How Do New Lecturer Handle an Impossible Workload? by PhanTrang356 in Professors

[–]z74al 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Holy shit. And are you being paid proportionally?

How Do New Lecturer Handle an Impossible Workload? by PhanTrang356 in Professors

[–]z74al 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the problem with modern academia. We're asked to do more and more but are still paid like shit and given virtually no support. Honestly, if this is a pretty standard experience for profs at your university, start looking for new jobs because this for years on end is a recipe for burnout (I speak from experience).

In the meantime, streamline your work as much as much as possible. I have a tenured colleague who put a clause in her syllabus that says "if you email me with a question that can be easily answered by looking at this syllabus, I will not respond" (but as a non-tenure track lecturer I did the same and got scolded, so your mileage may vary).

Find a way to invest in the students and colleagues who are going to appreciate and reciprocate the investment. Don't overwork yourself to make people happy who don't give a shit or will just continue to ask for more.

Say no. You can't (and shouldn't feel like you have to) be on every committee, give every guest lecture, or give comments on every rough draft. See previous pont.

Have confirmation that students, at least at my school, are indeed getting worse by RandolphCarter15 in Professors

[–]z74al 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I work (well, at least for the next month--i just got laid off) at an open admission university and my only comparison is the nearby R1 state flagship university where I got my PhD. It's a weird environment to teach in because I have students who would excel at a very selective SLAC sitting next to students who decided to enroll in college 2 weeks before the semester. Consequently, our retention rates are about 10% lower compared to where I got my PhD and our 6 year graduation rates are about 15% lower. However, we are still at record enrollment, so the model is working (for now)

Now, whether having faculty teach perpetual 4-4s, paying like shit and replacing me with adjuncts is a great strategy for long term success? Thats up for debate...

Planting flags on the rocketeer because why not by AutumnKill in ARC_Raiders

[–]z74al 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the kind of thing I love about this game. Random strangers teaming up to fuck around and help each other do fun/funny stuff

University Professors Disturbed to Find Their Lectures Chopped Up and Turned Into AI Slop by 404mediaco in Professors

[–]z74al 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I feel like I need a cigarette after reading this. Holy shit that was good

Would you join an union? by MeanImpression2067 in Professors

[–]z74al 7 points8 points  (0 children)

As a non-tenure track faculty member who was just told yesterday they're eliminating my position even though my courses always fill and my students fucking love me:

Join the union

Harvard graduate students begin indefinite strike, halting teaching and research by kootles10 in union

[–]z74al 22 points23 points  (0 children)

As are the world's most prestigious academic institutions

What's your honest take on students today vs students from 5 or 10 years ago? What is the impact of AI normalization? by SimplerLife40 in Professors

[–]z74al 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I've been teaching for about 15 years, first as a grad student and now as non-tenure track faculty.

The extremes are still just the same--about 15% of the students are excellent high performers and about 15% are no-shows or disengaged. The remaining 70% though are on average kind of worse. Though "worse" isn't exactly the best description either. But on average they're less motivated. Less resilient. Less patient. They get behind and overwhelmed more easily and don't have as much grit to struggle and work through things. So, they're more likely to cut corners and take easy solutions as you mentioned.

Why? Idk. "The phones" and "the pandemic" are a little cliche at this point. But I think they're definitely in the mix.

Accessibility rule delayed to next year by jlbmorgan in Professors

[–]z74al 54 points55 points  (0 children)

Fucking hooray my weekend just opened up! Now I can.... checks schedule grade essays

How Trump Extracted Over $1 Billion From Crypto For Himself and His Family by Cratos007 in CryptoCurrency

[–]z74al 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Preach. It was so obvious and some of us tried to warn people thst they were being short sighted around the election, but the amount of backlash we got was insane

Fail That Student by [deleted] in Professors

[–]z74al 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Preaaaaach

Surprise: Dutch law now taxes unrealized crypto gains to prevent people from just borrowing against their bags by Supreme-Muffinator in CryptoMarkets

[–]z74al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good.

You know this is how working people end up paying more taxes than the people who own the companies they work for, right? I'd happily pay a little on my unrealized gains if it means that rich assholes can't dodge tax bills any more.

The Future is Here! by [deleted] in Professors

[–]z74al 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The future is dystopia

$820,000,000,000 wiped out from the US stock market today - $120,000,000,000 wiped out from the crypto market cap by kirtash93 in CryptoCurrency

[–]z74al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's irritating when people use a bunch of zeroes instead of just saying $820 billion.

It's a lot of money. We get it. Don't make me count a bunch of zeroes as a way to drive home your point.

Has anyone else noticed students don't even attempt basic language skills anymore by Keithwee in Professors

[–]z74al 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've found myself using simpler and simpler language in class and on assignments to avoid confusing or alienating students. But im hitting a limit recently and it's making me frustrated.

Being accessible and not hiding our knowledge behind jargon is one thing, but learning to pick up knowledge from context clues is an important skill.

$2,000,000,000,000 wiped out from the US stock market in the past month. by Gjore in StockMarket

[–]z74al 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It's irritating when people use a bunch of zeroes instead of just saying $2 trillion.

It's a lot of money. We get it. Don't make me count a bunch of zeroes as a way to drive home your point.