Higher Education Observer

Being mission-driven is a good thing, or so we are told.  Assuming it is, mission can be framed in two ways:  as transforming a system or facilitating individual change. I based my dissertation on a social constructionist view of organizations rather than a systems view.  I won't get into a defense of that now, but I think people in the organizations for the most part "create" the organization by their discourse and behavior. Recently a colleague who is, like me, devoted to faculty development, said that she was all about educational transformation.  I would say I am all about helping other professors be better professors.  I think the difference is this:  I want the professors to develop their own gifts, not change to a different person.  I am not sure, but a faculty developer can have a "I'm going to change people for their own good according to my agenda."  That could explain resistance. I am working on a paper in this regard.  Facul...

I spend a lot of time thinking about this topic--it's my job to do so, at least until June 30, when my time as an interim administrator is up.  My convictions. Tenure will go away.  There can be other, better contractual situations for faculty.  Or at least it needs to be restructured.  Academic freedom is a word that gets thrown around and is meaningless because of so many definitions for it.  If academic freedom is in any way conflated with "lack of accountability," that needs to go away.  Lack of accountability in the college classroom is unsustainable.  I hear faculty say, "I just want to close my door and deal with students."  I understand that; it's why we chose this work.  But why so defensive?  Why not more open and transparent about what goes on in there?  Not to put the burden of proof on hard working faculty, but I have to wonder about a refusal to let others know what and how you teach.  Where else in the econom...

I was privileged yesterday to attend a summit on Open Educational Resources.  I have a lot of thoughts on this initiative. The keynote speaker was Cable Green of Creative Commons, which was a real treat for me as someone concerned with publishing.  He is a very good presenter and passionate about these projects. OER is fueled by a number of forces:  the almost totally free distribution power of digital media on the Internet, the rising costs of tuition and textbooks, and the research showing that students are not buying textbooks and dropping courses due to the high prices of them.  Prices are outrageous and unsustainable, and I have empathy of students in this regard. However, I don't think OER is the only answer to the last point.  That is a course design problem too.  If students can pass a class and meet the outcomes (often not the same thing) without access to the textbook, there is something wrong with the course and the teaching of it.  Assi...