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It’s 1:50 AM. Do you know where your tenured faculty are?

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?

Margaret Soltan, September 12, 2010 12:58AM
Posted in: CLICK-THRU U., professors

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11 Responses to “It’s 1:50 AM. Do you know where your tenured faculty are?”

  1. Richard Says:

    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.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Richard: Sounds far more dignified and purposeful.

  3. So much for the high road. « More or Less Bunk Says:

    […] 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 […]

  4. Bill Gleason Says:

    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

  5. Brett Says:

    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?

  6. Bill Gleason Says:

    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…

  7. Stephen Karlson Says:

    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?

  8. Vanessa Vaile Says:

    Not publishing faculty lists makes it more difficult for online adjuncts at Phoenix and other online for-profits to organize.

  9. Vanessa Vaile Says:

    What would make tenured faculty anywhere desperate enough to adjunct at an online sweatshop?

  10. Bill Gleason Says:

    #9 -> money… {filler here, UD system doesn’t like short comments}

  11. ricki Says:

    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.

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