tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post4132912782577423277..comments2024-02-23T03:28:33.435-05:00Comments on Culture Industry: Kafka-land, Florida (academics only), part 2Mark Scrogginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01431113440875342809noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-61058614362231865232009-06-12T13:14:40.857-04:002009-06-12T13:14:40.857-04:00I have to say 'ditto' to Bradley's com...I have to say 'ditto' to Bradley's comment. When people ask me why I resigned from OFU, I tell them that I was misinformed when I took the position. I thought I was working for an institution of higher education, not a drive-thru diploma store.Suhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04433373615583845484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-1115515598190170552009-06-12T07:57:36.566-04:002009-06-12T07:57:36.566-04:00Mark, that 2nd sentence from the All Powerful is i...Mark, that 2nd sentence from the All Powerful is indeed an orwellian masterpiece. I believe I could analyze it all day, if it weren't for all the sobbing.Nicholas Manninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12750291349639539140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-39254016199715680842009-06-11T11:35:53.240-04:002009-06-11T11:35:53.240-04:00It seems to me that this grand experiment in getti...It seems to me that this grand experiment in getting rid of tenure will be politically popular in the short-term-- Governor Crist has been an enemy of higher education for a long time-- but will eventually blow up in their faces. Sure, some of the voters will like to see the state universities suffer, thinking that it will somehow lower their taxes, but Floridians with teenaged children are going to quickly realize that any school that's willing to fire some of its most accomplished professors is not a place they want to send their kids.<br /><br />Those who want to "run the college like a business" have it wrong, of course, but they have it wrong in an interesting way. The business model might work if we all agreed that "the product" is knowledgeable graduates-- that, I think, is how most faculty see the issue. But too many administrators see "the product" as graduates with degrees. Not exactly the same thing, obviously. One gets the impression that if they could, these administrators would get rid of faculty-- tenure-track and contingency alike-- in favor of a more streamlined process-- student writes a check for $50,000, student gets degree. <br /><br />The problem with viewing the degree as the goal is that the degree is only valuable in the sense that it indicates that the degree-holder has acquired knowledge. But if you begin to replace the most-accomplished faculty with overworked, underpaid, uninsured contingency labor with no shared governance opportunities, the quality of education is going to go down, which means the degree becomes devalued to the point of meaninglessness.<br /><br />That's not to insult those who find themselves in contingency positions, of course. But let's be honest-- are you a better teacher when you have 50 students and feel relatively secure financially, or when you have 100 and can't sleep at night because you don't know where you're going to find the money to pay for the back surgery you desperately need?Bradleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18066512307378025972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-78913080447362429602009-06-11T07:16:44.231-04:002009-06-11T07:16:44.231-04:00God Damn. I see what you mean about Kafka. And I t...God Damn. I see what you mean about Kafka. And I thought we had it bad, restructuring wise (Film merged with Literature, with a statement to the effect that Arts academics are interchangeable, and no more Lit staff would be hired because the amalgamation had boosted numbers in the dept). But this is even more sneaky and underhanded. I don't know what to say!Ross Brightonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04917759678804057979noreply@blogger.com