5 Things University Professors Don’t Want to Accept
1. The 60’s ain’t comin’ back – The 1960’s and 70’s were a great time for academia financially. Job growth was enormous, “research” was big business and grants were plentiful. We’re in a slash-n-burn situation, budget cuts mean the milk and honey days are not returning. Time to shut up and adapt.
2. Community college professors as real academics – at nearly any conference you go to drop that you’re from a community college instructor and see what happens. Likely half of the people in the room will turn up their noses, a few may even make crude comments. You’re not a “real academic”. Well guess what as$holes, many community college professors make more than University professors. In addition an increasing number publish and present at conferences without the support and free time that many four-year professionals squander.
3. Words Cause Trouble. You may have to pay a price for what you say. Grow up. You’re not the first one to be persecuted for your word choice. Being an academic you frankly ought to know this. Go read Foucault’s Fearless Speech lecture ha ha
4. Teaching Matters. Yeah, yeah, yeah society sucks. When will they all learn?… oh wait… that’s your job isn’t it? If “they’re all gonna learn” aren’t you supposed to be teaching them? Could that possibly mean you should spend time developing and improving your teaching techniques? Listening to your students? Getting to understand their world and how to relate info to it? NOOOO…say it ain’t so…. Shhh!
5. When you don’t sign paper work, you’re costing people money. That’s right, when you went off to your last trip to Japan and didn’t sign my comps paperwork so I could officially become ABD you cost me 1,000 dollars at my job. If I had been full-time you would have cost me 3,500. When you don’t “feel like” doing paperwork in a timely manner you cost people jobs, money and health insurance. You DO have responsibilities whether you fulfill them or not.
