No, seriously, why?
Here is yet another idiotic article by some illiterate fool who argues that tenure should be abolished and al professors should concentrate more on grading.
We are all to blame that such stupid freaks exist. We are afraid of hurting their feelings and never tell them that they are stupid, brainless cockroaches who should shut up and go kill themselves against a wall.
And then I get criticized for telling idiots that they are idiots in no uncertain terms on my blog. No, people, I know I’m completely right when I eviscerate every stupid creature who comes here to say stupid things on my blog. They don’t care about my feelings when they publish garbage and spread around their stupid beliefs, so why should I give a crap about theirs?
Clarissa's Blog 
I am sorry to have to say that this column indicates that you are out of control yourself. I suspect that you do not tolerate grading well, and that your response is to misbahave in your blog. That is a great pity because when you are under control you have much of value to offer. I have 50 years of teaching experience at top institutions, so do not dismiss my remarks as inexperienced.
Quite frankly, you need to pull yourself together. You are paid well for your short summer class. Do not act as though it is a free gift to a worthless group of students. If they end up as poorly educated as you suggest, then , in part at least, that may be a result of your inadequate instruction.
LikeLike
What on Earth does this have to do with my summer class?? The final grades for it have been submitted on Saturday and there is no grading to do. As for grading in general, I do more grading than most of my colleagues because I assign daily written homework in all of my courses.
The post is about haters of research and tenure. I have written posts about them for years before the summer course.
LikeLike
Yo, don’t go on someone’s personal blog and tell them to “pull themselves together.” I feel like that’s just common sense.
LikeLike
I certainly can understand why this issue is so important to you, but I think a few of your points are unfair.
First, whether you agree or not (clearly you do not) it is ridiculous to call the author of the “abolish tenure” stance an idiot or stupid. They present a detailed, step-by-step argument against tenure. From my experience at a top 25 undergraduate business program I agree with nearly every single point. Of my ~20 instructors the three best were not tenured and in fact only had masters degrees. The two worst were PHD candidates (who wanted to become researchers/tenured track) and they may have been good at their research but AWFUL at teaching.
At my university, and many I THINK, tenured professors generally teach one semester and the next either exclusively research, or perhaps have 1 class (instead of 3-4). This salary undeniably results in higher costs to the students, and also to lower quality adjuncts as the author so astutely points out.
Top notch research sometimes contributes to the intellectual body in fields, but why should students pay for this? The real benefactors are the field or perhaps society writ large (or sometimes businesses which leverage the studies).. but shouldn’t they be funded differently? I can grant that if funding would purely come from think tanks and private charites and companies the research might be more biased. However, I would be very curious why you think most students should pay for the research which does not benefit them very much?
Your post seems like mainly a way to blow off steam (which hey, we all need those 🙂 ) but I would love to hear your arguments for tenure in general, either here or if you have other blog posts about it! Thanks so much!
LikeLike
I could go into a long explanation why people who don’t do research in a field aren’t worth a shit as teachers in said field but it seems a huge waste of time. If you prefer to be taught by somebody who read – let alone wrote – their last article in their field years ago, then that’s your misfortune. I just wonder what makes you feel that an undergrad degree in some God -forsaken place where your beet teachers were adjuncts entitles you to an opinion on this subject. Do you also inform doctors on how to operate and pilots on how to fly planes?
How come everybody is suddenly such a huge expert on academical after taking a couple of courses? Do you also feel prepared to prescribe medication based on visiting a doctor a few times? What makes you think you are entitled to an opinion because you took a few courses from unqualified people? How would you feel if I started offering advice onhow your industry should be run because I walked by a couple of times?
LikeLike
I also wanted to add that everybody who wants to be taught by a “cheap ” person with an associates degree or no degree whatsoever rather than an expensive scholar and intellectual should be able to do so. Just don’t try to destroy this country’s glorious system of higher education to cater to your intellectual limitations. Nobody prevents people from treating their diseases by visiting voodoo practitioners. But should we close down all hospitals because a local voodoo practitioner charges less?
LikeLike
Thanks for saying all that Clarissa. I’m so offended by the above comments and by the article you linked to. I have a lot to say in response but started sputtering so incoherently that I decided not to pollute the thread. Maybe when I’m a bit more relaxed I can contribute something substantive to the conversation. Until then I will only say that tenure protects education and maybe those who aren’t in higher ed need to trust us on this one.
LikeLike
Thank you for the support, Evelina! I started feeling like the world was going insane here. We are the only area of human endeavor that every Tom, Dick and Harry feels prepared to manage. Everybody is so sure they could do my job for half the money and a lot better. And then they get upset that I have an opinion about their opinions.
LikeLike
Wow… I am unqualified to talk about education? Somewhere I spent four years taking classes from a pretty top-tier institution (not really fair to denegrate it which it felt like you “god-forsaken” comment implied)..
I also networked my way into 2 MBA classes (something no other undergrads did) and I had extremely close relationships with my professors. My point being, being a top notch student DOES qualify you to talk about education. Specifically because education is about STUDENTS.. not you… I hope you and Evelina would agree to as much?
Now, one other thing to consider is that I did go to school for business so real world practicality is HUGELY important. I could take a class from a dude who had taught accounting 36 years (and was god awful).. or international finance from a guy who ran a $400 million company… In business degrees I think I hands down win the argument for removal of tenure.
In other disciplines you may have a point.
Honestly I’m surprised (not offended because my feelings are not hurt that easily) that you would attack me for acting like I understand education. I damn well do understand what makes a good or bad teacher, and honestly how could someone who was valedictorian of high school and a great college student not be the given huge credentials? (I fear further mockery of my knowledge.. but i’m a big boy)
LikeLike
At Matt: does driving a car qualify you to be a mechanic? Does having a body qualify you to perform surgery? Does owning a telescope qualify you to comment on astrophysics? If you answered “no” to those questions, then perhaps you should question why receiving an education qualifies you to dictate/question educational policy.
LikeLike
Those are quite different.. and very poor examples.
Driving a car doesn’t teach you much about how the inner working of a car operate. Same thing with having a telescope to look at the stars.
My experience as a student (and all students) and learning (over 17 years) IS the point of education…. I really ask you to reconsider your analogy based on this perspective and I suspect that if you are relatively open-minded you may change some of your tone.. perhaps not.
Also… you did not answer ANY of my questions or respond to my comment. Would you rather have had the professor with 36 years of academic experience.. or one who ran a $400 million business.. i suspect you didn’t answer because you didn’t want to admit that I have some merit?
Normally i wouldnt be so harsh on you and Clarissa.. but for educators (I am assuming you are one.. my apologies if not) it is pretty sad to not welcome thoughtful debate from someone who laid at very valid arguments
LikeLike
“but for educators (I am assuming you are one.. my apologies if not) it is pretty sad to not welcome thoughtful debate from someone who laid at very valid arguments”
– I’ve heard your “arguments” a bizillion times. They are as valid as those of a person who didn’t read a single book on anatomy, let alone been to med school, yet argues that he knows how to perform brain surgery.
LikeLike
Another question I would ask then is who by your definition is qualified to comment on education policy and the tenure issue specifically? It seems a little self-serving that you think students should be ignored and your view trumps all? There is a major conflict of interest… obviously.
Lastly, maybe this is a good starting point.. you do agree the purpose of a university is to educate students primarily right? I don’t say this condescendingly because if you (or anyone else) believes the primary purpose is to increase scholarly/word knowledge in a field then I agree tenure is good. And I honestly feel that is what you and Clarissa may likely feel. And that is a fair point.. but come out and say that directly.. and if you did I think schools would be more likely to remove tenure.. which is why you (I am using you to represent the vast majority of teachers who favor tenure) won’t admit that tenure is good for professors.. but not students.
LikeLike
“It seems a little self-serving that you think students should be ignored and your view trumps all”
– Please show me a quote where I said “students should be ignored.” I’ll wait.
It REALLY annoys me when people assign their weird views to me and then expect me to argue with their strange projections.
“you do agree the purpose of a university is to educate students primarily right”
– You will be shocked to find out that even universities that are called “primarily teaching institutions” do not believe that. Because they are run by people who happen to know that “educate students primarily” does not exist without a very strong research agenda.
“And I honestly feel that is what you and Clarissa may likely feel”
– This is not about what anybody “feels.” It is a bout a profession you know absolutely nothing about yet, instead of asking questions and imbibing information, you keep volunteering uninformed “opinions.” I’m not surprised that you preferred to be educated by ignoramuses and not actual scholars.
LikeLike
If you, Matt, are wondering at the angry tone of my responses, then I once again ask you to consider how you would feel if I started explaining to you in a condescending tone how you should do your job based on the fact that I was a consumer of a product similar to the one you make at your job at some point in my life. It is offensive to judge people’s professional endeavors from such a vantage point. Eating a hamburger does not make you a specialist in cattle raising. Reading a book doesn’t make you a writer. Buying tooth-paste doesn’t make you competent to sell your own brand of tooth-paste. And getting a degree doesn’t equip you to judge those who provide those degrees.
Really, my profession is the only one where everybody is a huge expert standing in line to teach me how I should conduct my work. Why can’t anybody just bloody do what they are qualified for?
LikeLike
By the way, what students don’t get to see is how much work it takes actual professors to get those clueless, disinterested MAs to teach a half decent class. They repeat the same old things they learned God knows where and refuse to absorb any new information. Of course, the glazier students adore them because instructors have no stake in the university so they give out As like candy.
LikeLike
“Wow… I am unqualified to talk about education? Somewhere I spent four years taking classes”
– I bet I spent more time getting dental work. This should mean I’m ready to explain to dentists how to do their job, right?
“I also networked my way into 2 MBA classes (something no other undergrads did) and I had extremely close relationships with my professors. My point being, being a top notch student DOES qualify you to talk about education.”
– I’m sorry, I might be confusing you with somebody but are you the same person who left comments on my blog about how reading fiction had no purpose if one could read technical manuals instead. Was that you?
” In business degrees I think I hands down win the argument for removal of tenure.”
– I’ll let you in on a little secret. Everybody in the academic community laughs at the concept of “business degrees” and the dufuses who pay money to get them.
“. I damn well do understand what makes a good or bad teacher, and honestly how could someone who was valedictorian of high school and a great college student not be the given huge credentials”
– I have no idea what “not be the given huge credentials” is supposed to mean in this context. I don’t hand out credentials on my blog. This blog is not an institution.
” I had extremely close relationships with my professors”
– And I slept with an airforce engineer. For years. I’ve got to be ready to comment on the quality of airplane design now, right? I mean,w e were EXTREMELY CLOSE during sex. Gosh, if that’s the kind of logical reasoning you got during your “education”, I have to offer you my condolences.
LikeLike
yes.. i did question the value of reading fiction.. i don’t honestly stand the correlation as to why you bring that up?
Also, you may laugh at a “business degree”.. but I have job with a top five national consulting firm (not bragging or trying to be a douche..) but why laugh at business degrees?
And i get why you get so defensive… i do.. but if you had been a large company who had received consulting services for even 6 months I would listen to your viewpoint. (While you still wouldn’t understand the ins of doing consulting… your viewpoint would be EXTREMELY valuable).
The difference with school vs. dental work or eating beef in your opinion is recieving those services doesn’t make you nearly as involved as a student is in the education process.. does that make sense?
Off to work i go.. have a good one 🙂
LikeLike
The correlation is that your education failed in its most basic aspect. This is a scholarly degree you were supposed to be getting, not a vocational school diploma. Of course, you don’t value research and intellectual pursuits that don’t immediately result in pots of money. You haven’t been taught to expand your mind and see that a good salary is not the pinnacle of existence. This is the best proof anybody could have needed that under-educated, disinterested instructors can’t offer an actual scholarly education.
I rest my case.
LikeLike
Last thought lol. I guess this is why business and academia are so opposed.. you laugh at people who shape the economy, innovate to improve the world and its capital stock (real assets, human talent, services provided etc.) while academics are off in theoretical land researching languages and literature… I’m not trying to demean those.. but our world could survive without those.. but not without business.
To me it seems rational to recognize that it is great to have companies around moving the economy forward, and then you academics can do your thing too!
But, when objectively we are more vital it is hard to stomach, and frankly sometimes almost comical, that we would be “laughed” at…
LikeLike
Be careful, please. I don’t laugh at PEOPLE. I laugh at the idea of passing off business studies as a scholarly pursuit. Business is something you learn in practice. You can’t listen to a million lectures and have a guarantee of success in business. There is no theory worth studying. This is why I think that business programs are as useless as fine arts and creative writing programs. You can’t “teach” one to be a brilliant writer or a brilliant business leader.
I didn’t understand “the more vital” part at all. But I have to say that if you can’t see the difference between “business programs are a joke” and “people in business are a joke”, that education you got was of extremely low quality.
LikeLike
And by the way, my sister, one of the two people I love most in the entire world, went to a business program at her prestigious university. She says it was a waste of time and she hated it because it gave her no help in her career as an extremely successful business woman.
So my dislike of the business world is a figment of your imagination. Now try to analyze why you need the myth of “I’m hated by academics.” Think about it.
LikeLike
From your one comment…
– I’ll let you in on a little secret. Everybody in the academic community laughs at the concept of “business degrees” and the dufuses who pay money to get them.
And then this from you in the last comment….
Be careful, please. I don’t laugh at PEOPLE. I laugh at the idea of passing off business studies as a scholarly pursuit.
Just trying to keep you honest 🙂 I hope you will admit that you did laugh at people here… shows maturity and integrity!
Lastly, I actually agree with your sister in some regard that a lot can be learned in business outside of school… however, 90%+ of Fortune 500 CEO’s have MBA’s (as long with the vast majority of VC’s, Private Equity guys, Consulting Partners, and I-Bankers). Hard to argue that you learn “Nothing in B-School”..
Still I hope to become the successful entrepreneur who does not go to an MBA program.
Again, its fine if you want to laugh at people (possibly including me… lol).. but then own up to it!
LikeLike
“I’ll let you in on a little secret. Everybody in the academic community laughs at the concept of “business degrees” and the dufuses who pay money to get them.
And then this from you in the last comment….
Be careful, please. I don’t laugh at PEOPLE. I laugh at the idea of passing off business studies as a scholarly pursuit.
Just trying to keep you honest I hope you will admit that you did laugh at people here… shows maturity and integrity!”
– I laughed at PEOPLE IN BUSINESS? Or at doofuses who shell out money for worthless business degrees? Seriously, can you read? I don’t ask for reading literature, I know your school wasn’t big on that. But can you read a simple blog comment?
“Just trying to keep you honest I hope you will admit that you did laugh at people here… shows maturity and integrity!”
– Please control yourself. I find fits of hysteria very boring.
“however, 90%+ of Fortune 500 CEO’s have MBA’s (as long with the vast majority of VC’s, Private Equity guys, Consulting Partners, and I-Bankers)”
– So now the conversation has shifted to graduate school? I think it will be useful for you to see what these people did their undergrad degree in. I promise that you will be surprised.
I notice that you failed to answer a single question asked of you in this thread. I hope this finally made you realize that you are not equipped informationally to discuss higher education.
LikeLike
I got a sense that my university faculty (i.e. the people in it) thinks that whatever changes happen to the university system, it’s an inevitable part of evolution that they can’t defy.
LikeLike
And here is a beautiful quote about why we all need the “useless” higher education: “We assume that private enterprise generates what is so casually called “innovation” all by itself. It does not. The Web browser you are using to read this essay was invented at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The code that makes this page possible was invented at a publicly funded academic research center in Switzerland. That search engine you use many times a day, Google, was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation to support Stanford University. You didn’t get polio in your youth because of research done in the early 1950s at Case Western Reserve University. California wine is better because of the University of California at Davis. Hollywood movies are better because of UCLA. And your milk was not spoiled this morning because of work done at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
These things did not just happen because someone saw a market opportunity and investors and inventors rushed off to meet it. That’s what happens in business-school textbooks. In the real world, we roll along, healthy and strong, in the richest nation in the world because some very wise people decided decades ago to invest in institutions that serve no obvious short-term purpose. The results of the work we do can take decades to matter—if at all. Most of what we do fails. Some succeeds. The system is terribly inefficient. And it’s supposed to be that way.
Along the way, we share some time and energy with brilliant and ambitious young people from around the world. Many of them have the look that I imagine my father had when he showed up, coatless, at the front door of the chemistry building at IIT in 1956. They show confidence. They also show innocence. They are willing to listen to the wisdom of experience. But they believe in themselves enough to question it at every turn.
We hear every day from higher-education pundits who can’t seem to express themselves in anything other than jargon and buzzwords that American higher education is “unsustainable.” No. It’s just not adequately sustained. There is a big difference. We could choose to invest in people. We could choose to invest in culture. We could choose to invest in science and technology. We choose instead to imagine that there are quick technological fixes or commercial interventions that can “transform” universities into digital diploma mills. Pundits blame professors for fighting “change.” But they ignore the fact that universities are the chief site of innovation and experimentation in digital teaching and research and that professors might actually know what works and what does not.
Instead of holding up their responsibility, states are divesting themselves of the commitment to help their young people achieve social mobility. States are rigging the system so that only the wealthy can compete for slots in the best universities. States shift the cost of higher education from taxpayers—all of whom benefit from living in a wiser, more creative society—to the students themselves. Yet students keep coming, desperate to enter the privileged classes, unable to imagine a different way through a cruel economy that has no use for the uneducated any more.
Universities are supposed to be special places where we let young people imagine a better world. They are supposed to be able to delay the pressures of the daily grind for a few years. They are supposed to be able to aspire to greatness and inspire each other. A tiny few will aspire to be poets. Many more will aspire to be engineers. Some will become both. Along the way they will bond with friends, meet lovers, experience hangovers, make mistakes, and read some mind-blowing books.
Does that sound wasteful? Does that sound inefficient? Nostalgic? Out-of-sync with the times? Damn right it does. But if we don’t want young people of all backgrounds to experiment with ideas and identities because it seems too expensive to support, we have to ask ourselves what sort of society we are trying to become.
Higher education is not one system. There are multiple layers and a wide variety of institutions. But they all have one thing in common: They have a mission to use knowledge to empower people to imagine a better life and transform society. If we like where we are, let’s just forget about it and roll back public support for higher education. But if we aspire to better things as a society, not just as individuals, then we should rediscover the vision of public higher education.”
http://mobile.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/06/teresa_sullivan_reinstated_as_the_president_of_the_university_of_virginia_.html
LikeLike