Higher Education Observer

Before you teach online,here is some advice from an old pro: 1. Understand fully how the system works. What system? First, the pay system, the release time system, the rewards system, etc. at your institution. Second, the learning management system, which leads to . . . 2. Get good tech training. Take advantage of whatever your institution provides. Now, to be honest, I taught myself a lot of what I learned, but I wasted a lot of time doing so. 3. Have a mentor/coach/helper/somebody who can and will patiently answer your questions because you will forget a lot of the tech training from the sessions you attend. We have an awesome instructional technologist at our college. No one else can have her! 4. Look at your class from the end backward, not as a day-to-day experience as you design the online section. And don't even think about teaching a class you haven't taught traditionally. It's possible, and I've done it, but it isn't wise because you ...

So, why should you teach online, if you have a choice? 1. There are some neat tools out there to learn about. 2. It will open you up to some possibilities and revitalize your thinking about higher ed, if you let it. 3. You can teach from home, on the road, etc. Some institutions allow much more flexibility about scheduling. 4. You can structure assignments in ways that simplify grading. 5. After the first two semesters, it gets easier. 6. The best news is that the half online option--hybrid--is really best. You still see the students but they are responsible for lecture material and the class time can be spent more usefully. 7. Your colleagues will think you are "on the cutting edge." (well, maybe) Your administrators will probably like you better. 8. For the altruistic, it really does help nontraditional students. Not convinced? Then you probably won't be.

As hard as it is to believe, there are many, many college professors who have had no experience with online courses, and who plan never to have any. I find this stunning, having taught online since 1998. Although I read some of the research on higher ed and online pedagogy, have been to many workshops and conferences, and have even presented at teaching conferences and at League for Innovation on the subject, I find that my own experience is usually corroborated by what others tell me, rather than challenged. So I am going to post on that subject for a while. First, to teach online or not to. I think the first question to be considered is how supportive one's institution is (or forceful in demanding online course development and teaching). If it's an option and no more "brownie points" are given in regard to tenure or promotion for online teaching as opposed to traditional teaching, I wouldn't do it unless you just have a craving to do so. But it's no...

What is collaborative learning? It is not putting students into groups to ding some ideas around, a la buzz groups. Not that that's a bad idea. Some students are just so plain shy, they can't speak out in a group of 25 or 35 or 55 peers. They just can't do it. I teach public speaking, a class in which the most introverted of students must get up and talk. It has taken me years to be willing to give the introverts a break. So small groups can help these people (so can online, but that's too easy.) But that's not collaborative learning. For collaborative learning to take place, I believe there has to be a true outcome that is assessable. There has to be a common responsibility; however, there also has to be a clear way for those who perform well to be rewarded accordingly and for those who are dead weight to be punished accordingly. I use a rubric that the students must use to grade each other's performance as a group member (but not on the outcome of ...

Years ago I heard an "award-winning" teacher say he had one rule, "Whatever is easiest for me." Now, you can take that for what it's worth, but there is more than a seed of wisdom there. Some of us more "motivated" (or obsessed) instructors sometimes seem to like to do it the hardest--and most time-consuming, emotion-inducing--way. I know I have been that way. On top of that, some of us dedicated teachers spend more time and psychic energy worrying about our students' success than they do. It's like online classes. Students don't really care about the bells and whistles. They care that the technology is accessible and that the class is laid out well.

Most colleges are in finals or in the last week of classes. And I see a lot of frantic instructors at my college with foot-high stacks of papers/essays to grade. Why? Final exams should be easy to grade, easy to post, and a short step before adding them up to turn them in. Make sure your major presentations/research papers are due two weeks before finals. The students will prefer it and you won't be stressed during the finals. Also, if your institution is like mine, there are all sorts of reports to get finished at the end of the semester. And it's Christmas!

Should an instructor have his/her students on Facebook? I think probably he/she should have a separate, private account for student issues and a separate personal account for real friends and family. Not that students can't be friends, but it's not the same. And then set your privacy settings carefully. That being said, on either one, a professional demeanor must be maintained. Too much nonsense on Facebook. I have a few students on Facebook, mostly BCM students. I don't post there much, but really don't want the whole world in my business.

Keep in contact with students. Nowadays we have email to do so. Yes, they can ignore the email, and often do, but it helps you cover your trail, if nothing else.

I often hear "80% of life is showing up." I say 90% of success is organization. If I have learned anything in 33 years of teaching, it's that students like structure. It even trumps a groovy personality. They like to know the teacher has a plan, works the plan, gets the papers graded, gets the grades up, doesn't lose papers, and doesn't forget what the assignments are or how they are set up. Students today have a very low tolerance for confusion. Since their own mental schema are so faulty, we can't afford to confuse them anymore.

I had a very wise professor in my first graduate program. "If you want people to learn something, tell them what you want them to learn," he said. Now, he wasn't himself the greatest teacher who ever lived, and to be honest (this was the 70s) he actually smoked in class! But his advice was sage.. I have never understood how professors say, "Read the five chapters and there will be a test on it in two weeks." How would anyone know how to study for that? How would anyone know what's important? Even if all the Cornell notetaking methods, etc, are used, it still doesn't tell the students what the teacher thinks is priority. I am a firm believer in reading and study guides. I don't think they have to be considered spoon feeding. Nothing in a study guide says, "You don't have to think critically" or "you don't have to learn very much." Study guides do not have to be pablum. They can be rigorous, but clear.

Teaching is a full-time job. Don't try to mix it with a lot of other stuff. I currently do a lot of non-teaching activities. It drains my energy from teaching. I like the non-teaching "stuff." In fact, I've applied for an administrative position. But I am ambivalent about leaving teaching--very ambivalent. Maybe I am bored by teaching and that's why I do the other. Don't know. But I know it doesn't really help my teaching.

Give out snacks before doing SET (student evaluation of teaching). Ha, I'm kidding. Not really. The research shows those things are largely based on personality (friendly, helpful, etc.) rather than competency as a teacher or knowledge of subject matter. Of course, it can be very well argued that teaching is an interpersonal activity more than an intellectual one. So personality-based factors in evaluation are not irrelevant. They can, however, carry too much weight. A "cool" professor will get a good evaluation even if the students learn less.

Ideally, you should lecture/instruct for 20-25 minutes and then have an activity, a break-out, video, pair and share, something like that. Hard to do, but almost necessary. I had to finish up lecture Thursday morning and I was pouring my heart out, had PowerPoint, asked questions, gave the students a handout to take notes on, but they were still nodding off. Of course, it's an 8:00 class and the room was too warm (they can't get the heat and air right in our building), but still, I could have done better. I did promise them this was the last day of lecture.

Always work ahead. Remind students of the semester schedule frequently. Post it on the board when you come in. Post an agenda of the class' activities for that day on the board, too. This assumes getting to class early, another tip. I went to observe a colleague, who was kind enough to let me do so to see his/her technique for teaching literature to freshman. But he/she was ten minutes late to class. I have to say I was appalled. I am always five to ten minutes early, getting the technology set up, taking roll, being able to deal with students ahead of time. It is said C.S. Lewis would lecture this way: he entered the door, right on time, started to talk at the door, still taking off his coat, and put on his coat and continued lecturing as he walked out the door. Far be it from me to criticize Lewis, obviously a brilliant man. But that's not good pedagogy in the 21st century.

"Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape." Hello, my name is Barbara, and I have been an inflexible teacher/instructor. Seriously, there is great power in flexibility. If we focus on less is more, we have the time to be flexible--not to waste time, but to take time with students. I have so often been frustrated with students for slowing me down. Who was I to be that way?

Be flexible. Less is more. Unless you are teaching a class for some sort of certification, focus on clear objectives as opposed to what you might think is important. This is tricky. I am afraid the days of pure academic freedom are over. Too many SACS (or other accrediting bodies) or state or professional regulations. Too many prerequisite requirements. So we have to forgo what we might like to teach to be "outcome" centered. Oh, well.

Admit when you are wrong. Nobody made you infallible because you earned a graduate degree.

Instead of letting your students out early, give them a day off. A lot of faculty members cut it short ten minutes early. Why do that? The students are already there, have had to get up and use the gas. They really like a day off. Of course, this means that the whole class time is not being used anyway, which is not a good thing.

http://onelongbird.blogspot.com/ This blog has a pitch perfect essay on male and female teachers and expectations. I felt like I had written it myself.

It's a very good idea to periodically ask students for informal feedback. It's better, probably if it's anonymous; however, I personally think people should own their opinions and views rather than sniping from behind anonymity. Linda Nilson suggests the students answer these simple questions: What should I stop doing? What should I start doing? What should I continue doing? ... to help you learn better in this class.

Use less technology, more face-to-face. Big thing on my campus now is "the clickers." They are a fun gadget. But they don't encourage critical thinking and they don't encourage social interaction, the two primary goals of college. (Filling one's head with random facts is not really one of them, although many of us succeed there).

Take roll. Seriously. Make being there matter. Yes, I know we can argue, if they need to be there, if they want to be there, they will be. I don't disagree. But we are not dealing with intrinsically motivated people, all the time. Some extrinsic reminders help. Of course, if one's goal is to keep the riff-raff out, to gatekeep one's discipline, and to lose students so that there are fewer papers to grade, then taking attendance is not a good idea.

I make sure I learn my students' names by the second week. For my English 1101 students, I have them come in for a conference over their first paper (an easy diagnostic essay). We chat. I know everyone can't do that, but it helps with smaller classes. (I give them a day off for the conferences, too.)

In the classrooms, you meet all kinds. You can never really know the struggles, baggage, challenges, your students are having. So kindness always beats rigor; charity always triumphs over rightness. Believe it or not, this took me a long time to learn, because I felt like students were taking advantage of me (and some probably were) and because I thought it was my job to teach them life skills such as responsibility and respect. In other words, I had too high a view of my own importance.

I asked my son, a college student at a private college three hours from here, how he thought I could relate to my students better. He told me to stress that the students could come by my office during my office hours, and make it seem more welcoming, thus me more welcoming. I have taken his advice. They aren't beating my door down, but my sweetness factor is going up a bit, I think.

What is spoonfeeding? That term has always bothered me. What one person considers spoonfeeding another considers scaffolding, a fancy term for providing the background the students need to build future learning on. I teach freshmen for the most part, and many are unprepared for the college classroom environment. So I feel it is my job to teach them to be college students, at least in my class. That does not mean whole lectures on learning skills. It does mean occasional tips on how best to takes notes in my class. It does mean having very organized lectures (maybe too organized, for some people's views, but I am left-brained and like the structure of typical outlines.) It does mean reminding them of the learning outcomes of the class occasionally. It foes mean providing an agenda of the class period at the beginning. Coming from a rhetoric and communication background, I learned early on about the research that audiences are not very adept at creating a structure for a sp...

I like to use a lot of collaborative assignments. They don't need to listen to me lecture anyway. But, here's a tip: NEVER, NEVER let them pick their own groups. Never say, "You guys just get in groups." This is not the playground. In the work force they won't be able to pick their own groups, so they shouldn't in the classroom. I micromanage groups for diversity and balance. I see no other way. And no, I'm not usually this dogmatic about everything. But random doesn't work.

I don’t think I am the only one to whom this has happened. (And you can tell from the opener I am an English professor very concerned with the correct use of pronouns.) I have before me, on a bright and sunny day, a stack of essays to grade for my English 1101 class. They need to be graded; they need my full attention; the students need helpful, solid feedback. I pull out my pen and start. Ah, but first, let me see if I have any messages on Facebook. That is important because, well, that is the way I communicate with the students in the Registered Student Organization I sponsor. So off to Facebook. No, no messages. Well, let me check the “Who’s Online” function because my son might be on and I have a prompting (from the Holy Spirit, I can argue) to see how he is and give him a word of encouragement. He is three hours away at college and has said his senior year is kicking his rear. No, he’s not online; that’s good, he should be working, and normally his Facebook account is a...

This is not a particular new question, but. . . how do you answer the question, "What do you teach?" Of course, most of us will say our discipline. Do you ever say, "Students?" This hit me again the other day after listening to an exchange between a colleague and one of her students. Life is like that--a glimpse, a smell, a sound, a touch--can evoke deep and broad connections. I like my students, but I don't see my job as teaching them as much as teaching a subject. This is probably because I am a firm believer in self-learning. WE learn best what we learn ourselves, in motion, not as passive sponges. What do you think? Does it really matter how we answer that question?

I had an interesting experience last semester. In a lecture on perception, I mentioned (because I had been reading so) that people with autism (my brother has it) do not perceive less than others, but they perceive more and that their behaviors are to block out or filter or deal with the overload. One boy in the back of the room said, "I know that's true because I'm autistic and .... " That's one of those "moments of truth." I often do not handle them well, but this one I did. Since the young man had not done anything that indicated autism to me (other than being nerdy), after he talked about himself I said, "Do you have Asperger's?" to which he said, "Yes, and ADD." Another young man in the class was giving me signals that he was in the same boat. There is something ironic and yet appropriate about this incident--only a student with Asperger's or Austism Spectrum Disorder would just announce it so boldly in class. ...

The 18th and 19th Centuries As usual, the text does what it does very well but eliminates some crucial elements of this period, called The Age of Reason or The Age of Enlightenment. This study guide is designed to guide you through what in the book you will be held responsible to know (that is, what I want to emphasize) and will at the end do the same in reference to the PowerPoint, which as you see is simplified but still important. The Age of Reason actually started about 1680 with Isaac Newton’s work called Principia Mathematica and with the English Glorious Revolution. One of the ideas Newton and his contemporaries proposed was that the world, nature, or natural phenomena were measurable and could be recorded in mathematical formulas. If measurable, then it was understandable and controllable. Nature was now the primary field of study, as opposed to human beings alone; human beings were increasingly being seen as a part of nature, not separate from it (as Christianity taught)....

Thursday was my last official Teaching and Learning Center activity. For me, it's all over but the shouting--and the annual report. But not the end of this blog, which will chronicle my teaching experiences and put out questions in case people want to respond. I have a policy. I am all business for the first 8-10 weeks of my COMM 1110 class, the one I teach the most. By then, I have "run off" (don't take that literally) the students who aren't going to stick around, either because they never planned to in the first place, or they have had personal issues (which I never condemn them for--it happened to me in a Ph.D. program), or they can't (choose not to) do the work. After that, I lighten up and shift the burden to the student. I bloviate less, leave the learning up to them, have more fun. The nature of our students makes it unwise to lighten up any earlier than that. What about you? do you follow a similar pattern? Or are you warm and fun all the way...

Do you take attendance in your class? I can't imagine not, for the following reasons: 1. We are responsible for knowing when the students stopped attending, etc. for financial aid purposes. 2. I want them there to participate and listen to other students' speeches. 3. I can't trust them to make the right decision about attendance without an external motivator. I'm not proud of this one, but I do know about our current generation of students is that they do very little without an external motivator. We have created them, so we have no reason to blame them. 4. It motivates me to learn their names. After the second week I do not call role. I find that demeaning and a waste of time, and there are ways to get around it. I understand why some instructors do not take roll, however. Yes, it's really the students' responsibilities to learn, absolutely. I agree with all that but don't plan on stopping my practice. Next post: millennials--a myth?

The biggest advantage of Teaching and Learning programs is that it causes, or allows, professors in different disciplines to leave their buildings, their wings, or departments, and talk to people who teach--and more importantly, think--in terms of different disciplines. I had a great book discussion today with a biology professor, who was the only other one who showed up. On top of that, she was from another culture. Fascinating. I learned so much. But I have also found that many academics are either unwilling to learn or listen to someone in another discipline, or frightened by the prospect of it. Or just plain intellectually lazy, or afraid some turf will be surrendered by talking to someone from across campus. I have read the research that professors are more loyal or committed to their disciplines than to their institutions. I understand some of that. But that shouldn't prevent us from (and here's the cliche I have come to disdain) "thinking outside the box...

Perhaps no practice in higher education pushes veteran faculty to cynicism and younger faculty to frustration more than SET—student evaluation of teaching. If you have ever received SETs that left you angry, scratching your head, or laughing at the irony of it all; if you have ever wished there were other ways to evaluate your teaching; if you have ever wondered about the reliability and validity of the SET process, you are not alone. Although over thirty journal articles went into the preparation of this essay, that number represents only about 1% of all that have been published on the subject. According to Al-Isa & Suleiman (2007), 2988 journal articles on SET in higher education appeared in professional journals from 1990 to 2005. Furthermore, the ones published 30 years ago address the same concerns as the ones written in the last few years. As many of the articles echoed, faculty members routinely question the practice of SET. Until I came to DSC, my experience with SET a...

I was praying today for the other Christian faculty members on my campus. Not that I don't pray for the nonChristians--I do--but I pray that the Christians would be strong and winsome and wise. The ones I know are nice people and good colleagues and, while perhaps not the coolest people on campus, have good reputations. I would hope for more than just a good reputation, though, but spiritual influence. Being a Christian on a secular campus means conflict in a couple of areas. Sometimes it's in terms of politics, but it shouldn't be. I really try to keep my conservatism under raps because I don't want it confused with my faith. While there are connections between the two, I don't have a "what would Jesus do" view of how I vote. Perhaps I should, but I don't, at least not totally. I don't know how Jesus would vote on health care reform. I suspect He would prefer a fiscally solvent government system, no way for irresponsible women to kill the...

I work at a relatively small college that has grown rather quickly in the last few years with the addition of four-year programs and the influx of unemployed mill workers (the bulk of whom probably won't stick around when the mill reopen--sorry for the cynicism, but we have many students who sign up just to get the initial Pell check and then stop coming. They of course ruin their chances of ever getting any more scholarship money, but they waste a chunk of my taxes in the process, thank you very much.) Because of the size of the college, we have the opportunity to speak and socialize and collaborate across disciplines. It's a service-oriented college, so we often work on committees, in the Advising Center, that kind of thing. So, the historians can work with the nursing faculty who can work with the computer science faculty. It's quite nice. I am working on a project with a Social Work faculty member, for example. I would not like to work in a college where I could onl...

My conference went great, thanks to the wonderful teachers at Dalton State College who presented. The PowerPoints will be available at http://www.daltonstate.edu/teachinglearning/resources.htm by March 25.

If anyone reads this, come to Dalton State College, the Brown Center, firs floor, Friday morning, March 19, at 8:30. It's a conference on college teaching and learning. I'm very pleased. It will be awesome.

Over the weekend I read P.M. Forni's two books on Civility. They are book club selections for the Teaching and Learning Center I am in charge of (but not for much longer). They were chosen because teachers were interested, or concerned, about student incivility and many colleges are reading them. Not too many of our faculty are reading them, but I have to read all the selections to lead the discussions. I learned a few things, and can say I'm not sorry I took the time to read the books. But they are the kind of book that will have an impact on you if you have an open mind. He's not heavy handed, actually he's rather winsome, although a little preachy at times. We can't remember all the rules, but we can remember the basic principles of attention, awareness, and respect, among others. I am not sure why someone would want to follow his advice, though. His motivation is that if everyone did, society would be more, well, civilized. And there may be some truth t...

I have been on spring break (kind of early--the rest of the universe is starting theirs now or next week) but tomorrow must go back to the real world of 5:30 a.m alarm clock ringing. At least I don't have to drive in the dark now. I made the mistake (well, I was trying to be gracious and give them more time, but it meant more work for me) of having my students who needed extra time send in their outlines half-way through the week. I didn't get a good response--only about half got them in on time. On top of that, it had to be submitted to turnitin.com. One student flagged 82%. I wrote her a pretty scathing email. I wanted to say, "Do I have stupid written on my forehead," but instead made it about her, and that I could have her taken up before the disciplinary committee and fail the class or worse. I wanted to put them fear in them. Most had less than 15%, which I don't worry about. What's your opinion of turnitin? I don't like it, but is it a nec...

Am I the only person who teaches who sees all of life as fodder for the classroom? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? The bad part of it is that as I get older and still have to teach to pay the bills (because people my age will not get Social Security til they are ninety, well, I'm kidding, maybe 70 or 72)--what a detour, anyway, as I get older my personal examples from life or movies may grow more and more irrelevant and doddering. I already have grieved over the death of my sense of humor. I thought I had one, but alas, my students don't think so. (Again, kidding a little, but they just don't get my jokes, they don't watch the TV shows I do, they don't go to the movies I do--I refuse to watch Twilight just because.....I feel so old!) The other bad part is that even if my humor and references were hip, that doesn't mean they really add anything to the task at hand, that is, learning the class concepts, instead of being a pleasant distraction and heaven ...

The governor of Georgia has stepped in and told the legislators to quit fearmongering about massive budget cuts and 35% tuition. Thank goodness. Maybe we will get some soundness in this debate. The issue of faculty members on facebook has come up again at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/02/facebook Again, why I don't want students on my facebook page, but this story goes deeper into issues of privacy, professionalism, and public speech of faculty members. I have two blogs to publish my own thoughts and sometimes they are not "politically correct," and some of my colleagues and students wouldn't like, but there's a line you don't cross on the Internet. That line is talking about your students in a public forum. In my book, you don't talk to students about other students or about colleagues, no matter how much they might try to bait you into it ("Professor X is not fair because ....."). And you also don't talk about students wh...

However, this entry, although also posted to my other blog, was too priceless, and it's very related to college teaching. From a student. This is why I shouldn't let students on my Facebook page. so this weekend,I was in D'iberville mississippi in Target. I was walkin to the bathroom when i received a call from NAMED FRIEND. As I walked in the restroom I finished my call and hung up the phone. Took a REDICULOUS dump, Then I got up to was my hands realizing a young attractive lady was standing beside me. t...urn around 2 find NO urinals on the wall.thanks Bro for "just wanting to talk" This tops the one I got a few weeks ago from a former co-church member who was fussing and whining about people posting about their kids' vomit. And this from a woman who posted a picture of her husband's butt crack. Do you let students on your facebook page? Why or why not? Do you have a separate page for them as friends versus others? I figure I am available th...

The big hot topic in college teaching and learning is classroom incivility. That's an unfortunate choice of words, as I have been quoted in a video as saying, because I think "incivility" assumes intent and a great deal of stupid behavior called incivility is plain cluelessness. I prefer to call it unproductive behavior and assume most of if comes from lack of skill and knowledge of the academic culture, or from lack of ability to deal with the stressors of college life. I truly believe that. I also truly believe some of it is a power play and intentional. The challenge is for college instructors (not those elitists, teach-one-class-a-semester types who produce research nobody reads, but real instructors and assistant and associate professors) to be able to slow down, proactively think it through, and respond based on a judgment of whether the behavior is stress-related (often the case at my college), cluelessness (more and more common because young people are not bei...

As part of my (almost former) job as TLC Coordinator, I have led a number of book discussions. We have read over the past three years: Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do Huba and Freed, Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress Gabe Lyon, UnChristian Rebekah Nathan, My Freshman Year MaryEllen Weimer, Learner-Centered Teaching Dee Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences Jean Twenge, Generation Me Kathleen Gabriel, Teaching Unprepared Students P. M. Forni, Civility books John Bean, Engaging Ideas Rebecca Cox, The College Fear Factor We read two other books that were only tangentially related to teaching and learning. Would I recommend some of these books over others? Yes. bell hooks is interesting but unpractical. Generation Me is depressing. The College Fear Factor, Teaching Unprepared Students , and some of the learning-centered books are practical for those who teach in open-access. Bain's book is one of the best but...

I spoke with my representative this morning. (We go to church together, but in another state; I voted for him, so I was off the hook on that count. If you're trying to figure out how we go to church in a different state, it's because we live on the border near a big city, another clue.) He didn't know that tuition hikes were off the table. I think they are going to have to raise tuition, but raising taxes is another matter. I would be against raising taxes, fiscal conservative that I am. The long-term effects would be bad. And I think USG students should pay the price for their education, even if it means brown-bagging (which would take care of it for most of our students.) It might thin our ranks some more; we have an inordinate number of students who are in our classes only because they have nothing better to do and have to be on parents' insurance. Finally, if my pay is going to be diminished by $250 or more a month, I don't see why students shouldn'...

http://daltondailycitizen.com/dalton-state-college/x1765867934/Dalton-State-president-discusses-possible-cuts This link is a discussion of GA higher ed. budget cuts. As a colleague wrote, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Education is always the red-headed stepchild of the budget wars. Legislators want to protect their jobs, and can always play off the stereotype of "pointy-headed, ivory tower academics." Yeah, right. I defy anyone to work as hard as I do for the money I make, as a general ed prof in an open-access public college.

OK, now I'm giving away that I work in a public college in GEORGIA. Yesterday we received a fright-inducing email from our president that our governing body, the Board of Regents, is going to expect us to cut our budget 2.4 million dollars more for FY2011. That may not sound like a lot, but our budget two years ago was only 15 million and now with accumulated cuts will be less than 11 million, despite the fact we have had explosive growth rates. The email stated that the administration may have to call for financial exigency, which means tenured faculty can get fired. It then stated there would be a meeting today to talk about it; the crowds came out. It seems that firing faculty is going to happen at our college, no matter how vociferously we complain. I do not feel insecure about my own job; I have tenure, am on the SACS committee, teach two necessary disciplines, and don't make that much in the first place! But perhaps up to ten faculty members could be let go, at a ti...

One of the "hottest" topics in the college pedagogy world is "diversity" and/or "multiculturalism." The follower of Christ who works in a college environment, especially as an instructor or professor, is both blessed and challenged in terms of this subject. On one side, we know our faith and world view transcends culture and we should be (I say should be) able to see beyond cultural limitations and not be affected by prejudices. We know Revelation 5, where people of every tribe and tongue and nation will worship at the throne of God in the future kingdom. We know that God is love and our first job, before we even think of professionalism, is to love our students, to treat those students sitting in our class as God treats us. We know the beautiful, quiet, dark complected girl in the head scarf is as loved by God and as worthwhile to Him as the little blonde cheerleader. On the other side, the philosophical implications and the practical applicat...