RST: Gordon, I will be teaching my last classes of the year today. I was beaten.
PARTICIPATION: You, dear Rachel (my Big Boss), really walk the talk. Unlike many of us who choose higher education, he made a career as a faculty member. I will be teaching a class this fall for the first time in 10 years. I’m starting to prepare, because I don’t feel comfortable teaching a class by myself after so many years in the management wilderness. That is why I am very interested in understanding what it means to be a faculty member and how we can make good teaching the foundation of our universities. Talk to me!
RST: Oh, what fun. I can’t wait to hear what you teach. I’m sure this will provide plenty of fodder for our columns next fall. I think it’s important for everyone to see how things have changed—or not—for those of us who are still working. Are there any concerns?
PARTICIPATION: The course is about the future of the university serving the world. I know the material, but this is an honors class. I’ve never taught graduate students, and this Generation Z is so amazing that I’m itching to figure out how to better relate and make it a rewarding experience for myself and the students. So, I have the same concerns as any new faculty member. This I know—being a good teacher is incredibly time-consuming and not easy.
RST: OMG, tell me about it. It’s like writing letters. It’s never easy, and you’ll never just swallow and feel like you’ve got it. I’m desperate because I’m not sure of anything anymore. How can you teach current students? What do they really need to learn in today’s world? What the hell are we doing with AI? This year, when people asked how teaching is going, I liked to cry that Generation P(endemic) is difficult. It is not their fault that they are anxious and depressed, on medication, antisocial, connected and disconnected. That is the world we all live in. In a way, I’m glad I’m as old as I am, because when I think about the future, it seems so bleak.
PARTICIPATION: Rachel, get back on the bike! Take those thoughts to another time and place and we can talk about them. For me what you have described is a real and terrifying challenge, but it is also an opportunity to reflect on how best to reinvent yourself to meet this time. I’m not the one trying to be your therapist.
RST: Gordon, we both know you play that role sometimes, like when I get nervous about public speaking, but go ahead.
PARTICIPATION: No problem. I always carry a stash of Valium with me. But seriously, it comes from a lesson I’ve learned many times. When I came back to Ohio State after 10 years, it was a very different place. But my inclination was to pull out the old playbook and use it. Bad mistake! I quickly learned that I needed to forget the Ohio State I knew 10 years earlier and reinvent myself to meet new realities. And that is the challenge for all faculty members: Change and innovation are the only ways you will be able to make sense of the times.
RST: Yes, sir. I’m on my third, fourth or fifth job, depending on how you count, but it’s a good reminder that even in the same job, we need to be able to adapt and evolve. But here’s the thing I want to address: If you call me to answer like “talent,” I want to know who you’re thinking of. We have been accused by some students of showing disdain for “intelligence.”
PARTICIPATION: I like each faculty, but together they can be a pain. And that has always frustrated me. It is an organizational concept that loud voices speak for everyone because other voices are silent.
RST: That’s right. It’s a group I call the Angry Eight, which is actually a small minority. I despise those people who say, “Whatever it is, I’m against it.” That is not critical thinking; it is thinking that “you are not my boss.”
PARTICIPATION: Yes. But also a third of the wisdom that goes along with them is silent. I faced that all the time. A quiet conversation in the Oval with a colleague or an email of agreement, yet there is no determination to stand up to the herd. How can a place so full of bright people with so much to offer the wider world be introduced? I know we are saying the same thing in different ways and places. Please explain that.
RST: Because we they are attached we need to be able to get along with our colleagues for a long time, while managers come and go. But to be clear, what I’m referring to is dinosaureate, or maybe mountain gorillas. We tenured professors are a vanishing breed and comprise—what, a quarter?—of the people who teach at the highest levels. We suffered through grade school, paid off our bills, eventually paid off our student loans, jumped through all the hoops of peer review, served on mind-numbing committees and enjoyed a million degrees of freedom to pursue intellectually enlightening pursuits. But guess what? When you say “intelligence,” we don’t represent it. We tend, however, to like to serve on university senates and the AAUP.
PARTICIPATION: Well, my mountain gorilla, you are right that senior tenured faculty are different, which is what I am complaining about. We need leadership at all levels, and if we lose those with drive and memory, the university is diminished. But what is the problem? Why didn’t the buggy-whip movement work, or why did Blockbuster explode? Because those in leadership positions refuse to change. That’s what happened to all the mountain gorillas. They were so busy bragging that they couldn’t practice. Is there a lesson here for universities and faculty?
RST: I think so, and I take to heart your reminder that I need to reinvent myself. And I know I need help doing that. But here’s the thing. Although I am safe at work, other types—supporters, teachers, supervisors, counselors—are considered victims. For all our talk of diversity, equality and inclusion, intelligence is, well, pretty elitist. We can talk all we want about good labor practices and stick to the man, but the truth is, how many faculty members represent the workforce and potential faculty?
PARTICIPATION: Oh my goodness. Elitism and arrogance in universities? Keeping yourself and not the people who work to help make the institution work? I have seen it many times and realized that faculty give others a decision block but I just get angry when their jobs are threatened. The lesson here is time is used, but if you don’t focus on the business the components will not survive in times of risk. Universities are businesses, not a collection of colleges and departments connected by a central heating system.
RST: Again, when you say “intellectual,” you mean a tenured dinosaureate. Higher education is a system of segregation in many ways, and the heavy lifters are often what I heard a Californian describe as “highway walkers”—the professors and professors who teach at three or four universities but still can’t afford to eat. Now, gas will be impossible. This is not the “intelligence” you mean when you accuse us of arrogance. However, they make up the majority of the staff at many universities. I want to admit that. And believe me, next fall when you are in class again, you will see how hard the work is.
PARTICIPATION: Actually, I appreciate what you just said. I admit that when I was in office, I rarely thought about the many hard workers in the education sector who live limited lives. But let’s not acknowledge this problem—let’s put it on our radar screen so we can continue the conversation. At the moment, I’m having chest pains thinking about facing the first year.
RST: Not immediately. I also want to talk about the right about how many members of the dinosaureate do not value the expertise of employees in marketing, development, development, consulting, career centers and management roles. Especially the work of those in student affairs, who see all kinds of worst, hardest things and there is much needed support.
PARTICIPATION: To make a university work well, you need a team of smart professionals at all levels. And my experience is that these people not only make a big difference but they clearly understand the importance of the university. My meetings with staff councils at each university I have worked at are very relevant to the university’s challenges and often seek global solutions. They know that if the university does well, they will too. It’s refreshing.
RST: I’ve said this to you before, but I know that when I hit the recruiting trail, it felt like I won the lottery. Next September I will be completing 20 years of working in the professoriate. Like you, I am a true believer in the purpose and promises of higher ed. I will be on sabbatical in the fall (and spring quarter) to work on a book project titled, The Toughest Job in the Nation? Why the Future of Democracy Depends on Higher Education Leadership. I’ll need your help with that as we hit the road. I plan to profile the dozens of colleges and universities that make up the beautiful mosaic of American higher ed to show that it’s not just schools The NYT again WSJ think “college.” And to make the case that higher education is essential to the life of the republic.
PARTICIPATION: It is very necessary, and it will be important to fully recognize the people who are working creatively and diligently in fields that are only written. As you know and as I have now discovered that we have been together on this journey, we are discovering that much of the power of higher education is found in the unheard of.
RST: Of course. We need to declare hell on them. It’s great that we, the Odd Couple, are invited by presidents to come to campuses to chat with them and talk to their boards. We just got invited to the gala! I know you have a closet full of tuxedos, but I’ve never been to one of these things and I’m not even sure how to pronounce the word. And who will answer the big question: How on earth will I, professor, wear that?
PARTICIPATION: Put on your Birkenstocks. He will be the talk of the evening.
RST: I bet you don’t realize those ugly shoes are now being worn by the cool kids, old man.
