Comments | jousterl: Reflection Rant #1

jousterl

Reflection Rant #1

Feb 23, 2010 02:15

I realize now that the primary issue with my current level of schooling is that the professors really don't care at all. Despite sending the school a rather sizable chunk of money every semester for being instructed, what I receive is quiet apathy. Certainly, issues that are brought up have a decent change of being dealt with (examples include ( Read more... )

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Indeed vindonnus February 23 2010, 11:50:21 UTC

The problem seems to be the excessive amount of job security the administrative positions hold... especially the higher ranked ones. For instance the head of UK's club sports has been dicking me around for years and I've complained on and off for years about his poor performance and lack of professionalism... but yet nothing happens.

Perhaps I need to go over his boss's head about his Calvin-ball playing...

Re: Indeed jousterl February 23 2010, 15:06:46 UTC

The job security is certainly a problem... when the old guard stays in power, new ideas are slower to be adopted, and the system as a whole is less flexible. It isn't the only problem, however, because it doesn't cover the issue of how a professor with such a dearth of communication skills got hired in the first place.

True. vindonnus February 23 2010, 17:40:46 UTC

I know plenty of post-doctoral scholars in just about every field who would be more than happy to have that professorial position... and the post-docs that I know all speak reasonably good English.

I do think more emphasis should be placed on teaching, especially at the professorial level. One shouldn't be made a professor for brilliant research alone.

Re: True. jousterl February 23 2010, 18:32:46 UTC

Honestly the only complaint I have with 'student teachers' (assuming that is what you meant) is that the university expects them to work on top of teaching the class. They're disorganized and distracted, but only because they are trying to complete their dissertation or some such while teaching a class, and cannot dedicate their full time like a professor could.

It's immensely frustrating... like some evil genius sat down and plotted out exactly how to minimize the effectiveness of the system.

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Re: Perhaps ... jousterl February 23 2010, 15:03:23 UTC

It's not really unexpected for me either, and as I mentioned before, I'll be able to adapt to the shift... it's the fact that they cannot -see- the benefits. Yes, we haven't done a whole lot to stand out. But it's frustrating that that is somehow an implicit requirement in respect to us keeping a room.

I realize that the issues I'm ranting about are nothing new and probably wouldn't change even if I had the means to transfer to another school. Hence why I explained in the rant that, since it is impossible to 'buck the system', I was instead going to adapt by giving back exactly the same level of apathy the professors have to the students. In the end, I'm just trying to get the piece of paper for future jobs. It's just a shame that I essentially have to turn -off- my brain in order to do it.