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I'm often sad and happy when reading this problem. Sad because it's the state of things, which sucks! And happy because the more that it's said the more chance

by webhat 12y ago

I'm often sad and happy when reading this problem. Sad because it's the state of things, which sucks! And happy because the more that it's said the more chance there is that instructors will actually be paid well, and students can learn in an environment that doesn't treat their faculty as cheap throw away labor. This addresses many of the issues that we are solving with our startup Oplerno.

crpatino 12y ago
Exactly why do you think that discussing this issues in the open will automatically result in "instructors will actually be paid well, and students can learn in an environment that doesn't treat their faculty as cheap throw away labor."??? If the information in this article does not result in behavior changes (non tenured lecturers walking out of raw deals, or students requiring their University to disclose and guarantee a minimum percentage of courses taught by full time professors, or employers refusing to hire candidates coming out of degree mills) for a significant percentage of the incumbents, absolutely nothing is going to happen.
- webhat 12y ago
  As a student, or parent, knowing that many universities are paying their adjunct instructors poorly meaning the instructors are turning their classes into popularity contests - by inflating grades and making the class 'easy' - to ensure that they have a job next year would worry me. I interpret it to mean that a degree from some 'reputable' universities might be as good as one of the degree mill universities. My hope is that this will worry people who are taking on huge debts for degrees which might turn out to be worthless. The adjuncts in the article and the ones that have recently been in the news, such as the homeless professor in the NYT, are the tip of the iceberg. And without adjuncts talking about it in the open nobody would know. The kind of behavior change you are suggesting doesn't happen overnight, and certainly doesn't happen without there being viable alternatives. This is why we are trying to create a viable alternative.
  - crpatino 12y ago
    I do not know if this will "worry people", but I am already worried and planning accordingly. I send my kids to private school (strong academic quality, not overly posh) in order to give them a good foundation to start from, but the assumption is that there wont be a "college fund" and they might end up going to the State University if (a) they get a full scholarship (not the credit sham that passes for it nowadays) or, (b) they get their act together as young business man and pay full tuition on their own. My wife knows how I feel about this and is fully on board, while my parents and in-laws think that I am a cheap bastard. Being children, I have not yet discussed this with them. However, I plan to have this topic fully explored with each of them well in advance of their freshman year on high school.

by webhat 12y ago

crpatino 12y ago

Exactly why do you think that discussing this issues in the open will automatically result in "instructors will actually be paid well, and students can learn in an environment that doesn't treat their faculty as cheap throw away labor."??? If the information in this article does not result in behavior changes (non tenured lecturers walking out of raw deals, or students requiring their University to disclose and guarantee a minimum percentage of courses taught by full time professors, or employers refusing to hire candidates coming out of degree mills) for a significant percentage of the incumbents, absolutely nothing is going to happen.

webhat 12y ago
As a student, or parent, knowing that many universities are paying their adjunct instructors poorly meaning the instructors are turning their classes into popularity contests - by inflating grades and making the class 'easy' - to ensure that they have a job next year would worry me. I interpret it to mean that a degree from some 'reputable' universities might be as good as one of the degree mill universities. My hope is that this will worry people who are taking on huge debts for degrees which might turn out to be worthless. The adjuncts in the article and the ones that have recently been in the news, such as the homeless professor in the NYT, are the tip of the iceberg. And without adjuncts talking about it in the open nobody would know. The kind of behavior change you are suggesting doesn't happen overnight, and certainly doesn't happen without there being viable alternatives. This is why we are trying to create a viable alternative.
- crpatino 12y ago
  I do not know if this will "worry people", but I am already worried and planning accordingly. I send my kids to private school (strong academic quality, not overly posh) in order to give them a good foundation to start from, but the assumption is that there wont be a "college fund" and they might end up going to the State University if (a) they get a full scholarship (not the credit sham that passes for it nowadays) or, (b) they get their act together as young business man and pay full tuition on their own. My wife knows how I feel about this and is fully on board, while my parents and in-laws think that I am a cheap bastard. Being children, I have not yet discussed this with them. However, I plan to have this topic fully explored with each of them well in advance of their freshman year on high school.