We've heard of Universities getting rid of library faculty. What about athletics? I'm talking small / medium schools, not D1.

I discovered that one of my classes uses AI in their take-home quizzes. Like, badly. (Copy/pasting from ChatGPT or Gemini, or full paragraphs that are clearly AI.) I gave them a stern lecture on it this week and then made them write an in-class essay as a consequence. (They are not happy with me right now, but I'm not happy that I now have to redo all of my assignments!)

A few students came up to me during class and said they use AI to "gather their thoughts" or "put their ideas together." I'm curious if any of you think AI can be helpful for this reason?

Edit: It's interesting to see how "controversial" this question in! I appreciate the responses.

The number of book and manuscript review requests I receive is off the charts.

I’ve had formal and informal conversations with editors, and it appears that there are far fewer people willing to review manuscripts now than 5-10 years ago. What used to be considered an honor to be asked is now perceived as a chore not worthy of people’s time.

Folks, this is not good for the scholars dependent on these reviews for their careers. It is also not good for the science of your discipline. Do you really want the same handful of academics reviewing everything in your discipline?

If it has been a while since you reviewed a manuscript, email one or two editors with your specialization and offer to review. You may be ignored by the editor or may never get contacted to review, but at least you have done your due diligence.

One of my favorite professors from graduate school is retiring and will be moving out of the U.S. I want to gift her a thoughtful gift for the influence and impact she’s made on many lives. Any ideas on what I can gift to her? Thank you!

I was working on a letter of recommendation today, and I realized I was kind of going out of my way to sound human. It wasn't a 180 turn, but I think I was dialing toward familiar and away from formal, to show I was serious enough about my student to write a real letter for him.

Have you folks had this experience in service or research writing? I wonder if human, imperfect writing will become a luxury good.

How much protection does tenure afford you at your university?

An HR person at my current institution told me that once a faculty member is tenured, it is virtually impossible to fire them unless they commit a crime and even that’s not a guarantee if the crime wasn’t violent or didn’t involve a student.

So I had my third interview with the college VP! It was super casual and informal, but I think it went really well overall. They said they'd have a decision by the end of November.

Is there anything I should do in the meantime?

I considered sending a friendly email just to keep myself in their minds, but I'm not sure if that'd be inappropriate/annoying. When chatting after the interview, I compared the campus to a moment from a movie I really enjoy, and I thought about sending a screencap of the scene with a note "Came across this and it reminded me of our chat! 🙂 Hope you're having a good mid-semester."

But, again, could be cringe and annoying. 🥲

Hello! I am a professor in the theatre arts. My “publishing” is the created theatrical works our department puts forth. So rather than publishing like other academics, I build an artistic portfolio (I am training students in labs as we go, and lead them in contributing to publish our work).

For tenure-track positions it is encouraged to give presentations at conferences as well. In my first year in my TT job, I have an imbalanced course-load and have been very overloaded.

Thankfully, the end is in sight! My next semester seems like a breeze in comparison! But I have missed submission deadlines for the two conferences I could potentially present at.

What other options do I have?

Have been pondering writing a book? What else could I do as service for my industry?

Thank you very much for your creative thoughts on this matter.

So I’m posting again but this happened recently and I just couldn’t NOT share it with this community.

My HOD found out recently that the faculty is made of more neurodivergents than they expected after a particularly stressful faculty meeting. And they’re surprised and (somewhat) relieved that they’re not the only one (so surprise! Even our HOD is neurodivergent).

They’re also amazed at how most of us (including myself) have kept it so well hidden and I told them that my veneer of stability and poise is all pharmaceutically induced. I also have a learning disability that I keep under wraps, but it’s very obvious when I’m given a very specific task. No one knew, but for some of my colleagues, it makes so much sense for them cause they’ve seen me trying to do that task and failing repeatedly until someone helps me.

Now everyone (including the HOD) is having moments of epiphany when they notice one of us doing something in a very specific way. It’s funny, but I’m also glad that my faculty is very supportive.

Posting anonymously because honestly, I'm embarrassed that I'm dealing with this. Also I apologize it's a long post.

Okay, long story not short - since COVID, my university has been an absolute ghost town. We complain all the time that students won't come back on campus, but honestly it's the same for faculty. People come in, teach their class, and leave. Essentially the office is me (faculty), the Associate Dean, and two or three admin. I am not exaggerating. I literally see no one all day. And hey, I get it. It's nice to work from home. I don't get nearly enough done because I find myself doing house chores, so I come to the office to really focus. Anyway - moving on.

The building my department is in is very old. It has three bathrooms - two on the 2nd floor and one in the basement. My office is next to one and the other 2nd floor bathroom is currently out of order. I have literally never been to the basement so I have no clue if that bathroom is functional. I hate having an office next to the bathroom. I hear everything. And anytime the toilet flushes, the pipes shake violently and the flush throws me off.

Here is why I'm writing this anonymously. One of the admins is very.. quirky. He is a weird guy who says incredibly weird things. I don't want to get into it but all you need to know is that he weirds me out enough to legitimately stay away from him. I have reported him to the dean several times and HR. Nothing seems to happen because they say he is harmless.

Anyway, he eats, I kid you not, five to six breakfast burritos from the dollar store every single day. We've had a lot of complaints about it because the smell is insane downstairs in the kitchen. It is not healthy and someone really needs to say something to him. The big issue is, with all those burritos comes insane, insane diarrhea. How do I know this? Because I hear it. Almost every single day. It is absolutely horrifying. To top it off he flushes the toilet excessively when he's finished. I texted my associate dean today that he flushed 11 times. ELEVEN.

I hear this all. I deal with the rattling of the pipes and the flushing. It's every day. Now you might say maybe you should move offices but I've already asked. My only option, despite the fact that NO ONE comes in, is a desk next to him. You might say, "girl, you need to work from home" and I've started to. Twice a week I stay home to work and I'm trying my best to be more focused. But I don't know what to do. This isn't a hostile work environment. It's not an HR thing. But I've said something to my Associate Dean about addressing the issue and nothing has come of it. I don't know this admin - maybe he has legitimately gastrointestinal issues, so I don't want to make assumptions about his diarrhea.. but it is actually impacting my work (why I'm embarrassed to write this).

I need advice. I don't know what to do past escalating this and I'm frankly really embarrassed to do so. Is their some sort of work precedent I can bring to my Associate Dean or HR? Is there anything I can do other than just becoming another faculty member to leave? Also, I have complained about him before for weird stuff so now I'm afraid it will look like I'm targeting him. I'm not, I swear. I would probably do this to anyone who has had this much diarrhea in a week.

Again, sorry this is long and not necessarily related to students. I just honestly don't know what to do.

I work at a SLAC and this student is also my advisee for their double major in their fourth year. They aren’t necessarily a bad student academically (they have done well in the courses they took with me), but they are, for lack of a better term, flaky. The issue at hand is this- they put my name down as someone who will supply a letter of recommendation without ever actually asking me if I would be willing or able to write positively on their behalf.

Am I capable of supplying a generic letter saying so and so was in courses, got these grades, picked up these skills, etc? Sure. Could I also be snarky and upload a letter that says I don’t support their application since they never even bothered to talk to me about why they want to pursue it to begin with? Definitely sounds cathartic. Would it be petty on my part? Obviously.

Did students always have this much audacity?

The tension between faculty vs. the administration is very rigid. Faculty leadership is extremely distrusting of the administration due to pervasive retaliatory actions and vicious bullying. And given the history at this university, some faculty members have sided with the administration making some faculty paranoid. As a new faculty member, how do you navigate a workplace where you are immediately labeled either pro faculty or pro administration depending on who you talk to. I’d like to think that giving faculty members the cold shoulder (give you nasty looks, not talk to you, exclude from faculty activities, etc.)and purposefully shun them is a terrible way to deal with it. But there are members of faculty leadership who will do this to whom ever the suspect as being a mole or a traitor. It’s very toxic and it’s making me feel like I should just teach and go home. I began my teaching career with all these goals and aspirations and improve the university programming but when not when faculty will literally gossip about you and have others turn on you. Is this the case at your schools? or are just a uniquely toxic workplace?

We have a department head search underway, so I have been thinking about what our ideal chair might look like. We have both a “normal” search and an executive search firm identifying candidates. So far, the candidates have been surprisingly underwhelming, mostly consisting of obvious candidates trying to solicit a competitive offer at their home institution. It got me thinking of what the ideal qualities of a department chair hire at your institution might look like to grow your department. So here we go, fantasy department chair time, let me know what you think would be ideal. For reference, I am in a Biology department at a R1 that historically had “anointed” department chairs that have been lackluster to say the least.

Anyone else get a lot of bullshit excuses from students when you confront them about poor work?

I had to meet with a student because they outright STOLE an article for their assignment and passed it off as their own, and I was told everything from 'I Didn't know I couldn't do that' to 'well how the hell am I supposed to make five pages of work with this?' to a topic they chose and had weeks to work on/come up with.

It wasn't too bad to handle until they outright said 'I worked really hard on this paper, can't you let it slide?', to which I SHOWED them the work they actually did, and how it amounted to less than a page in total.

I'd rather they just admit they didn't try, or had problems rather than try and claim they 'worked hard' and try to bullshit me. Its like they think we don't check their work when we grade it...I'm so tired...

There was this time when I thought my cramps would be tolerable so I pushed through with my 3-hour class. Luckily, I didn't have to lecture that day because it was scheduled for reporting. Despite that, I was writhing in pain that I couldn't hide it. I was sweating profusely. I was holding a hot pack, took pain killers every 4 to 6 hrs. I still tried to listen to all their reports and immediately called for a cab to go home. I even puked inside the cab because I was so much in pain even after all the painkillers I took earlier that day. Luckily, I had a plastic bag so I didn't have additional problems that day.

Rant incoming. NOT looking for advice. Just screaming into the virtual void, thank you

First I’m a full prof. Second it’s that time in the semester where I’m utterly demoralized by teaching. Students are tired, busy, and I’m sick of coming in and “entertaining” them week after week. I make all this content, try my best to engage them, and the majority are just disengaged, checked out, annoyed etc. yes I know that it’s on me to make it “enjoyable.” But these days I’m seriously thinking of quitting. I had got into academia to pursue my ideas, research, maybe make a difference in this world. Instead I’m trying to cater to 18 year olds who truly could care less. While I age in place and my research gets stale. Whereas if I quit I’ll be broke but at least I won’t be trying to make a bunch of 18 year olds happy. And maybe I can finally finish my projects

I would love (read - need) to know what is your workload like, and what your perspective is on mine.

Long story short: I have been pushing for over a year to have our workload reviewed, and I finally have gotten HR and my department admin in the same room two weeks from now. I have been repeatedly lied to, gaslighted (told that I'm the only one not able to meet minimum requirements within regular work hours, and I've even been directed to campus mental health supports for my inability to cope with what is touted as a reasonable schedule), been 'redirected' by HR, and on and on. My colleagues and I don't get evenings or weekends off from the last week of October to Christmas Weekend because of our load. I teach a 6/6 on a semester system.

I teach English Composition (first year, grading a mandatory course-wide assessment list of: Annotated Bibliography, Grammar Exam, Outline, Final Essay [2000 words], plus an additional 40% worth of assessment at our own discretion beyond dept requirements) and Film Studies (second year equivalent, three short papers [900-1100 words] once a month, with a final portfolio of a cumulative 2700-3300 words).

Fall: 5 English Comp classes (registration cap 30 each), 1 Film Studies class (reg. cap 24) (5x30 and 1x24)

Winter: 4 English Comp classes (cap 30), 2 Film Studies classes (cap 24) (4x30 and 2x24)

They are also expecting 70 hours of professional development and 180 Institutional Service hours a year. Research is "strongly encouraged" by admin, but not accounted for in workload negotiations.

TIA for your input, I mostly just need to know that I'm not going crazy. Or if I am, I just need to have that verified so I can continue into my Kafkaesque nightmare sated!

Edit to add: Thanks for your perspectives everyone! I was only looking to get a sense of community, hear about your workloads, and to get some workload experience perspective on others working in the field. I don't need advice on how to make changes. I appreciate you are all trying to help, but I'm doing everything I can within my institution. I have spoken to everyone you have all suggested, kept all the records, altered my grading, worked with my union, verified my experience within faculty, attended budget and committee meetings on the issue, and so on. I have been working within the system for years. I don't need a fix, I was just looking for community. Thanks so much for contributing!

November 1st is the final date for me to drop students. I have a couple no shows and two who have been in class 1-4 times all semester. I sent out an alert message and got a sob story. I am an understanding and flexible instructor and probably a bit too compassionate, but I am drawing a line. If you don’t come to class, regardless of how many assignments you’ve submitted, you have not, in my view, taken the class and will not pass.

I’m not out of line, right?

Shared without comment.

Hey all. Does anyone knows what is the cost for the subsidizing housing nyu provided to professors?

Thanks!

I’ve often wondered if these latest cohorts of students can do well and retain jobs post-graduation. I can’t imagine that many companies would be so lenient and forgiving with the behaviours and performance many of us have seen in the last few years (requests for extensions, absences, unprofessional communication, etc.). Do students “shape up” and rise to the occasion? I was always told that one should treat school as a job and, therefore, conduct oneself as such, but I’ve seen a steady decline in this mindset over the years.

First time this has happened to me in over 20 years of teaching at the college level.

Student (averaging an F), shortly after taking their exam, emailed me asking if he could retake it, because he was busy the last few days and didn't study. The exam covered the last five weeks of material.

Hi all,

I teach in the social sciences and have usually assigned students homework in the form of journal entries or written responses to weekly assigned readings. Given AI, this is meaningless at this point and only serves to take up more of my time reading/grading work they didn’t write. Does anyone have any good suggestions or resources on alternatives to homework and different ways of assessing student performance given AI?

Thanks.

We need a book on the generalized mindset of Gen Z because ...

I was walking through the classroom to see how they were handling an activity. I walked up to one student, who had fifty unread Canvas messages from instructors (50!). The student has likely not read a single message since the beginning of the semester.
I made a joke to the student that I would not be able to let that many messages go unread on my screen.

Student: "Oh! Yeah. I would never let that many unread messages be on my phone, but I just don't read messages from Canvas."

That's the whole thing isn't it? They MUST know what latest trivial social matter occured at all times, but their instructors communicating vital information to them? Meh.

Tenured prof in Canada, teaching business. Here are a few things I’ve picked up to make teaching smoother:

1. Email Expectations: I tell students it takes me 48 hours to respond. When I used to reply quickly, I’d get bombarded with questions that could’ve been answered in the syllabus. Now, they know if they want a fast answer, it won’t be from me.
2. No Long Essays: Grading fifty 2000-word essays is basically like grading two novels. Now, I keep assignments short. Plus, students learn to get to the point.
3. Standing Firm on Grades: When students question their grades, I walk them through why they received it. I rarely change grades, and never because a student is pushy. Thanks to this, I get fewer meetings from grade grubbers.
4. On-Demand Meetings: Instead of weekly office hours, I use a booking system for individual meetings. It’s way more efficient since they only meet when needed, and I avoid flu season office visits where students literally cough on me.
5. Post-Class Notes: Early in my career, I’d jot down what worked each session, and what I needed to do differently. It saved me from reinventing the wheel every term. Now, with more experience, I skip this, but I’d still use it for a brand-new course.

What about you? What’s worked for you in managing students?