{"id":581,"date":"2010-04-15T08:33:42","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T14:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=581"},"modified":"2014-09-12T12:02:08","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T18:02:08","slug":"on-becoming-a-university-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/04\/15\/on-becoming-a-university-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"On Becoming a University (Part IV)"},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Don’t assume that faculty must be on campus in order to work.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong>\u2026Part Four in the series on \u201cBecoming a University<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to make the transition from a college to a university\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

“If I can’t see you, you’re not working”<\/em><\/strong> is a very corporate attitude, and an old-fashioned one at that. It also implies a lack of trust that does not foster an atmosphere where innovation happens.<\/p>\n

Being an Academic means you learn to balance life and work without the need for physical separation of job and home. True, not everyone manages to achieve that, and most of us fail occasionally, but assuming that I am not working if I am not physically in the classroom or in my office is a corporate attitude and NOT conducive to scholarly work.<\/p>\n

Teaching schedules for people in the TSS (Teaching, Service & Scholarship) stream MUST be arranged to allow for time to do research – which usually means they must have at least one day a week where they are not teaching.<\/p>\n

It is also helpful to assign the same course for several years or multiple sections of the same course when possible – preparing for a course one hasn’t taught before can easily take 10 hours to prepare a one hour class. I realize that this can’t be written in stone, but if I have no assurances that I will be able to teach the course again, I will not have the same investment in developing that course than I would if I could feel some sense of ownership for it.<\/p>\n

I have heard some people say that they get bored teaching the same course more than once or twice in a row. I’ve thought about that and the only way I can see that happening is if they are doing little more than coming to class and teaching from canned notes, books and exercises. If you have someone in your department like this: KEEP AN EYE ON THEM.<\/p>\n

Make sure that it is possible to work from home – much of the technical infrastructure is currently set up to make working from home very difficult. Besides, working from home when possible is a MUCH greener way to go.<\/p>\n