The provost of Texas Tech
suspects for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix are pilfering faculty from public universities to fill their ever-growing instructor ranks.
More specifically, he fears some of Tech’s 970-plus full-time faculty members are moonlighting for these schools as online course instructors, a practice Tech’s policies prohibit without his office’s consent…
Bob Smith can’t get Phoenix University to release the names of its faculty. He’s been hearing rumors that a number of Tech’s full-time, tenured professors earn extra money by running online courses for Phoenix.
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Don’t you think it’s odd that Phoenix considers its faculty a state secret? What sort of university won’t tell us, or the people signing up for its degree, the names of the professors who teach there?
September 12th, 2010 at 2:08AM
There are some parallels.
“The Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards”.
“The official motto of Unseen University is “Nunc Id Vides, Nunc Ne Vides”, loosely translated as “Now you see it, now you don’t”
Alas, Terry Pratchett’s satirical creation probably has more dignity and purpose.
September 12th, 2010 at 2:26AM
Richard: Sounds far more dignified and purposeful.
September 12th, 2010 at 8:33AM
[…] much for the high road. 12 09 2010 I found this one via UD. At first glance, it looks like a principled stand by the Provost at Texas Tech against full-time […]
September 12th, 2010 at 9:16AM
Hey, if faculty can work at two different universities and get paid by both, why can’t they work at Phoenix and their own place?
http://ptable.blogspot.com/2009/10/old-story-still-no-answers-is-u-ever.html
September 12th, 2010 at 9:59AM
Not really on point, but I wonder if the prohibition extends to the adjuncts. It’s got merit in connection with people to whom Tech pays a lot of money and to whom it has provided tenure, but not so much with people who aren’t full-time, have no benefits and are stuck in no-advancement-possible positions.
I agree it looks bad when Phoenix won’t reveal instructor lists. On the other hand, I’d be more concerned about the character of Tech instructors if the belief is that they won’t honestly answer a straight question about their activities. I’m not naïve, but if Provost Smith believes his faculty is made up of people who would violate their own policies and lie about it, why in the world would he want them teaching young people?
September 12th, 2010 at 10:20AM
I should have made it clear that the folks mentioned in #4 were working full time, or at least being paid for it, at both places and were not adjuncts…
September 12th, 2010 at 11:50AM
Have Texas Tech faculty been receiving merit increases? What’s the point of running regressions or deriving theorems at 1.50 in the morning if you don’t get credit for it?
September 12th, 2010 at 3:24PM
Not publishing faculty lists makes it more difficult for online adjuncts at Phoenix and other online for-profits to organize.
September 12th, 2010 at 3:26PM
What would make tenured faculty anywhere desperate enough to adjunct at an online sweatshop?
September 12th, 2010 at 4:39PM
#9 -> money… {filler here, UD system doesn’t like short comments}
September 13th, 2010 at 7:38AM
I know I’ve said this before, but: I’m full-time (and then some, this semester – 15 credit hours!) tenured, and I don’t have time to mow my lawn or do my laundry some weeks.
How on earth can a person work for an online university and not shortchange students there, or shortchange students at their in-person job?
Honestly, if I were offered more money or more free time, I’d take the free time in a heartbeat.