[1198] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Advising as Campaign Issue
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Wally)
Thu Mar 14 14:33:36 2002
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Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0203141159530.24580-100000@sub-zero.mit.edu>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 12:14:54 -0500
From: Wally <wally@SUB-ZERO.MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
Jesus Christ!
I've been reading the campaign statements of some of the UA candidates
(hey, I'm not an undergraduate, but the GSC kids are so fucking
boring...), and the Jenn/Miquela ticket includes 'improving the advising
situation' (or somesuch) as one of their plans for the office.
HALF THE FACULTY DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO ADVISE!
MOST DON'T KNOW HOW TO *TEACH*!
That's the main problem with advising and teaching here at MIT. Now that
I've identified it for you (you're welcome), please go fix it. I'll even
suggest some ways to do it:
1) Make it financially worthwhile for people to advise. I don't know if
advisors are paid for what they do, but 'love of teaching' isn't always
sufficient motivation. As Rhett has proven, a couple dollars will get most
anyone to do most anything.
2) Force departments to consider teaching skill/experience in granting
tenure.
3) Require old half-senile motherfuckers to periodically prove their worth
to the school, not just through research, but through teaching and writing
for laymen, etc. Periodically evaluate, _critically_, the teaching of all
faculty members. Sure, this would require a full-time oversight committee,
but shouldn't we have those anyhow?
4) Require public disclosure/explanation of what the hell faculty members
do, so that even people outside their department can get a sense for the
area of their work (if not necessarily its scope or precise content).
[This is something I take pretty seriously; if you can't explain why you
do what you do, you shouldn't be doing it.]
5) Force junior faculty to go through the 'demeaning' and 'unprofessional'
process of actually getting to know some students, whether at social
functions (mixers etc.) or through student-led tours of LG's, etc. Hell,
do the same to (for?) tenured faculty as well.
6) Fill the UA and GSC with competent people who demand nothing less than
the best possible education, and turn them loose on the assholes in high
places who (whether purposefully or unwittingly) deny us that.
7) Push for faculty members to participate in committees at some point
(this might already be done, I dunno), so that they get a sense for some
of the issues that involve the bulk of MIT's population (i.e. the students
and staff).
Yadda yadda.
W.
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