Lots of grading

So this week, it's the week of lots of grading. I learned something in the last few years of teaching, and during syllabus-planning for this semester, I laid out all of my due dates on a spreadsheet. For the most part, I was really able to spread things out throughout the semester. The downside of this is that I'll be grading something almost every week from now through mid-December, but I consider that to be preferable to those weeks where literally nothing other than grading can get done. However, this week, I couldn't do it. So I have papers and reports on those papers in one class today and Thursday, and I have a take-home test due Wednesday in another class. We have a faculty conference this Friday and Saturday, which means very little will get done over the weekend. So a busy week. I've just got to not get too far behind.

Blogging, but where's the time

This week has seemed like a mad dash. So much to do. The nice thing is, it's getting done. But unfortunately, some things are following by the wayside. I haven't been able to get to my blog reader to keep up with the blogs I read in about two weeks. Maybe next week, but probably not. Sigh.

I'm on the committee to determine an interim chair for our department. We've narrowed the field to two of the nominated candidates (both of whom nominated the other person). We'll meet with them next week and I guess pick the "winner." :)

Really nice rejection letters

I got a journal rejection letter earlier this week. It was not for one of the submissions that I've blogged about before. Even though the editor rejected the article, I have to say that it was the nicest and most supportive rejection letter that I've ever gotten. I've reviewed stuff for him before, and that may have something to do with it. Or he may just write like that. Either way, I appreciated the letter even though I'm disappointed about the result.

By the way, this is the fourth rejection that I've gotten at this journal. I'm 0-4, yet I still get asked to review submissions. How is it that I'm good enough to review articles but not to publish them?

Let the grading begin

So today, I'm giving my first "midterm" of the semester. Of course, it's not really the middle of the semester, but I wanted to beat the rush. Actually, we have covered about half of the material because most of the end of the semester is devoted to students' projects and applications. Plus, it seems to me that having a midterm now helps students at the true midpoint in the semester when every other class (including one of my other classes) have their midterm.

So the grading begins today. Because I have a 3-2 teaching load and this semester is the "3," I am expecting a higher grading load than last semester or next semester. But also, one of my writing-intensive classes has almost double the enrollment that it had last year. So I'm expecting to be overwhelmed as the semester continues.

Great Response Equals Great Questions

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my organizational communication analysis class is working with two nonprofits this semester. We are conducting communication audits in both of these organizations, which will hopefully help them better serve the community and help students better understand how to do such analyses. Representatives from both organizations came to my class on Thursday to talk a little bit about themselves, how they came to their organization, what their organization does, and how people communicate in their organization. The class period was supposed to introduce students to the organizations and help with any final focusing the students (in groups of 4 or 5) needed to do. I was incredibly please with what each person shared, and I could not have been happier with the questions that my students had. I had told them that their group needed to have pertinent questions that would help them better understand what they needed to do. The students were great, and their thoughtful questions made me proud.

Of awkwardness and touching rituals...

The awkwardness that I feared during the faculty meeting this morning was avoided because Dr. Chair is out of town. We had a substitute running the meeting. There were some interesting things discussed today including selection a faculty member in each area to "run" the assessment of that area. As frequent readers might guess, I hoped that my name would not even be thought of to be the point person for my area (although the departure of the chair means that there are only two of us), but my ears perked up quite a bit when they said there was a stipend involved in the task. It actually does not seem like that much more work than we've already done (and a 2-4 page summary of that work), and the stipend will be nice. Who knew I would be volunteering for an assessment-related assignment?! I guess the saying is true: never say never...

Today was our "Founder's Day" convocation, when the provost officially declares the school year open. A traditional part of this ceremony is a reading of the inaugural speech that our founder gave when he opened the school. The choir and orchestra perform. It's really an incredible tradition. Today as I was experiencing this for the third time, it made me think about rituals at the other colleges of which I've been associated and their rituals for marking time. My undergraduate institution also had an opening convocation with a great deal of pageantry, and that is still one of the events that I think of when remembering my time there. My PhD university didn't have an opening ceremony like that (although the first football game might be close in terms of excitement and freshness), but it had a plethora of other traditional ceremonies throughout the year. I think those things that bring former students back "home" and instill in new students the sense of community are important. Particularly for current students, these events help mark the passage of time, whether it's the awe of newness that comes the first time one experiences the tradition, or the cherished moments as one enjoys those traditions one last time as a senior, or the memories they bring whenever one returns physically or in memory. Today made me appreciate where I work all the more.

New Chairs

I'm on the committee to help select an interim chair for our department. So far, we have two nominees. One person is well liked and has lots of administrative experience, and he has been nominated several times. That person, in order to make it a two-horse race, nominated someone else. At the faculty meeting where we discussed the process, there was a lot of predictable sarcasm about no one really wanting to do it. It's definitely quite a commitment, and I'm glad that I'm ineligible as an untenured, assistant professor.

It's interesting have what could be described as a "lame duck" chair. It's not that Dr. Chair is intentionally neglecting duties, which don't officially end until December. It's just that it seems like his heart may not be completely in it. We have an all-department meeting Wednesday that he typically conducts, and that will be an interesting meeting. It will be his first time to face the faculty since announcing his resignation, so we'll see how it goes and how high the awkwardness quotient gets.

Rewarding Experiences

I am ending the week with a couple of really rewarding experiences. Yesterday in my morning class, we finished class with one of my top two favorite activities of the semester. It was rushed and might have made a bigger impact if I had had about 10 minutes more classtime. However, my talking through those 10 minutes might have ruined it, so you never know. But even rushed as it was, I think it was one of those rare moments when students say, "ah." As I looked at the students, instead of trying to pack their bags early or finish their conversations on IM, they looked like they were really thinking about big picture issues (the exercise revolved around personal ethics and decision-making).

The second experience came in the early part of the afternoon, when one of my former students came to visit. This student graduated last year and used her lunch break to come back for a visit. I had this student in classes three of my first four semesters at this university as well as the summer between my first two years. We talked about what she's doing now, the classes I'm teaching, this group of students. She was part of a class of students ('08 grads) that were juniors when I started at this university, which meant they were just getting into the parts of the curriculum that I teach. That class has a special place in my heart as one of the first cohorts that I have taught. I'm excited about the students that I have now, and they really are great students. But the '08 cohort was uniquely special to me.

Both of these experiences brought the week to a great end. I had to go to the dentist today, which threatened to ruin the joy, but those two experiences still stand out.

The Learning Commodity

The September issue of Spectra had a number of great articles about teaching in it. One of the ones that jumped out at me the most was Roger Smitter's commentary on education as a new commodity. Smitter argues that we as educators face the challenge of students (and more importantly, parents) who expect nothing more from college that job preparation. These constituents are only interested in "learning" a skill set that will land them a better job when they graduate. Smitter concedes that the rising cost of education should share part of the blame as should college recruiters who laud the value of their school by emphasizing job placement rates. What I most appreciated about his article was that we as communication faculty are in a great position to respond. "We have a long tradition of teaching core values while also addressing contemporary needs."

I have complained on this blog before that I don't like the trend in terms of trying to attach a dollar sign to what students get from a class (as well as the assessment techniques that tend to drive this trend). I am challenged by Smitter's final call, "Teach them well. Help them see that what we offer can't be commoditized." Easy enough to say. Two of my classes are less skills-based, which makes it a little easier in those classes. One of my classes is all about skills, and in that class, students were practically falling out of their chairs with boredom during the day that we talked about the big picture. However, I like that challenge more than just sitting back and going with the flow (i.e., being "flushed").

Crazy Busy

I guess I just need to learn that Mondays and Thursdays, I just won't get anything done. On paper, I actually have a little bit of free time, but it never seems to work out that way.

Just sent the article off that had the problematic reviewer. Also sent an appeal to the editor in terms of this reviewer. We'll see how that goes.

Agghhh. No more time to blog!

Hasn't the semester already started?

Had a student register for my class yesterday, two weeks after the start of school. This senior had never seen an advisor, so she "didn't know" that she needed to register for the pre-req to my class last spring and apparently just discovered that she should probably talk to someone about it. My class doesn't really depend on the pre-req that much, so it's not a huge deal for me to permit a student in. It's just the fact that she didn't even consider talking to an advisor (her advisor is me) until after the beginning of her senior year. Four year plan anyone?

I've almost completed the revise and resubmit on my manuscript that recently was given its third revise and resubmit. I talked with an expert on the type of statistics, and he said that I was exactly right in what I was reporting, that the reviewer was wrong. I'm writing the anonymous letter to the reviewer, but I'm also hoping to appeal to the editor.

My classes seem pretty good. Really good students.

Next Steps in Finding a Chair

So today, the dean met with our department to discuss how the search for a new department chair would go. He is basically open to whether we want to conduct a quick search and have a new chair in place by January or whether we want to have an interim chair for some period of time, and conduct a more drawn-out search. I'm in favor of the latter, and I get the feeling that is what most people are wanting. The dean is going to meet with us again in a week to make a final decision.

From there, the faculty will nominate 2 people to serve on a search committee, either for a permanent chair or an interim chair. Typically, I run from committee work, but I think that I will try to be one of those 2 people.

Other than that, it's time to get serious about teaching. No more holidays for a few months.

This Post Scheduled for Labor Day

So I'm camping this weekend, but I scheduled a post for today before I left. It's great to be at a university that recognizes my labor--every other school I've been at has classes on Labor Day. Conveniently, all of my classes meet on Mondays, so I basically have to teach a half-week next week. That's happened each fall that I've been at my university by accident, but I think I'm going to start requesting Monday classes for the fall semester when they ask for preferences in the spring. It's nice to have off your hardest day.

But lest you think I'm goofing off the whole weekend, I did bring two manuscripts to revise. I don't have my laptop, but at least I can read through them and make notes. I don't know if I should be proud of my dilligence or ashamed that I can't take a break.