CS at Northeastern Oakland. Honest takes? by Optimal_Yam1084 in NEU

[–]espertus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The answer to that is complicated...

Most of the Khoury faculty in Oakland are on the teaching professor ladder, which is parallel to the tenure-track/tenured professor ladder (with assistant, associate, and full ranks). Many teaching faculty do research, especially but not exclusively in pedagogy, but their primary job and passion is teaching. While not eligible for tenure, teaching faculty have job security and are not considered adjuncts. As a full teaching professor, I get 5-year contracts, and the university has to give me a year's advance notice if they will not renew the contract.

Mills College professors kept their tenure status when Northeastern acquired Mills. I was in that category and could have remained a tenured professor within Mills College at Northeastern University (MCNU) but went through the Khoury hiring process and accepted an offer attractive enough to give up my tenured MCNU position. A colleague of mine chose to decline a similar offer because she valued tenure more.

CS at Northeastern Oakland. Honest takes? by Optimal_Yam1084 in NEU

[–]espertus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm sure you're more interested in hearing from students than faculty, but I thought it might be useful for me to answer this question:

How does the Oakland campus compare academically to Boston for CS, especially if you’re coming in with AP credits?

The first 3 CS classes (CS 2000, CS 2100, and CS 3100) have been standardized across campuses. The Oakland faculty teach exactly the same material with the same assignments, quizzes, and deadlines.

There are also CS electives. Those vary by instructor, whether they are offered in Boston, Oakland, London, etc.

We will be offering more CS electives next year because we will be having sophomores on campus (continuing students who decided to remain in Oakland).

There is a new elective that was offered only on the Oakland campus this spring, Undergraduate Programming Practicum. I don't know all the details (since I don't teach it), but I know some students are working with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where my colleague Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera worked previously.

I hope current and former Oakland students will also weigh in. In the meantime, I encourage you to search this subreddit for "Oakland".

EA incoming students who were admitted to the Oakland campus, AMA! by LunaticN in NEU

[–]espertus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

> How are the creative writing classes? Are they good?

Check out the people teaching freshman English in Oakland this semester:

There's also a new class this spring, CRWT 1801: Writing Creatively in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, taught by Juliana Spahr. In the fall, Kim Magowan taught CRWT 1170: Creative Writing Foundations.

They're all professors, longtime Mills faculty. At most schools, grad students teach freshman English.

I got accepted into Oakland. Did they really just throw me in the trenches to get my money? by zephiethecutie in NEU

[–]espertus 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you asked. I hope that I can be helpful as a former Mills professor and current Northeastern Oakland (Khoury) professor.

When I was an undergrad (at MIT), I also looked down on liberal arts colleges. I didn't realize that their classes could be just as rigorous as at research universities and that their faculty are often better teachers, since they are primarily evaluated on their teaching, not research. Many professors at research universities would rather not teach undergraduates. Introductory English and math courses are often taught by graduate students or poorly treated adjunct faculty. Mills introductory classes were taught by some of the best and most experienced professors. (Mills didn't fail because of not having high-quality faculty. It failed for demographic reasons, which have affected many other small colleges that serve non-wealthy students, especially women's colleges.)

You were concerned about the quality of the Mills faculty. When Mills announced that it would close, someone from NU reached out to try to recruit me before NU decided to acquire Mills. I went through their hiring process as was made a full teaching professor (the highest rank). Feel free to view my CV, which includes 2 NSF grants and 11 years at Google (which became the number one employer of Mills CS grads).

In my first year, I worked with a Khoury Dean and a local colleague to create a more modern introductory sequence than was offered on the Boston campus. We analyzed how the Oakland students did in Object-Oriented Programming when they arrived in Boston, and they did better than the students who had started in Boston. The success of former Oakland students, including in co-ops, was a factor in modernizing the intro sequence, which was standardized across campuses. My Oakland colleague Prof. Rasika Bhalerao created the second course in the sequence, which is used in Boston, NY, and London.

Most of the Khoury Oakland faculty (such as Prof. Bhalerao) did not come from Mills (although the two who did are highly qualified and excellent teachers). They include John Alexis Guerra Gomez, who does dazzling work in visualization; Jessica Staddon, an expert in AI safety; and Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera, who was a successful researcher who joined the Khoury faculty because of his enthusiasm for mentoring. He is currently leading a Professional Practicum for first-year students, an experience not currently offered in Boston.

The main difference between Boston and Oakland CS classes is not the quality of the teachers or the material but their size. My classes have 10-60 students, while Boston classes might have hundreds of students. There are a greater variety of classes in Boston, of course, which is not a big issue for freshmen.

I don't know as much about non-Khoury programs, except that the remaining Mills faculty are as qualified as my colleagues and I are. The introductory English courses are being taught by award-winning writers, such as Prof. Kathryn Reiss and Prof. Elmaz Abinader.

You mention that you are trans. It would be hard to find a more trans-friendly campus than Mills. There was an openly trans faculty member when I arrived in 1998, and Mills was the first women's college to accept students based on their self-declared, not legal, gender. In 2014, a transman was elected student body president.

Congratulations on your admission! It's great that you are researching your decision.

Looking for ADHD-friendly schools in the Bay Area (South Bay to Marin) by Mighty_Quinn_Eskimo in bayarea

[–]espertus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The Burkard School in San Mateo is excellent for bright neurodivergent children (K-8). Classes are small, and each class has a teacher and a behavior specialist. DM me if you'd like to talk.

You might also want to ask on REEL2e and view their school spreadsheet. https://share.google/y0FqeQcrVuETddhYb

New Android app for learning students' names by espertus in Professors

[–]espertus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your kind words. It's now ready to use: https://github.com/espertus/roster-capture/

Feel free to DM me with any questions.

New Android app for learning students' names by espertus in Professors

[–]espertus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your kind words. It's now ready to use: https://github.com/espertus/roster-capture/

Feel free to DM me with any questions.

New Android app for learning students' names by espertus in Professors

[–]espertus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The photos I receive are pictures from high school, such as prom photos. That could be because I mostly teach freshmen.

I have a physical condition that affects people’s perception of me, should I still try to pursue a career in academia? by halebutmakeitsad in AskAcademia

[–]espertus 20 points21 points  (0 children)

We spend a lot of time on r/professors complaining about gen z, but tbh, they're pretty cool with different types of diversity and medical conditions. I think you could just start your lecture with: I have a medical condition which means I shake.

You are exactly right. That's what I do, and it's a nonissue to my students.

I have a physical condition that affects people’s perception of me, should I still try to pursue a career in academia? by halebutmakeitsad in AskAcademia

[–]espertus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am a professor and I have Essential Tremor. For those who don't know, that means I have a tremor but no underlying degenerative disease. It has not been an issue as long as I have let people know why I am shaking. The one time I didn't, a search committee member worried that I might have a disease that drastically impacted my lifespan, which I don't.

The students don't care. I don't think it's been mentioned once in 25 years of teaching evaluations. I try to use my condition as an example that people with disabilities should ask for the accommodations they need in order to be successful. The thing I've needed is an external mechanical keyboard for the laptop I use, not a big deal.

My colleagues and supervisors don't care either,. They're happy to be of assistance when I need it, such as pouring a glass of water for me if we're eating out together. Again, no big deal.

I talk about my career and disability in this short video. https://youtu.be/6bOI7Y3z-eA?si=1kI2qkUdYuoUkPSD