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I'm a Tenured College Professor. I'm Quitting. Here's Why

10 points by skilled 2y ago

vouaobrasil 2y ago
> Universities aren't institutions of knowledge anymore. They're assets. They're revenue streams. If they're not generating money for the top, then they only pose a threat, and they have to be weakened and destroyed. That's been like that for a long time. And that's because they have continually pandered to capitalism and industry like weaklings in exchange for shiny toys and money.
bradley13 2y ago
Pournelle's Iron Law: The administration grows, and becomes the focus of the organization. Alternatively, "the bureacracy is growing to meet the expanding needs of the bureacracy." This is where the board of trustees should intervene. However, who is on the board? In the case of her school (which appears to be the University of Tennessee), we have five former CEOs, three lawyers, one politician, two bureaucrats, and (for form's sake) a student. Not a single professor. The primary purpose of college administration is (should be) to enable teaching. Non-academic positions should be strictly limited in number, and the salaries should be lower than the salaries for those people actually doing the teaching. The idea that a tenured professor at a well-known school earns $54k is shocking. Inexcusable. Even adjuncts should earn more than that.
sandspar 2y ago
It's odd that the author is a college professor, a professional discoverer of knowledge, because I didn't see any original ideas in the article. Blames the sports people. Blames the administrators. Blames the politicians. It's all surface level stuff that a high schooler would write about. Also, nearly every sentence in the article is less than ten words long. There's a single sentence with about 20 words, and one of the words is "Trump".
- CogitoCogito 2y ago
  Are the arguments wrong?
  - sandspar 2y ago
    The article isn't labor saving. Reading it did not reduce my future cognitive load. I've read its arguments elsewhere. Reading it is a waste of time. It's just a rant.
NemoNobody 2y ago
I think the author, having spent their entire life in college, has lost touch with real life a bit. I support their leaving that job. Sounds like it made them unhappy. I don't like how they made it seem like it would have been better were they just paid more. If you hate your job but stay for a raise, that's a bandaid that won't be worth it, however much it is. Plus, ONLY 54k per year is better than about 40% of the country earns and I'd wager the majority have jobs that exert a far greater physical toll on their bodies and yield overall a much lower quality of life than a tenured professor can expect. Additionally, most people move to be closer to work or out of the city - not to switch climates so their kid can play outside, thats not in the cards for most people. Tbh, the whole thing kinda read kinda like a humble brag - more for the author maybe than anyone. It's all gonna be OK. Don't panic. You will be fine.
- alan-hn 2y ago
  Getting a PhD in itself is difficult and laborious, so is conducting research. People doing research as experts in their field and teaching the next generation should make FAR more than 54k

10 points by skilled 2y ago

> Universities aren't institutions of knowledge anymore. They're assets. They're revenue streams. If they're not generating money for the top, then they only pose a threat, and they have to be weakened and destroyed. That's been like that for a long time. And that's because they have continually pandered to capitalism and industry like weaklings in exchange for shiny toys and money.

bradley13 2y ago

Pournelle's Iron Law: The administration grows, and becomes the focus of the organization. Alternatively, "the bureacracy is growing to meet the expanding needs of the bureacracy." This is where the board of trustees should intervene. However, who is on the board? In the case of her school (which appears to be the University of Tennessee), we have five former CEOs, three lawyers, one politician, two bureaucrats, and (for form's sake) a student. Not a single professor. The primary purpose of college administration is (should be) to enable teaching. Non-academic positions should be strictly limited in number, and the salaries should be lower than the salaries for those people actually doing the teaching. The idea that a tenured professor at a well-known school earns $54k is shocking. Inexcusable. Even adjuncts should earn more than that.

sandspar 2y ago

It's odd that the author is a college professor, a professional discoverer of knowledge, because I didn't see any original ideas in the article. Blames the sports people. Blames the administrators. Blames the politicians. It's all surface level stuff that a high schooler would write about. Also, nearly every sentence in the article is less than ten words long. There's a single sentence with about 20 words, and one of the words is "Trump".

CogitoCogito 2y ago
Are the arguments wrong?
- sandspar 2y ago
  The article isn't labor saving. Reading it did not reduce my future cognitive load. I've read its arguments elsewhere. Reading it is a waste of time. It's just a rant.

NemoNobody 2y ago

I think the author, having spent their entire life in college, has lost touch with real life a bit. I support their leaving that job. Sounds like it made them unhappy. I don't like how they made it seem like it would have been better were they just paid more. If you hate your job but stay for a raise, that's a bandaid that won't be worth it, however much it is. Plus, ONLY 54k per year is better than about 40% of the country earns and I'd wager the majority have jobs that exert a far greater physical toll on their bodies and yield overall a much lower quality of life than a tenured professor can expect. Additionally, most people move to be closer to work or out of the city - not to switch climates so their kid can play outside, thats not in the cards for most people. Tbh, the whole thing kinda read kinda like a humble brag - more for the author maybe than anyone. It's all gonna be OK. Don't panic. You will be fine.

alan-hn 2y ago
Getting a PhD in itself is difficult and laborious, so is conducting research. People doing research as experts in their field and teaching the next generation should make FAR more than 54k