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Office-Hour Habits of the North American Professor
An anonymous reader writes "For those of you who wonder just exactly what it is that your advisor is up to when you try to find him and meet with him, The Chronicle of Higher Education has a study on the
Office-Hour Habits of the North American Professor."
I can't wait to see the documentary of the North American Professor on the Discovery Channel, even though it would probably be the most boring thing ever aired.
When you don't have a leg to stand on, don't even get up.
I've known quite a few Early Birds during my tenure as a student, and upon accusing any of them of this practice, I have in every case been met with a grin of non-denial.
The Active Techophile. This variety of faculty member, usually an Assistant Professor early in their career, tends to enjoy the pleasures of technology during her or his office hours: browsing the net, casually searching for the latest online manuscripts, and, most critically, engaging his or her fellow Assistant Professors in hardcore LAN gaming. Students tend to like the Active Technophile, as he they sympathize with her or his interests, but they seldom interact except for periodic fragging.
Tenure seems far more detrimental to the North American University than it is useful.
We've got here a fine specimen of the North American Professor! He's a feisty little one, so you better stay back.
Hey little fella, hey there... AGH! CRIKEY! HE'S GRADING ME TERM PAPER!
No, seriously folks, I'll be here all week. Thank you, no, thank you.
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I loved office hours. It was when I knew I had uninterrupted time for pleasure reading. The only time the students would show up was around midterms and during the last two weeks of classes. For the most part, it was a nice block of uninterrupted time.
1. Students often don't come to office hours.
2. Rather than sitting there waiting for Godot, I always tried to get some work done.
3. Depending on the hallway, noise can be very high; door closing may be the best solution.
4. A sign on the door indicating "Please knock" or clearly showing office hours should be enough impetus for an intelligent student not to hesitate from knocking.
I realize there are good reasons for getting upset with the tenure system, but I think it's important we keep in mind the reason why tenure exists: academic freedom. Tenure is not supposed to protect an instructor who is incompetent, unethical, or burnt out. And there is nothing in a tenured professor's contract that would imply otherwise. Nonetheless, it does sometimes does wind up doing that, because professors who abuse the system will wave the tenure contract around and threaten lawsuits, and most departments would rather keep things quiet than actually fight these people. Frankly I think that's a failure of will on the part of such departments. But tenure contracts are essential in any occupation where academic freedom is an issue. Otherwise it is too easy to imagine instructors fired for dissenting views or research. This isn't always about politics either -- imagine for example an agriculture professor whose research is critical of factory farming. Imagine that professor teaches at a university in Iowa whose board of regents comprises factory farming interests. I think the academic freedom implications of the First Amendment demand something like tenure in the public university system (and I think all serious universities should have some legal assurance like that).
But I do not think tenure should be used as an excuse not to deal with professors who have stopped doing their jobs, who are simply incompetent, who constantly prey on sexy coeds, etc. Universities have a post-tenure review process to keep track of what professors do after tenure, but these reviews tend to cover up some of the worst problems rather than rooting them out. It's not a failure of tenure but of the people charged with implementing it; tenured and non-tenured faculty alike should demand better, IMHO.
These are never in their office, even during office hours. Occasionally they tape a piece of paper to their door politely explaining where they are, which is always nowhere within reach. They are likely to have a couple of chairs outside their office with boxes for delivering and picking up homework. They are never available immediately after class; the only way of contacting them is through e-mail, which they discourage for long-winded homework questions. On the rare occasion when one actually manages to catch one of these in person, there is nothing actually unpleasant about them, indeed they are often very amiable. They benignly take no notice at all of their unavailability, and gently manage to teach their students the art of complete reliance on textbooks and classmates.
The coolest voice ever.
To this day I can't understand why professors think that I should give a crap because they are a prof. It has been my experience so far that professors don't think that they need to follow the rules. I'm not sure where this attitude comes from, but I don't see it in any other profession except for politicians, and professors are usually too anti-social for politics (or too left-wing radical).
I just took a class at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the prof decided not to lecture for the last month of the course.....and the school let him get away with it!
I thought that professors were supposed to be at a school to teach. Most of the ones that I have dealt with have done everything in their power to avoid as much as possible of their teaching responsiblility.
Why do we tolerate that?
"No Comm, No Bomb"
How did this get modded up?
While I joke about being in liberal arts as much as the next person - as I say i'm in the collegs of Arts and Crafts - liberal arts includes many disciples. Economics, History, Political Science, etc, etc. Not "hurl crap at a canvas"
I could just as easily make fun of the CS deparatment at most colleges consiting mainly of smelly professors who can't teach and have no social skills.
But please, continue your ignorance and prejudice it does make you look oh so smart.
We finally got some webcams set up so we could see his parking spot and the desk he likes to work at. For a bit we had one in his actual office. And it's _still_ impossible to track him down...
I propose another "subspecies":
The Be-All: This individual pretends that s/he can satisfy all needs of all comers, be they students, other faculty, or administrators. Almost no request for help or information is turned away, regardless of how busy they may be. They are involved in all manner of teaching activities, advising, research projects, and innovative technology initiatives. They live in terror of being faulted for any shortcoming.
These individuals are typically on the tenure-track and eager to please. Consequently, they are well-liked by students, skeptically admired by colleagues, and occasionally praised by administrators. They secretly sneer (though with jealousy) at other more established faculty who actually know how to set limits, manage their time, and handle all the constantly shifting pressures inherent in the job.
Sometimes, though, Be-Alls fall victim to their optimism. Too many early mornings, missed lunches, and late nights take their toll. A few gain wisdom in time and become more focused on that which is needed to obtain tenure. Some, however, become physically, psychologically, and emotionally exhausted and migrate to a normal life.
"Tenure decisions are made at the time of hiring." Or so it has been said.
That's the theory, anyway. During the last term I came to the conclusion that my supervisor was actually fictional, and the department was drawing a salary from the university to fund some kind of secret project (probably involving alcohol in some way). Eventually I suggested to the Dean of Science that he (my supervisor) should be electronically tagged. This idea was not met with nearly as much scepticism as I had expected...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Anything is better than the fsck'ing psycho next door to my office. This idiot lives in there (no shit), and his department chair knows it. (No he's not a grad student, he's a tenured Math prof). No one from his department wants to do anything about it, though my advisor and I have reported it several times.
He bathes (reportedly) late at night in the bathroom, and is constantly seen at all hours of the day and night cutting veggies in the sink, making food in the department, etc. The moron thinks he's being clever and no one knows.
$5 says you'll be reading about him in the papers some day. Thank God I'm leaving this summer. Dr. Spooky is just too much for me anymore.
Tenure is definitely not a detriment however often abused by both granting institutions and grantees. Just because a mechanism is not perfect does not mean it carries no value, nor that it should be abolished.
What happens with tenure? The non-tenured junior professor works his or her ass off doing what may well be the best work of their career. Once tenured, there is undoubtedly a relaxation, but if the granting faculty have done their job, they selected someone who will continue on at a strong pace. Although my experience is clearly limited, I know of no cases where a tenured professor has relaxed to the point where he has become a burden on the institution. That, dear reader, does not mean it does not happen, just that my experiences at research universities has been otherwise.
There certainly are times when bad decisions have been made, either for or against granting tenure, but to my experience they are by and large carefully made and good ones. Harvard or MIT, for two ready examples, would not be what they are today were it not for tenure.
And what are the alternatives? Periodic contract renewal? Northeastern University has phased out nearly all of its tenured faculty in favor of part-time professors (my mother among them). I fear greatly for the long-term prospects of NU, as they will not be able to attract world-class faculty by offering renewable short-term contracts. Remember, a university is NOT a business, and there is no reason for it to be run under a business model.
Imagine the following difference in job offers: "hey, you're pretty good, stick around for 3 years, and we'll see if we still want you," or "we believe in you, here's a job for life." Which system encourages far-sighted research plans? Which system encourages making good long-term decisions rather optimizing short-term gain? Which system allows development of highly devoted faculty?
Tenure, frankly, one of the major differences between business and academia, is one of the main reasons my career is firmly on the professorial route.
The biggest detriment to the university system, in my opinion, is athletics. There is no defensible justification for big athletic programs except greed, and that has no place in the university system. Get rid of professional athletes masquerading as students, get rid of athletic scholarships, get rid of lower standards for athletes, do all this and the American university system will be driven more towards a meritocracy and *then* you'll have something. Get rid of tenure? Either the person suggesting that is just confused, works at a lower-tier school where the long-term future isn't a real concern, or is a bean counter at heart.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Between the Door Closer and the Counselor, he neglected to mention the quantum physics prof who believes that his door is simultaneously open and closed.
The parent posting eloquently raises a number of excellent points.
... extreme measures which are rare by design), there are a number of lesser punishments, if you will, which can be meted out. Tenure is not the only means of enforcement, just the most severe within academia.
The general Slashdot reader might be surprized at how much influence the perceived behavior of a professor has on things like the number of committees he is assigned to, the number of students he is allowed to have, how much office and laboratory space he is allocated, and things of this ilk. While it is rare to a professor to have tenure revoked (which, to my mind, is not unlike disbarring a laywer or decertifying a doctor
When a student complains to the faculty about one member in particular, it can have far-reaching consquences. When the student writes a cogent letter to the dean of the school, it can make a big difference. But do you want to revoke tenure for someone who isn't teaching well? No, you want him to teach better. Ignoring his students? Make him pay attention. Violating some student-faculty handbook rue? Make him honor it. Revoking tenure is for eggregious cases such as when a professor sleeps with his students, misappropriates funds, or commits scientific fraud.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
That's why I'll hide if I want to get any research done.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
The Senile Tenured actually are in their office during their declared office hours, and often for most of the day, sometimes including when they should be in class. Often, when a student comes in with a question, they will begin answering, but trail off into a rambling story, then forget what the student asked (this behavior is often also seen during lectures). Sometimes they will ask students what their opinion is of the class, but remind them that they probably won't remember what they said after they leave. And they usually don't.
When I was in physics college back in the 80's my professor wrote a computer program in which he plugged in all of his students class hours, and with a few seconds the program would generate his office hours precisely when his students would be least likely to be able to attend without missing their other classes. I actually saw him plug this data in his computer and laugh. Planet P Blog
www.enthea.org
You: Anything? : Would you...
...paint my house?
Her: ANYthing!
You (in a whisper, close to her ear)
(Pause. Look nervously around for observers.)
DT
Is this thing on? Hello?
Here's some advice to bright-eyed undergrads hoping to glean knowledge from the professorial elite: Do not be surprised if they just don't care.
My graduate advisor is one of these shooting-star big shots on his way up. He's been tenured for a while, and now holds several high-powered positions of responsibility under his belt, federal grant review committees, editorships, directorship of a research center, yadda yadda. He does not give a flying fuck about office hours or undergrads. Really.
He understands one thing: Science. If you ain't talkin the talk, you're wasting his time. He doesn't want to hear about your trifles and personal dilemmas. He doesn't want to hear your frustration with course conflicts and
hand-wringing about your grades. Unless you are a *brilliant* undergrad who has thought about research, preferably his research, and you have new ideas and are there to make your impressive intellect available at his disposal...you're meaningless.
Alas, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect only a little bit. Yeah, he's cognizant of his duty to teaching. In an annoyed way. Yeah, he'll do his service to his undergraduate advisees--begrudgingly--but with the correct outward social demeanor. But, damn. He's BUSY. And not with you.
I mean shit..his postdocs and grad students barely get a moment of face time...which MAY, in his less sociopathic moments, give him a twinge of guilt...but how hapless are you if you think neglecting the UNDERGRADS gives him pause.
And so much for those of you who think tenure leads to lazy sitting on laurels. This guy is seriously busy. Just not with mentoring YOU. Orchestrating large-scale research endeavors? Yes. Marshalling serious funding dollars? Yes. Preaching the theoretic gospel to better-positioned colleagues? Yes. Shmoozing deans and politicians? Yes. YOU? No.
Not every prof is like this. Even some of the most elite are still very fond of the unwashed undergraduate masses. But when I think back, as an undergrad, to how important I thought my academic issues were to my professors, and how entitled I felt to their time, and how high priority undergraduate mentoring must be to research faculty. Wow. I was silly. Professors, in my experience, do not think in terms of the "merchant/client" model like most kids who throw out the "hey, I'm PAYING for this" argument do. Professors see their money coming from granting agencies, not your mom and dad.
OK, can ya tell I've got issues with this guy's style? He's brilliant, but what a dick.
Anyway...if you have a professor who's both a credit to his field and a credit to your education, give him your thanks. It's a rare combination.
(BTW, this guy's office hours are strictly "by appointment only," which, I've noticed, is a growing trend in scheduling office hours. You think he's got time to leave hours open for unannounced interruption?! No, no, no.)