Hi, Kerry,
Here at MOWEST, our "new rules" (always blamed on 'the state') are that
if we request motor pool transportation, then the vehicle must be driven
by faculty or staff. However, "staff" means ful-time staff, and
excludes any student who is also on staff (twilight zone). Further, if
you are going on a long field trip (all day, weekend, longer, etc).,
then only such "legal" drivers may drive. So, if a professor is taking
their class on a field trip that requires many hours of driving, then
that professor must do all the driving. If they get tired, then they
either pull over and rest (while everyone picks their noses) then moves
on, or falls asleep at the wheel. Students may not share driving to
spell the prof. No matter how old the student is, or how qualified a
driver they are. The impracticality AND lack of safety this foolishness
imposes is obvious. Fortunately, we can still require field trips. We
can elect to provide transportation and do all the driving, THEN do all
the teaching, then do all the driving back (is this stupid, or what?),
or we can simply say the students are responsible for arriving at the
destination however they care to get there (kinda like we do for
conventional classes: students are required to get to school and class
by whatever means they can).
We are in the middle of trying to get the university to CLEARLY define
its position on liability protection for faculty who take students on
field trips. This, by the way, also extends to faculty sponsors of
various student organizations like wildlife clubs, ecology clubs, etc.
Higher ed in this country is rapidly evolving a culture where faculty
are required to do everyone else's job, shoulder greater responsibility,
for proportionally less recognition and compensation. No wonder the
overall quality of undergraduate education in the US is slowly but
steadily declining. If administrators would get off faculty's backs and
let us do our job (teach), I personally think things would turn around.
But, then, we wouldn't need so many incompetent administrators and their
pack or parasitic lawyers, would we!
Keep the faith, keep up the fight. Good professors committed to
education are increasingly rare!
Cary
Cary D. Chevalier, Ph.D.
Department of Biology
Missouri Western State University
4525 Downs Dr.
St. Joseph, MO 64507
Ph: 816.271.4252
Fax: 816.271.4252
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Kerry Woods <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 9/13/2006 2:23 PM >>>
This is a question for anyone who takes classes on off-campus
field-trips.
Our lawyers have been busy making life more burdensome in order to
protect the college from liability connected with field-trips. I'm
trying to find out whether they've gone way beyond the norms or whether
everyone is in the same boat.
The main question:
- Can you allow students to carpool (using personal cars) for
off-campus class field-trips under any circumstances at all? Or does
all such travel have to be in vehicles driven by faculty or other
'professional' drivers?
Thanks,
Kerry Woods
Kerry D. Woods
Natural Sciences
Bennington College
Bennington VT 05201
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
faculty.bennington.edu/~kwoods
