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> I am in a union. And yet you're posting on here about administration under paying you and forcing you to teach using certain materials? Seems like that would

> I am in a union. And yet you're posting on here about administration under paying you and forcing you to teach using certain materials? Seems like that would be issues to raise with the union. > You’ve made a lot of assumptions about me and what happens in departments. You told us what happens. I responded to what you yourself had to say, and those are "assumptions?" Seems like a trap, you provide anecdotes then attack those that criticise your own anecdotes for making assumptions? If you didn't want to discuss your situation then why raise it? And if we don't have the full picture isn't that your fault? > I’m guessing you aren’t employed as a faculty member at a college. I don’t know if this is the case but your assertions feel like someone who is speaking about things they peripherally understand. Weren't you just barating me for making assumptions? Yours are wrong, very wrong. My perception is from working in a University and seeing what goes on, seeing my colleagues sell out the students for fairly measly personal gains. > You really think this? I've worked in academia within the US and outside of. So, yes I think this. This type of exploitative publishing doesn't gain traction in e.g. Europe not because it doesn't have benefits to professors (it does) but because they view it as immoral to push their students under a bus to gain for themselves. > I reiterate, the forces at play are not as simplistic as you appear to think. And the solution definitely isn’t as simplistic as the one you gave. I didn't provide a solution. I suggested that students and the public at large start criticizing the gatekeepers for this issue rather than a scapegoat. At the very least they should feel bad about their poor behaviour.

skh 8y ago
I didn’t berate you. Of course I made assumptions. I specifically said so. Where I did make assumptions I mentioned that this was a guess on my part. From my reading of what you wrote your assumptions are embedded winthin your assertions without any acknowledgement that this is what you are doing. There’s a difference. > You really think this? I've worked in academia within the US and outside of. So, yes I think this. You didn’t understand what my rhetorical question was about. It was asking if you really think the whole rest of the world hasn’t sold out. There are lots of examples of people selling out outside of academia and even within European academia. I’m not seeking to change your mind. You have what appears to be a rigid view on how American faculty view textbooks. I suggest that your view is based on limited experience - as is mine - and that others reading this exchange consider that topics concerning something as large as the number of faculty and departments in the U.S. generally can’t be reduced to, “It’s because of (insert simple observation).” Your comment about unions shows you really don’t understand the issues that affect a large portion of the American academy. For one thing over 50% of courses are taught by adjuncts, and instructors whose employment is at the whim of administration. They are not in a position to withstand administrative pressures. Unions have nowhere near the pricing power on labor you seem to believe. Generally decisions are made by individuals who are not any more or less moral than others. Decisions get made because of forces at play. Such is my opinion. While I don’t like the tone of your posts and don’t agree with many of your assertions let me end by saying that I agree with the goal. Our goals appear aligned. I never use paid materials in my courses.

skh 8y ago

I didn’t berate you. Of course I made assumptions. I specifically said so. Where I did make assumptions I mentioned that this was a guess on my part. From my reading of what you wrote your assumptions are embedded winthin your assertions without any acknowledgement that this is what you are doing. There’s a difference. > You really think this? I've worked in academia within the US and outside of. So, yes I think this. You didn’t understand what my rhetorical question was about. It was asking if you really think the whole rest of the world hasn’t sold out. There are lots of examples of people selling out outside of academia and even within European academia. I’m not seeking to change your mind. You have what appears to be a rigid view on how American faculty view textbooks. I suggest that your view is based on limited experience - as is mine - and that others reading this exchange consider that topics concerning something as large as the number of faculty and departments in the U.S. generally can’t be reduced to, “It’s because of (insert simple observation).” Your comment about unions shows you really don’t understand the issues that affect a large portion of the American academy. For one thing over 50% of courses are taught by adjuncts, and instructors whose employment is at the whim of administration. They are not in a position to withstand administrative pressures. Unions have nowhere near the pricing power on labor you seem to believe. Generally decisions are made by individuals who are not any more or less moral than others. Decisions get made because of forces at play. Such is my opinion. While I don’t like the tone of your posts and don’t agree with many of your assertions let me end by saying that I agree with the goal. Our goals appear aligned. I never use paid materials in my courses.