tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839658.post6955189432234022121..comments2023-10-24T10:51:56.614-04:00Comments on Citizen of Somewhere Else: The Long and Winding Road II: A Response to Craig Smith; or, Elaborating the ModelThe Constructivisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839658.post-73363756655453012462008-04-08T08:45:00.000-04:002008-04-08T08:45:00.000-04:00I could see where the system that you propose *cou...I could see where the system that you propose *could* work, but I suppose on a purely personal level, I'm uncomfortable with the idea that I would be "tracked" in a particular way throughout my entire career. One might say that I would be a great person for a track one job, then, but one potential consequence I see in a field like English is that most institutions would only hire English faculty in track 3 because our research a) doesn't typically bring in grant money and b) doesn't do much to raise the profile of an institution. I then wonder whether within the discipline this would further exacerbate the divide between people who work at research universities and elite slacs vs. people who work at regionals and/or CCs, which I don't think is a good thing. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't see how #2 in your list of pros is true. I'm also not certain how, in glutted fields, there is any disincentive to apply for all but track 1 kinds of jobs if that is what one aims for... in that any f-t job using one's degree would still be better than no job for many.<BR/><BR/>I like the idea that tracks could change based on performance, but if one is tenured as track 1, how can you take that away from them? And if somebody is tenured as track 2 through 4, could they be bumped to track one after tenure? I suppose that if we *really* value all tracks as equal, then all of that is possible. But if that's true, then they should all be paid equally. I'm very cynical about how people would regard the different tracks, and I think that track 1 would be perceived as "real" jobs vs. tracks 2-4, and I think the pay differential would validate such perceptions.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, those are my initial thoughts. Thanks for commenting over at my place and directing me over here!Dr. Crazyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839658.post-24496935093554451132008-03-22T01:54:00.000-04:002008-03-22T01:54:00.000-04:00Ah, brilliant analogy. Yeah, a badly-implemented ...Ah, brilliant analogy. Yeah, a badly-implemented version of this system would be worse. But you know how Marc Bousquet criticizes tenured faculty for basically thinking like (and often becoming) administrators? I'm beginning to think that's an acknowledgment that we already have this system in place in more places than yours, but typically like yours in its being done in an unreflective, ad hoc, on-the-fly, easily abused way.<BR/><BR/>I guess my question is whether formalizing it and funding it would make it better (my pragmatism and incrementalism) or whether we should be working to do away with it (my radicalism and abolitionism) and replace it with something better.<BR/><BR/>In any case, thanks for the comment. Hope you join in at your place with some thoughts on what ought to replace the current system!The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839658.post-45234733618968022682008-03-21T22:35:00.000-04:002008-03-21T22:35:00.000-04:00We have such a system where I am. In practice thou...We have such a system where I am. In practice though we can't afford to implement it right. Depending on what the university wants a given department to be doing, it puts those faculty members on that track. If it only wants to hire one person and has 1.5 people worth of courses that need to be covered, it puts them on the teaching track. Etc. And very few people take the time to actually understand the system - they just apply it in whatever way benefits them or serves their purposes at the moment. <BR/><BR/>And the causes people to over specialize in the wrong ways: "important service" about teaching gets done by people who don't teach, etc. In sum, very abusable ... sort of like trying to heal the black/white divide by getting more categories, bringing back old words like quadroon and octoroon. !Professor Zerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909063513731044826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839658.post-78268298272904138272008-03-10T11:27:00.000-04:002008-03-10T11:27:00.000-04:00Yeah, there's probably more than an aftertaste of ...Yeah, there's probably more than an aftertaste of cuatrocentrism in all my writing on these topics. Have some friends who have done the cc thing, but not me.<BR/><BR/>My first thought, though, is that you might see a different mix of tracks there. You'll note the way I set up Tracks 2 and 3 could lead to more jobs in the future, as a school that wants more of research or service from someone would have to give them fewer preps/classes and/or smaller ones.<BR/><BR/>But, yeah, I have to think about that some more.<BR/><BR/>Got a post cooking on ideals/visions that comes back to the assumptions we've been unpacking so far....The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839658.post-92039636035965518632008-03-09T21:39:00.000-04:002008-03-09T21:39:00.000-04:00Okay, fair enough that you want to get back to you...Okay, fair enough that you want to get back to your model! I am going to try to summarize a bit where we are before heading into other factors I think we need to consider, but I promise to take up your proposal a bit more head on soon.<BR/><BR/>One question--you say "teaching intensive" here, but I wonder how community colleges fit into the model, which seems a bit 4-year oriented (although that might just be my reading as a former CC faculty member). This seems like a key issue in the discussion since so many contingent faculty are in CC's and tenure is such a different thing there.<BR/><BR/>CraigCraig @ AFThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01619162376916883142noreply@blogger.com