Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Board Resolution
Below is part of the BOT's resolution number 11-02-02:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that while the Board of Trustees of the University of Toledo continues to recognize the three components of faculty workload--teaching, professional activity and service-- The University of Toledo faculty shall be assigned a 15 credit hour or equivalent teaching load per semester as part of their normal faculty workload.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that The University of Toledo President or his designees shall have the authority to creat faculty workload standards and measurements that may serve to implement or offset the 15 credit hour or equivalent teaching load per semester.
Any reduction in teaching load will constitute a reassignment to engage in other tasks as part of his or her workload, such as research, outreach and/or engagment, approved service, etc., and such workload reduction will be proportionate to the reassignment.
Exceptions to and departures from the faculty workload standards and measurements created by the President or his deignees will require written approval from the President. Approval of excetions to and departures from the faculty workload standards and measurements that have been created by the President or his designees is a non delegable duty of the President.
I am going to make a few comments and then open the floor for discussion. First, no institution I am aware of that has a research component has a fifteen hour requirement. That equates to five three hour classes per semester. I did five three hour classes once. You spend all, let me repeat that, all your time teaching the class, coming and going to the class, preparing for the class or dealing with the students in the class. If I had wanted to that I would have taught junior high school. There is no time for writing or research or even committee activities. What is even more problematic is that there is little time to be creative in the classroom or to develope new classes. At a time when the administration is encouraging the development of new schools, new majors and at the very least a reworking of the curriculum you will have no time to do that. You will be just too busy teaching what is right in front of you to think about anything else. Second, no young scholars will consider taking such a position. It would be occupational suicide. There will not be enough time to write anything and as a result he/she will never receive tenure and have no record of scholarship that will enable them to go elsewhere. Third, there will be favoratism toward particular individuals, particular departments and particular programs. What better way for administrators to take out their displeasure at those who have disagreed with their policies than to have them teaching fifteen hours a week. Let's face it, those that receive outside funding will get release time. The rest of us will not. Fourth, those departments who tend to attract those students who are least prepared will have the least amount of time to personally help those students. We will all be in class. I suggest we create a new college. I even have a name for it: The Community and Technical College.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that while the Board of Trustees of the University of Toledo continues to recognize the three components of faculty workload--teaching, professional activity and service-- The University of Toledo faculty shall be assigned a 15 credit hour or equivalent teaching load per semester as part of their normal faculty workload.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that The University of Toledo President or his designees shall have the authority to creat faculty workload standards and measurements that may serve to implement or offset the 15 credit hour or equivalent teaching load per semester.
Any reduction in teaching load will constitute a reassignment to engage in other tasks as part of his or her workload, such as research, outreach and/or engagment, approved service, etc., and such workload reduction will be proportionate to the reassignment.
Exceptions to and departures from the faculty workload standards and measurements created by the President or his deignees will require written approval from the President. Approval of excetions to and departures from the faculty workload standards and measurements that have been created by the President or his designees is a non delegable duty of the President.
I am going to make a few comments and then open the floor for discussion. First, no institution I am aware of that has a research component has a fifteen hour requirement. That equates to five three hour classes per semester. I did five three hour classes once. You spend all, let me repeat that, all your time teaching the class, coming and going to the class, preparing for the class or dealing with the students in the class. If I had wanted to that I would have taught junior high school. There is no time for writing or research or even committee activities. What is even more problematic is that there is little time to be creative in the classroom or to develope new classes. At a time when the administration is encouraging the development of new schools, new majors and at the very least a reworking of the curriculum you will have no time to do that. You will be just too busy teaching what is right in front of you to think about anything else. Second, no young scholars will consider taking such a position. It would be occupational suicide. There will not be enough time to write anything and as a result he/she will never receive tenure and have no record of scholarship that will enable them to go elsewhere. Third, there will be favoratism toward particular individuals, particular departments and particular programs. What better way for administrators to take out their displeasure at those who have disagreed with their policies than to have them teaching fifteen hours a week. Let's face it, those that receive outside funding will get release time. The rest of us will not. Fourth, those departments who tend to attract those students who are least prepared will have the least amount of time to personally help those students. We will all be in class. I suggest we create a new college. I even have a name for it: The Community and Technical College.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
What's Wrong With This Picture?
From the Toledo Blade, Feb. 11, 2001
http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20110211/NEWS16/102100370
A $12 million dollar gateway!
See it for yourself:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20110211&Category=NEWS16&ArtNo=102100370&Ref=AR
Yep, there’s money for that!
UT Update, Feb. 15, 2011:
Outsourcing Food and Nutrition Services, the UT Medical Center gift shop: UT jobs lost!
Increasing faculty workload!
UToday
Board committee OKs police contract extension, asks for faculty workload discussion
With a difficult budget cycle ongoing statewide for fiscal year 2012, University of Toledo trustees discussed several items designed to help plan for providing services with reduced funding.
During a Feb. 14 Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting, UT officials announced they had reached a tentative one-year contract extension with the UT Police Patrolman’s Association (UTPPA), pending board approval; were exploring the outsourcing of Food and Nutrition Services and the gift shop at UT Medical Center; and asked that the administration and faculty begin a conversation considering increasing faculty workload from 12 to 15 credit hours or equivalent per semester.
The agreement with UTPPA, now extended through Dec. 31, 2012, calls for a 0 percent wage increase, eight furlough hours, and a one-time retirement cash incentive if notice is submitted by March 31. Additionally, members have an increased off-campus prescription co-payment, which is an effort to encourage usage of the UT Pharmacy and reduce the University’s prescription coverage costs. The extension was approved by a 27-1 vote of the union membership.
[Continue Reading]
Gotta save money somehow!
Loss of Rob Bruno and other essential staff!
Gotta save money somehow!
Hire more administrators!
Yep, there’s money for that!
Give administrators bonuses!
Yep, there’s money for that!
Cut janitorial staff: “Unwanted guests” in buildings! Trash collects around campus!
Gotta save money somehow!
A student-centered university???
http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20110211/NEWS16/102100370
A $12 million dollar gateway!
See it for yourself:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20110211&Category=NEWS16&ArtNo=102100370&Ref=AR
Yep, there’s money for that!
UT Update, Feb. 15, 2011:
Outsourcing Food and Nutrition Services, the UT Medical Center gift shop: UT jobs lost!
Increasing faculty workload!
UToday
Board committee OKs police contract extension, asks for faculty workload discussion
With a difficult budget cycle ongoing statewide for fiscal year 2012, University of Toledo trustees discussed several items designed to help plan for providing services with reduced funding.
During a Feb. 14 Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting, UT officials announced they had reached a tentative one-year contract extension with the UT Police Patrolman’s Association (UTPPA), pending board approval; were exploring the outsourcing of Food and Nutrition Services and the gift shop at UT Medical Center; and asked that the administration and faculty begin a conversation considering increasing faculty workload from 12 to 15 credit hours or equivalent per semester.
The agreement with UTPPA, now extended through Dec. 31, 2012, calls for a 0 percent wage increase, eight furlough hours, and a one-time retirement cash incentive if notice is submitted by March 31. Additionally, members have an increased off-campus prescription co-payment, which is an effort to encourage usage of the UT Pharmacy and reduce the University’s prescription coverage costs. The extension was approved by a 27-1 vote of the union membership.
[Continue Reading]
Gotta save money somehow!
Loss of Rob Bruno and other essential staff!
Gotta save money somehow!
Hire more administrators!
Yep, there’s money for that!
Give administrators bonuses!
Yep, there’s money for that!
Cut janitorial staff: “Unwanted guests” in buildings! Trash collects around campus!
Gotta save money somehow!
A student-centered university???
Communication Across the Curriculum
At a recent meeting of the WAC (writing across the curriculum) committee of the Council formerly known as Arts and Sciences, there was a short discussion of the concept of communication across the curriculum or CAC. Just so the discussion does not wander too far down the road before we get a word in, here is what the National Communication Association has stated about such programs: (1996)
Resolved, That Communication Across the Curriculum programs should not be approved as substitutes for basic communication instruction provided by the discipline.
Resolved, That Communication Across the Curriculum courses are endorsed as useful extensions of and supplements to courses taught in departments of communication.
Resolved, That courses in Communication Across the Curriculum programs should be developed in close consultation with the communication faculty on the campus, and with ourside consultants as needed. These cross-disciplinary efforts must be acknowledged with resources, administrative support and recognition of faculty effort.
Resolved, That Communication Across the Curriculum programs should not be approved as substitutes for basic communication instruction provided by the discipline.
Resolved, That Communication Across the Curriculum courses are endorsed as useful extensions of and supplements to courses taught in departments of communication.
Resolved, That courses in Communication Across the Curriculum programs should be developed in close consultation with the communication faculty on the campus, and with ourside consultants as needed. These cross-disciplinary efforts must be acknowledged with resources, administrative support and recognition of faculty effort.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Two for the space of one
Last week or so, in the UT News of January 21, we were informed that
"Geography student places at national science competition
"A University of Toledo geography student recently competed against some of the nation’s most intelligent young scientists and engineers from top U.S. colleges, including Harvard, Stanford and MIT.
"Jeff Kodysh, a senior at UT, placed third in the energy division of the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2010 Science and Energy Challenge."
...
(See
http://utnews.utoledo.edu/index.php/01_21_2011/geography-student-places-at-national-science-competition
for the whole article.)
This is terrific news in and of itself--congratulations to Jeff and to his adviser, Dr. Nemeth! And I personally am also pleased to see some attention given to someone in a field other than totally STEM(M) or sports. We of the former A&S--whatever college we're in now--should think about tooting our own horn a bit more. (No one else will do it for us!) We have a lot to be pleased with and proud of that the rest of UT should hear about. I don't know how things are chosen for the UToday, but maybe someone out there does.
And now to my second post-within-a-post: Last week, while I was home sick, I read the book In the Pond by Ha Jin. It's quite an interesting--and fairly quick--read about corruption. Worth a look at least.
"Geography student places at national science competition
"A University of Toledo geography student recently competed against some of the nation’s most intelligent young scientists and engineers from top U.S. colleges, including Harvard, Stanford and MIT.
"Jeff Kodysh, a senior at UT, placed third in the energy division of the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2010 Science and Energy Challenge."
...
(See
http://utnews.utoledo.edu/index.php/01_21_2011/geography-student-places-at-national-science-competition
for the whole article.)
This is terrific news in and of itself--congratulations to Jeff and to his adviser, Dr. Nemeth! And I personally am also pleased to see some attention given to someone in a field other than totally STEM(M) or sports. We of the former A&S--whatever college we're in now--should think about tooting our own horn a bit more. (No one else will do it for us!) We have a lot to be pleased with and proud of that the rest of UT should hear about. I don't know how things are chosen for the UToday, but maybe someone out there does.
And now to my second post-within-a-post: Last week, while I was home sick, I read the book In the Pond by Ha Jin. It's quite an interesting--and fairly quick--read about corruption. Worth a look at least.
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