I doubt that any working person would happily agree to term employment if it implies that after N years the employer has no obligation, legal or moral, to retain that individual. It puts most people, especially those over 50, in a very precarious position. How many of the people on this list would like to have their term up this month and face the prospect of looking for a job in the current environment? Employment is a relationship between employee and employer that generally goes beyond term contracts. I don't think that reducing it to something as limited as that is a good idea.
-- Russ On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:35 PM, George Duncan <gtdun...@gmail.com> wrote: > Based on my experience at Carnegie Mellon for 34 years, I can agree with > many of the recommendations. In particular, I see merit in replacing tenure > with term contracts, emphasizing interdisciplinary programs with a problem > focus, more sharing of teaching across institutions, and providing > alternatives to the traditional thesis. > > However, I see no way that any of these will ever come about through > regulation (does he really think that the federal government could take this > on?), > > Some of these will perhaps come about through internal moves by various > universities. For example, Carnegie Mellon which is perhaps the most > flexible university in responding to a changing environment, does have a > remarkable array of interdisciplinary programs and emphasizes opportunities > for doctoral students to cross departmental boundaries. It still has tenure, > and I have thought for decades that the impetus for change there come from > state legislatures that would abolish it in their state universities. But > despite periodic noises it hasn't happened, perhaps never will. The moves by > various universities like MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon towards more > on-line courses and expanding their availability, will think over time lead > to more sharing of teaching resources. Why should a dozen universities offer > advanced PhD courses in say Galois fields each with three students, when one > could do it with 36 students and the best teacher of the topic? Why should > every undergraduate institution want a high-level professor of physics, when > they can import a course with the top lecturer in the country and provide > the personal interaction with students through lecturers who care about > students and earn perhaps $40K a year? Some universities do already provide > alternatives of varying sorts to a traditional thesis, especially in more > professionally oriented doctoral programs, such as those in social work or > education. > > I cannot agree with the negative tone of the article about preparing for > the academic life. If a person is successful at it, academia provides a > remarkably fulfilling career. Name another profession where you mostly get > to do what you want to do, work in a pretty pleasant envirionment with > intelligent colleagues and students to chat with, and if you are a full > professor at Columbia you make a pretty decent salary. So not all who > aspire, make it. What percentage of Carnegie Mellon's drama graduates make > it to Broadway or Hollywood? What percentage of graduates of art school ever > sell a painting? The responsibility, I think, is for schools to do the best > job they can to support the student's highest aspirations while at the same > time providing a decent education for fallback positions. > > Last of all, the piece neglects the fact that most graduate students are > not PhD students but instead are enrolled in professional degree programs. > They can have their problems too but at least they have to be fairly > directly responsive to a market--most are paying some $50K in tuition plus > the opportunity costs of non-employment. > > On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Nicholas Thompson < > nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote: > >> I think everybody who thinks about higher education ought to have a look >> at this article, not because it is necessarily correct but because it >> suggests great opportunities for institutions -- such as the "City >> University of Santa Fe" or Clark University -- which by reason of their >> small size could re-organize quickly to respond to these realities. >> >> I have to admit that I am ambivalent about tenure. If, over the last 40 >> years, tenure had seemed to foster intellectual courage and a willingness >> to speak one's mind and invest long term in the institute, then I would >> continue to favor it unequivocally. But since the onset of Academic >> Reaganism, tenure seems only to meant that most faculty members have >> allowed themselves to be manipulated by ever more trivial incentives -- the >> merit raise or the honorific reception with bad wine, stale cheese and >> crackers. Time to read Fromm's ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM again, i fear. >> >> And I have to deplore the implication that the only way you get people to >> pull their weight is by threatening them with financial sanction. On the >> contrary, the entire faculty of Clark University was subjected to bad pay >> for all the years I worked there, and it never changed anybody's behavior. >> No. I think the failure has been in our unwillingness to speak directly and >> from the heart and in person to colleagues about what we need from them. >> True collaboration requires honest critique in the absence of power; what >> we have had, over the last four decades, is the application of power in the >> absence of honest critique. >> >> n >> >> Nicholas S. Thompson >> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, >> Clark University (nthomp...@clarku.edu) >> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/<http://home.earthlink.net/%7Enickthompson/naturaldesigns/> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/> [image: >> E-mail This] >> <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion&pos=TopRight-EmailThis&sn2=94d3287b/805f85e3&sn1=9bd7f9f2/7016809f&camp=foxsearch2009_emailtools_1011072b_nyt5&ad=500DOS_88x31_b&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ecom%2F500daysofsummer> >> >> >> >> *OPINION * | April 27, 2009 >> *Op-Ed Contributor: End the University as We Know It >> <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html?emc=eta1>* >> By MARK C. TAYLOR >> If higher education is to thrive, colleges and universities, like Wall >> Street and Detroit, must be rigorously regulated and completely >> restructured. >> >> [image: Most E-mailed] >> 1. Op-Ed Contributor: End the University as We Know >> It<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html?em&emc=eta1> >> 2. More Atheists Shout It From the >> Rooftops<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/us/27atheist.html?em&emc=eta1> >> 3. Corner Office: He Wants Subjects, Verbs and >> Objects<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/26corner.html?em&emc=eta1> >> 4. Shortage of Doctors Proves Obstacle to Obama >> Goals<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/health/policy/27care.html?em&emc=eta1> >> 5. U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine >> Flu<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/27flu.html?em&emc=eta1> >> >> ยป Go to Complete List<http://www.nytimes.com/gst/mostemailed.html?type=1> >> >> Advertisement >> *500 Days of Summer* Premiered at Sundance, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt >> and Zooey Deschanel. Coming This Summer >> Watch the new trailer! >> Click here to view >> trailer<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion&pos=Center1&sn2=fe4dff39/22b960e1&sn1=fb3bdd97/1b2bf01&camp=foxsearch2009_emailtools_1011072g-nyt5&ad=500DOS_120x60_recipientpage&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/500daysofsummer> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion&pos=Center1&sn2=fe4dff39/22b960e1&sn1=fb3bdd97/1b2bf01&camp=foxsearch2009_emailtools_1011072g-nyt5&ad=500DOS_120x60_recipientpage&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/500daysofsummer> >> >> Copyright 2009 >> <http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html> The New >> York Times Company <http://www.nytco.com/> | Privacy >> Policy<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/privacy.html> >> >> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> > > > > -- > George T. Duncan > Professor of Statistics, Emeritus > Heinz College > Carnegie Mellon University > (505) 983-6895 > > Life must be understood backwards; but... it must be lived forward. > Soren Kierkegaard > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
