Are they Bizzy? Not these guys - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Are they Bizzy? Not these guys

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Did anyone tell you it is spring break? And this is what happens during breaks. Because it is so absolutely MISERABLE in our offices (too hot, too cold, bad light, equipment faulty or out of date), when the students are gone, we choose to work at home. USM has a long history (and it is pre-SFT) of not maintaining the facilities and the equipment except at the most basic level. I'm sure it was due to the shortage of funds that Mississippi education has always suffered under, but it makes working much more difficulty. If you want to talk productivity, talk about the work that gets done at home--where the computers are fast, the light is good, and the air conditioner or heater works correctly.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer wrote:

Take a stroll through the business school in Greene Hall. In some departments, nobody is ever there it seems. Just got back an hour ago from there and counted 7 professors on the third floor. Now I understand the clamor for time clocks.

Doing a little recon for the dome? Did you see "flat Doty"?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Yeah! Where's Flat Doty???

Date: Mar 17, 2006

I've been teaching all week. Had I known it was Spring Break I would've asked what the students were doing coming to class. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Are you spying for the dome? Who did you see?

Flat Doty was last seen in a green dumpster outside of Greene Hall. The person who saw it told me that he wanted to pull out but it had a greasy substance all over it that came from the other refuse. He didn't want to ruin his shirt retrieving something that might not be usable. Guess Doty foiled that one, perhaps using building staffers.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

gill wrote:

Doing a little recon for the dome? Did you see "flat Doty"?

Maybe I am, and what would be wrong with that. I took a pad with me to record everything. I don't know the names of everyone there. There was a couple of faculty in room 309, a few in room 314 and a couple or so in room 312. So there, you have it.

Can you provide any more information than that? I doubt it. And don't say it's spring break. I'm sure the administration and the taxpayers will be interested in knowing that some USM faculty took off this week for "Spring Break," and that nobody in business works for their money.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer wrote:

gill wrote: Doing a little recon for the dome? Did you see "flat Doty"? Maybe I am, and what would be wrong with that. I took a pad with me to record everything. I don't know the names of everyone there. There was a couple of faculty in room 309, a few in room 314 and a couple or so in room 312. So there, you have it. Can you provide any more information than that? I doubt it. And don't say it's spring break. I'm sure the administration and the taxpayers will be interested in knowing that some USM faculty took off this week for "Spring Break," and that nobody in business works for their money.

Uh....faculty don't get paid vacation....

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Uh, y'all, it's not Spring Break. Just for the record.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

All I know is I've been working all day in my office with the door closed. I just stuck my head out there's nobody around!

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Mewscician wrote:

Did anyone tell you it is spring break? And this is what happens during breaks. Because it is so absolutely MISERABLE in our offices (too hot, too cold, bad light, equipment faulty or out of date), when the students are gone, we choose to work at home. USM has a long history (and it is pre-SFT) of not maintaining the facilities and the equipment except at the most basic level. I'm sure it was due to the shortage of funds that Mississippi education has always suffered under, but it makes working much more difficulty. If you want to talk productivity, talk about the work that gets done at home--where the computers are fast, the light is good, and the air conditioner or heater works correctly.

While this may be true for research purposes, does this mean that I can move my office hours to my home as well? When you're a university professor, there's an expectation that students will be able to find you in your office a reasonable number of hours per week. While that may mean that you have to do research in a less friendly confine for some period each day, it also is incumbent upon you to do so for the sake of your students. Or do you not care about them?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

toadies dont work

Date: Mar 17, 2006

What am I missing...a post above said it is spring break at USM...there won't be any students there!

Date: Mar 17, 2006

It's spring break where I teach. Maybe not at USM?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

if you want to see something peachy, stroll into Greene on a weeknight and watch all of the classes dismiss before 8:30, and some by much earlier than that. It's sweeeet.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer wrote:

Maybe I am, and what would be wrong with that. I took a pad with me to record everything. I don't know the names of everyone there. There was a couple of faculty in room 309, a few in room 314 and a couple or so in room 312. So there, you have it. Can you provide any more information than that? I doubt it. And don't say it's spring break. I'm sure the administration and the taxpayers will be interested in knowing that some USM faculty took off this week for "Spring Break," and that nobody in business works for their money.

There was no one in 310? That can't be right, can it?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Maybe I misunderstood a previous post...I thought someone said it is spring break at USM. At any rate, faculty are held responsible for things beyond the classroom (research and publishing for example). I'm told the physical working environment in Greene Hall is not pleasant (temperature and perhaps organizational culture). Also, interruptions are common in faculty offices. Faculty may be much more productive working at home as a previous poster suggested. As long as they meet their posted office hours, what's the problem? Would you have them sit in their offices every minute they're not in the classroom? What about students assuming some responsibility and looking at posted office hours if they need to see their Instructor, and making an appointment if these office hours don't meet their needs?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

The M&M suite is as dark as a midnight graveyard...and just as quiet.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer,

Since you are not busy, could you water my plants the next time you are on campus. They need water at least once a week and it is really tough for me to get there that often.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Most students today can get in touch with faculty in multiple ways and at almost any hour of the day or night. I give mine my home phone number and urge them to call me when they need to chat, and they take advantage of the offer quite regularly. They also know that they can e-mail me at any time and expect an almost instantaneous reply. I've never quite understood the emphasis on sitting in an office waiting for people to drop by.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer wrote:

Take a stroll through the business school in Greene Hall. In some departments, nobody is ever there it seems. Just got back an hour ago from there and counted 7 professors on the third floor. Now I understand the clamor for time clocks.

So you posted this at 3:50 p.m. and refer to a time an hour earlier, 2:50 p.m., on a Friday afternoon? Note that classes end at 1:50 on Fridays and most people, students and faculty alike, go home shortly after unless they have on-campus commitments, like the faculty you saw. What's your point? Try wandering around at 11:00 a.m. any day of the week and see what you find.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Just an opinion wrote:

Most students today can get in touch with faculty in multiple ways and at almost any hour of the day or night. I give mine my home phone number and urge them to call me when they need to chat, and they take advantage of the offer quite regularly. They also know that they can e-mail me at any time and expect an almost instantaneous reply. I've never quite understood the emphasis on sitting in an office waiting for people to drop by.

Don't think for a minute that your post makes USM faculty look good. You guys are your own worst enemies.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

I don't apologize for a minute about going home AFTER I have taught my classes, met with committees, met with students, kept office hours. I do it because in order to get promoted, to get raises, to attain a national reputation in my field, I am immeasurably more productive at home. By the way--my phone number and my l address have always been given to my students.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

lay off wrote:

Wanderer wrote: Take a stroll through the business school in Greene Hall. In some departments, nobody is ever there it seems. Just got back an hour ago from there and counted 7 professors on the third floor. Now I understand the clamor for time clocks. So you posted this at 3:50 p.m. and refer to a time an hour earlier, 2:50 p.m., on a Friday afternoon? Note that classes end at 1:50 on Fridays and most people, students and faculty alike, go home shortly after unless they have on-campus commitments, like the faculty you saw. What's your point? Try wandering around at 11:00 a.m. any day of the week and see what you find.

Not much, guy. Those few that work there all day every day know it's a desert.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

kiln eagle wrote:

Don't think for a minute that your post makes USM faculty look good. You guys are your own worst enemies.

I wasn't particularly trying to make faculty look good or bad. I keep the office hours I am required to keep, but I find that most of my fruitful interactions with students occur outside of office hours, in lengthy e-mail chats, in talks on the phone, or in discussions after class. Often when I am in my office, waiting for students to drop by, they never show up. I am always rated by my students as highly accessible outside of class, and I am also always highly rated by my students as sincerely interested in their personal progress. Sitting in an office (which, in my case, is hot, cramped, and not well insulated from a noisy hall) does not do much for productivity, and I thought you wanted us faculty to be productive, right?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer might also want to note that there's a Faculty Senate meeting that started today at 2:00. You'll find at least 100 faculty there. It wouldn't surprise me to find that they're STILL meeting, even at 6:30 p.m. Is that enough work for you? Look at everything on their agenda on another thread.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Just an opinion wrote:

kiln eagle wrote:
Don't think for a minute that your post makes USM faculty look good. You guys are your own worst enemies.
I wasn't particularly trying to make faculty look good or bad. I keep the office hours I am required to keep, but I find that most of my fruitful interactions with students occur outside of office hours, in lengthy e-mail chats, in talks on the phone, or in discussions after class. Often when I am in my office, waiting for students to drop by, they never show up. I am always rated by my students as highly accessible outside of class, and I am also always highly rated by my students as sincerely interested in their personal progress. Sitting in an office (which, in my case, is hot, cramped, and not well insulated from a noisy hall) does not do much for productivity, and I thought you wanted us faculty to be productive, right?

A DAY'S WORK FOR A DAY'S PAY, RIGHT?

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Mewscician wrote:

A DAY'S WORK FOR A DAY'S PAY, RIGHT?

Well, as has been noted many times on this board, the best faculty put in far, far more than forty hours a week. For a truly devoted faculty member, his (or her) job is far more than a job; it is a vocation in the strictest sense of that word.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Exactly what I was trying to say, Just an Opinion. Ask those of us in the arts who teach the same students for several years. Our investment in their success is considerable--emotional and deep.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Are you saying that all of the business college's faculty were attending the Faculty Senate meeting when I strolled through Greene? Come on now. That's not the case at all.

Date: Mar 17, 2006

Wanderer wrote:

Are you saying that all of the business college's faculty were attending the Faculty Senate meeting when I strolled through Greene? Come on now. That's not the case at all.

I believe Wanderer may be a CoB student who works in the dome (if my hunch is correct). Be careful guys.