but OPH’...My initial reaction was much like Frod’s, but OPH’s middle paragraph really hit a nerve, and I suspect that as I get ever nearer the big five-oh my views will change.<br /><br />However, if the question had been on a choice between more money or fewer instances of institutional bullshit, there is no doubt that Mrs EC1* would not be seeing a larger paypacket any time soon.<br /><br />*Mrs EC1 EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-78457935340427717432016-04-21T16:00:59.855-04:002016-04-21T16:00:59.855-04:00"much as I long for the sort of input and inc..."much as I long for the sort of input and inclusion service might (but only might) bring"<br /><br />Careful what you wish for Cassandra. I used to do a lot more committee service than I do now (since I took on more teaching). "Input" and "Inclusion" aren't the words I'd use to describe it!Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23453712278739060412016-04-21T14:05:28.872-04:002016-04-21T14:05:28.872-04:00I'm astonished at how much a smaller class red...I'm astonished at how much a smaller class reduces my work (I teach remedial writing). My class last semester was 17 students, and almost killed me. My class at this point (they dropped like flies right around the withdraw date) is down to 6. Grading take a fraction of the time. I can spend more time one-on-one. The amount of prep. time is the same...<br /><br />I don't know. I think I Madame Librarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03777676382203865143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-44529753764083407922016-04-21T11:52:11.215-04:002016-04-21T11:52:11.215-04:00More money. I'm on a 4/4 with quite a bit of s...More money. I'm on a 4/4 with quite a bit of service, but reasonable class sizes: 25-30. I've learned to manage the grading load, but not the lack of pay. Still making considerably less than I did in my previous career that ended more than a decade ago.<br />-- Agnes of DogAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15209105566546172592016-04-21T10:00:18.094-04:002016-04-21T10:00:18.094-04:00"I am not a limitless wellspring of fucks&quo..."I am not a limitless wellspring of fucks" hehDrAmeliahttp://amelia.ameliarox.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87601799629228823532016-04-21T08:54:56.255-04:002016-04-21T08:54:56.255-04:00Frod points out the realities, but as long as we&#...Frod points out the realities, but as long as we're dealing in the fantastical, at this point, I'd take meaningfully smaller class size. That could be accomplished, e.g., by hiring more faculty to share the load.<br /><br />More money will not put the years back on my life that I am losing because I don't get enough sleep or exercise. I have no free time in which to take reasonable Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-70964621333524351302016-04-21T08:20:42.477-04:002016-04-21T08:20:42.477-04:00Depends. Our classes are a pretty nice size alrea...Depends. Our classes are a pretty nice size already, but if fewer students meant fewer <i>sections</i>, I'd take that over higher pay in a heartbeat. Even a 4/3 would make an appreciable difference; 3/3 would be a miracle.Fretful Porpentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15035455017048552482016-04-21T08:09:14.658-04:002016-04-21T08:09:14.658-04:00More students for more pay is already a decision I...More students for more pay is already a decision I've *made*! I started at 3/3/1 which wasn't so bad. I wrote some articles in my spare time and got most published. And while I got paid little money by the publishers, my school has an incentivization program for writing stuff. It honestly feels like meeting sales quotas (the more you write, the more each piece of writing is worth up Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-65033393638086405772016-04-21T07:42:25.873-04:002016-04-21T07:42:25.873-04:00Pay me until the students and the admins start to ...Pay me until the students and the admins start to believe that what happens in the classrooms and the library and at the study desk is something more than "a hoop to jump through" or something to buy. <br /><br />I hate typing that. I'd retire this semester--if health care benefits were not tied to employment.... but that's for another discussion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-31469984485753133392016-04-21T05:18:21.746-04:002016-04-21T05:18:21.746-04:00Come to think of it, the reason that funding doesn...Come to think of it, the reason that funding doesn't evaporate during the first week of a new semester is that it can't be taken away from me if I've already spent it, immediately upon receipt. Never mind holding any back for spare parts, learning from experience, etc. Say...if I get back to work on that disintegrator gun, I could make students do that, too.Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-50232466092363589022016-04-21T05:13:17.628-04:002016-04-21T05:13:17.628-04:00P. S. I've had a similar choice in the past, b...P. S. I've had a similar choice in the past, between research grant funding or release time from teaching to do research. Experience has shown to go for the funding, because it's real and doesn't evaporate just before the beginning of the new semester, unlike release time. And of course, as a hopelessly naive, utopian science geek, it took me more than one "early-semester Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-50836004017587448242016-04-21T05:09:37.716-04:002016-04-21T05:09:37.716-04:00I'd definitely go for the money, because no ma...I'd definitely go for the money, because no matter what happens, I never get fewer students. No matter what is promised to me, no matter what the rules supposedly are, a few more students slip into my big (100+) introductory physics and general-ed astronomy classes, always. Often, it's more than a few.<br /><br />More money at least has the prospect of being self-limiting. If the Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19958993032051719472016-04-21T05:03:56.498-04:002016-04-21T05:03:56.498-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-35822727919474197412016-04-21T00:13:13.776-04:002016-04-21T00:13:13.776-04:00If it was a lot fewer students, like teaching a cl...If it was a lot fewer students, like teaching a class of 25, I'd take that. It's more fun to teach and they learn more when I can do something other than write on the whiteboard for an hour. I'd even teach an additional class like that because the whole process is more rewarding for me and the students. (I teach 2/2.)<br /><br />Now, if you're talking about lowering my 100 studentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com