Re: grad perspective
This is where the problem lies IMHO. Some places are not just hiring a few really good adjuncts - but rather relying on poorly paid migrant teachers. Teaching six classes a year at 1,500 per class would allow a new Ph.D. to pay 750 a month on their student loans (which might be a minimum payment for a loan of 50,000). If this person wants to eat (beans) pay rent the number of classes to teach per year rises to 14. Since its unlikely that one school can offer someone 14 courses per year, the teacher in question must travel to the various locations. Doen't leave a lot of time for decent prep work. At 09:40 AM 4/27/2000 -0500, Paul Brandon wrote: Most faculty members would agree with this. Unfortunately, too many administraitors fell that, 'like other businesses', they can maximize profits by hiring part time and temp workers whenever possible.
Re: grad perspective
On Wed, 26 Apr 2000 16:06:18 -0700 (PDT) Dawn Morales [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am currently a grad in experimental psych. These days, in order to get a teaching job, you must have teaching experience, with good evals. Student evals may not be the best appraisal of teaching quality, but it does seem to be the currency of the realm. I agree that adjuncts will "do whatever it takes" to get good student evals. Dawn: (And other people heading towards the job market) At ASU (and, I believe, at most schools) we realize how easy it is to manipulate student evaluations, and the tenuous relationship between evaluation scores and quality of instruction. Generally we look at student evaluations of applicants but don't weigh them that heavily in the decision process. As far as teaching goes, we would be more interested in the courses that you have taught and your ability to give articulate answers to questions about teaching (such as your balance between rigor and accessibility in a specific content area). Ken -- Kenneth M. Steele[EMAIL PROTECTED] Associate Professor Dept. of Psychology Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA
Re: grad perspective
Dawn Morales wrote: I am currently a grad in experimental psych. These days, in order to get a teaching job, you must have teaching experience, with good evals. Student evals may not be the best appraisal of teaching quality, but it does seem to be the currency of the realm. I agree that adjuncts will "do whatever it takes" to get good student evals. ...and Ken Steele replied, in part: Generally we look at student evaluations of applicants but don't weigh them that heavily in the decision process. As far as teaching goes, we would be more interested in the courses that you have taught and your ability to give articulate answers to questions about teaching (such as your balance between rigor and accessibility in a specific content area). I'll second Ken's remarks, at least in part. Student evals are generally expected and I find myself a little suspicious when they are not included in the application package. Personally, I'm also suspicious of those that come in with no negatives at all. Sometimes the content of the "negative" responses tells me interesting things about the applicant. For example, a "negative" comment to the effect that "the tests were challenging" or "the course demanded lots of writing" isn't so negative after all, but rather may suggest that the applicant maintains some reasonable standards for rigor and performance level of students. Again echoing Ken a bit, evidence that the student has a clear sense of how to organize a course--suggested often enough by a well-developed syllabus--is often fairly persuasive when I review an applicant's materials. Pat Cabe ** Patrick Cabe, Ph.D. Department of Psychology University of North Carolina at Pembroke One University Drive Pembroke, NC 28372-1510 (910) 521-6630 [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Thomas Jefferson "There is the danger that everyone waits idly for others to act in his stead." Albert Einstein "Majorities simply follow minorities. Gandhi
RE: grad perspective
-Original Message- I think the real solution to this problem is to not rely on adjuncts very much, but instead on faculty who (one hopes) have a vested interest and true commitment in teaching the "harder" topics well. Remember the difference between a "college" and a "university". Colleges have the primary responsibility of disseminating information (i.e., teaching). Universities have the primary responsibility of creating new information (i.e., research). This means that post secondary teaching is valued at 2 and 4 year institutions, but often not at institutions with graduate programs. At a number of universities very active efforts are made to "outsource" undergraduate education as it is not viewed as a "mission" of importance. Outsourcing takes the form of shifting undergraduate teaching to GTAs and/or part-time instructors; creating huge undergrad classes to subsidize the cost of small graduate classes; cost shifting or creating policy which moves undergraduate education over to 2 and 4 year instititions; and most recently moving it to the web. If teaching is your top professional priority you should steer yourself toward a career in a college rather than a university.
grad perspective
Hi to all, I am currently a grad in experimental psych. These days, in order to get a teaching job, you must have teaching experience, with good evals. Student evals may not be the best appraisal of teaching quality, but it does seem to be the currency of the realm. I agree that adjuncts will "do whatever it takes" to get good student evals. I think the real solution to this problem is to not rely on adjuncts very much, but instead on faculty who (one hopes) have a vested interest and true commitment in teaching the "harder" topics well. Dawn Dawn Morales University of California, San Diego Department of Psychology 9500 Gilman Drive, MC-0109 La Jolla, CA 92093-0109
