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I'm going to be a Visiting Professor there in 2019, and I'll be teaching a deep learning course. One interesting thing about Cornell Tech is that the faculty a

I'm going to be a Visiting Professor there in 2019, and I'll be teaching a deep learning course. One interesting thing about Cornell Tech is that the faculty all work in an open office space, and I think that's to embrace start up culture. Faculty have "huddle" rooms for meetings. At my home institution, I spend 20 hours per week in meetings. Faculty do have dedicated huddle rooms, though.

spamizbad 8y ago
Why embrace the bad parts of startup culture (open plans)? Seems cargo cultish: open plans exist as a cost control measure, and make it easier to grow/shrink. Academia has endowments and tends to have a more stable labor force.
- czardoz 8y ago
  > Why embrace the bad parts of startup culture (open plans) That's really just your opinion, not a fact. I for one love open plans, I find they make working a more social activity, which suits me.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- jonas21 8y ago
  As you mention, it would make little sense for academia to do this as a cost-cutting measure. The same goes for companies like Google or Facebook that are swimming in cash. Is it that hard to believe that they're doing this because they value the additional opportunities for informal communication and collaboration that open-plan offices provide? I realize this is a polarizing topic, but personally I've always preferred working in open-plan spaces to having a private office for precisely that reason.
- zamfi 8y ago
  "More stable labor force": you are thinking of faculty, who make up a small percentage of research labor at universities. Graduate students & postdocs—who make up the majority of research labor—come and go, on the order of months-to-years, making open plans actually somewhat reasonable.
  - ken 8y ago
    Yet the comment here was that it's faculty who have the open floor plan. Why are they using the agile aspect of startups for the most stable asset in academia?
    - zamfi 8y ago
      That is what the comment said, however, the open floor plan is not just all faculty in one open space, it is all researchers (faculty, students, postdocs, other research staff) in one open space. Faculty additionally have huddles where they can take meetings.
ticmasta 8y ago
honest question: Do you think open offices are or should be an "embraceable" aspect of start-up culture? Are the common activities of faculty compatible with rows of desks, no privacy and constant interruptions? I'm thinking about administrivia and deep, contemplative thought. The only (perhaps) valid use-case I've seen for open office is highly collaborative tactical execution. The minute you need individual thought-space or strategic focus it's a massive hinderance.
- aylmao 8y ago
  I wonder this too. My guess is it could be similar to programming-- there's times when it's just me and my computer-- everything else is a distraction. Other times though, I'm working with others, asking questions, helping people or socializing. I have friends at places where they have offices, and I work on an open-office space: we each like and dislike different aspects of our respective setup. From my experience in college (anecdotal observations), there's professors who seem to spend a lot of time working with others. They were solving problems with grad-students or at meetings-- though there's some I always found alone in their offices too. I'm sure this varies by person and by field, but I'd be interested in knowing if the open office is working for the faculty here.
- dgacmu 8y ago
  I'm a professor at CMU. I have a lovely office. I don't use it except for holding office hours and 1:1 meetings that require confidentiality. I spend most of my time near the entry of an open plan area where I bump into people at a much higher rate. I love it. I do sometimes hide in my office or home for some things, but much less than you'd probably guess. I also spend a lot of time walking around - I find that things like reviewing papers is best done away from all distraction, including electronic , so I'll walk over to a nearby park while reading. I often do the same for editing my student's papers.
TuringNYC 8y ago
I'm a Cornell alum (Comp Sci undergrad, Class of 2001.) For my current startup, we go to Cornell Tech to recruit. I'm taken aback at the campus -- it is beautiful, just the right blend of remoteness in an urban setting, and I think it would be a great place to study. The various buildings and diverse meeting/sitting/study places is great and I think will get even better as the campus builds out.

spamizbad 8y ago

Why embrace the bad parts of startup culture (open plans)? Seems cargo cultish: open plans exist as a cost control measure, and make it easier to grow/shrink. Academia has endowments and tends to have a more stable labor force.

czardoz 8y ago
> Why embrace the bad parts of startup culture (open plans) That's really just your opinion, not a fact. I for one love open plans, I find they make working a more social activity, which suits me.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
jonas21 8y ago
As you mention, it would make little sense for academia to do this as a cost-cutting measure. The same goes for companies like Google or Facebook that are swimming in cash. Is it that hard to believe that they're doing this because they value the additional opportunities for informal communication and collaboration that open-plan offices provide? I realize this is a polarizing topic, but personally I've always preferred working in open-plan spaces to having a private office for precisely that reason.
zamfi 8y ago
"More stable labor force": you are thinking of faculty, who make up a small percentage of research labor at universities. Graduate students & postdocs—who make up the majority of research labor—come and go, on the order of months-to-years, making open plans actually somewhat reasonable.
- ken 8y ago
  Yet the comment here was that it's faculty who have the open floor plan. Why are they using the agile aspect of startups for the most stable asset in academia?
  - zamfi 8y ago
    That is what the comment said, however, the open floor plan is not just all faculty in one open space, it is all researchers (faculty, students, postdocs, other research staff) in one open space. Faculty additionally have huddles where they can take meetings.

ticmasta 8y ago

honest question: Do you think open offices are or should be an "embraceable" aspect of start-up culture? Are the common activities of faculty compatible with rows of desks, no privacy and constant interruptions? I'm thinking about administrivia and deep, contemplative thought. The only (perhaps) valid use-case I've seen for open office is highly collaborative tactical execution. The minute you need individual thought-space or strategic focus it's a massive hinderance.

aylmao 8y ago
I wonder this too. My guess is it could be similar to programming-- there's times when it's just me and my computer-- everything else is a distraction. Other times though, I'm working with others, asking questions, helping people or socializing. I have friends at places where they have offices, and I work on an open-office space: we each like and dislike different aspects of our respective setup. From my experience in college (anecdotal observations), there's professors who seem to spend a lot of time working with others. They were solving problems with grad-students or at meetings-- though there's some I always found alone in their offices too. I'm sure this varies by person and by field, but I'd be interested in knowing if the open office is working for the faculty here.
dgacmu 8y ago
I'm a professor at CMU. I have a lovely office. I don't use it except for holding office hours and 1:1 meetings that require confidentiality. I spend most of my time near the entry of an open plan area where I bump into people at a much higher rate. I love it. I do sometimes hide in my office or home for some things, but much less than you'd probably guess. I also spend a lot of time walking around - I find that things like reviewing papers is best done away from all distraction, including electronic , so I'll walk over to a nearby park while reading. I often do the same for editing my student's papers.

TuringNYC 8y ago

I'm a Cornell alum (Comp Sci undergrad, Class of 2001.) For my current startup, we go to Cornell Tech to recruit. I'm taken aback at the campus -- it is beautiful, just the right blend of remoteness in an urban setting, and I think it would be a great place to study. The various buildings and diverse meeting/sitting/study places is great and I think will get even better as the campus builds out.