A few updates

1.  My impression of the bureaucratic impetus of the most recent UT "system" partnership with Coursera was borne out by the following statement made during the course of the teleconference yesterday (I was not there, so this wording may be inexact): "We are not sure which problems this will solve, but we are sure it will solve some problems."  Reaction from my colleagues has been predictably . . . skeptical.

2.  In a reminder of why I am keeping my long term options open, I went into the office on Monday morning--two little boys in tow--and was greeted by the secretary with the question, "did you get your grades in?  They were due at 8:00 this morning."  Well, no, as a matter of fact I did not. Because I had gotten no information about when grades were due and probably wouldn't have done them anyway.  But I got right to it.  While at my desk, I received an email informing me that the system had been reset for me to submit grades, but that I would only have until noon. No problem, I could do that.  While at work on campus, the phone rings at my house because my department chair was cc'd on the email and made the secretary call my house to make sure I saw the email.

3.  Meanwhile, because HR couldn't manage the paperwork properly, I will not be paid for May work until the end of June. If I had been smart, I would have told them that I would be happy to trade timely payment for timely grades. Alas, I am not that quick on my feet.

4.  On the home & garden front, all the plants have enjoyed the copious rain this past couple of months.  The garden is actually growing--unlike last year--which makes us feel much more competent as homeowners, etc.

5.  The boys are about at the end of their baseball seasons . . . everything ends tomorrow night.  The Runner and I are secretly glad we'll soon have weeknights free again.  That said, we are also quite glad that they have enjoyed their teams.

6.  The recent bike upgrade is working out nicely. Should be a fine companion for my 100KM bike ride this coming weekend.

Adventures in Academe. Vol. 4

There's a video conference on this campus today to "discuss" the UT "system" partnership with Coursera, one of the new large providers of MOOC's, or Massively Open Online Classes.  The business model has gotten a lot of attention recently in academic circles as the pace of adoption and instructional change accelerates. We have reached the point at which the Internet becomes a disruptive technology to the 19th-century world of the academy, and the change is making most of us really nervous (to the point where the Duke faculty, for instance, has rejected the whole notion).

Many of my colleagues are planning to show up to the meeting to register "concerns," "misgivings," even "resistance."  I wish them the best, but I will not be joining them.  I share their concerns but do not believe that the new initiative by the UT "system" is driven by anything approaching instructional concerns.  I think the university "system" is under legislative pressure to save money, and also under competitive pressure to remain current on the national scene (in which, for instance, Georgia Tech is planning to offer an entire online Master's degree in Computer Science).  In other words, this is a bureaucratic decision that will continue to be implemented by bureaucrats, including but not limited to our department chairs, deans, and provost. We will be allowed to complain if we wish, but the faculty are not the core constituency of the "system."

Do not mistake my tone for anger; indeed, I am convinced that within the next decade the whole 19th Century edifice of higher ed in this country will have been dismantled. I am also convinced that faculty--especially at smaller institutions like the one where I work--must adapt to the new situation or find new lines of work.  I imagine that faculty working at larger, R-1 type institutions, will be able to weather the change just fine.  We are extremely exposed out here in NWTN, with a shrinking pool of students, fierce competition from private colleges and from a couple of bigger public institutions, and barely-nominal support from the UT "system."**

 The question in my mind is, not how do we resist these changes--they are coming no matter what--but how we adapt to them and make them work for us.  That's going to take some leadership from the very top at this extremely top-down oriented campus.  I wonder if they are up to it.

Scare quote explanation below the fold--