A reader left an interesting comment on my “I Can’t Help It If I’m Lucky” entry below. I was going to reply in a comment, but I think the comment deserves a full blog entry to itself, because I imagine the writer speaks for many concerned parents and taxpayers, and because it gives me the opportunity to clarify some things that I obviously got muddled in my original entry. Here’s the comment:
Interesting…the financial state of public education is, at best, abysmal, yet there seems to be an abundance of money available for blog registrations, conference fees, suites, etc.. I am glad to see that the tuition I pay for my son to attend UMW is going to better HIS learning.
Comment by TGAMM — 1/25/2005 @ 9:49 am
First, thanks for reading the blog and commenting.
I certainly understand TGAMM’s concerns and I’d like to reply to them briefly, hoping that he or she will return to see this. It would be even easier to have a dialogue with a name and email address, but perhaps this comment will suffice. I hope the information will be helpful and perhaps address some of TGAMM’s criticisms.
I pay for this blog out of my own pocket. Even if I didn’t, the cost is minimal: about 100.00 a year for a domain and space on a web server. This particular blog is part of a entire suite of applications I also use to support my teaching. Last semester, 80 students used a discussion forum on this website, and it generated 2700 posts–pretty good investment for a lot of student engagement. This semester, I’ve got 35 students blogging elsewhere on this site and 15 in a discussion forum on this site. Eventually, I’d like this capability to be part of a suite of online services we offer all faculty, staff, and students at the University, as some institutions already do (see the University of Minnesota’s “U-Think” blog site for an interesting example). And many blogs are free: those on Blogger or Blogspot, for example, though these are harder to administer for classroom use.
The conference fees are included in UMW’s membership in the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative. By taking five faculty and one Instructional Technology Specialist to this conference, UMW provides crucial faculty and infrastructure development in a very cost-effective manner, and exposes some of our best teachers and staff to the very latest, most cost-effective means of providing high-quality education to all our students. For a school with minimal resources such as ours, the 5000.00 per year we pay to belong to the NLII, which includes five free registrations for this annual meeting and three free registrations for each of the three annual focus sessions, is a great way to maximize the few dollars we have and spend them where their benefit is greatest.
The suite was an accident, as I tried (and obviously failed) to make clear in the blog entry. The upgrade was in accommodation, not in price. I paid the same rate I would have paid had I been in a standard room. In fact, that suite cost about 60.00/day less than standard rooms in the official conference hotel. I felt the entire situation was faintly ridiculous, and that feeling inspired the blog, but tax- and tuition-payers should be assured that there was no extra charge involved.
And yes, the tuition you pay for your son is, in part, going to better my learning. As my expertise increases, the value of your tuition dollars goes farther, and the education your son receives is, at least potentially, better: better because I’m up-to-date on vital developments in the profession of higher education, better because I’ll be more informed about information technologies and thus help prepare your son to be a vital contributor in an increasingly technology- and information-driven world, better because I meet talented professionals from all over the world whom I will invite to interact with my classes (as I already have), and better because any time I learn something, I’m going to share that with my students, and we’ll both benefit. I’m happy that part of my hospital fees go to educating doctors and surgeons, and that part of my lawyers’ fees go to educating lawyers, because their benefit directly translates into my benefit. I’m paying for their expertise, and expertise needs constant development because knowledge is increasing and changing. When my wife and I send our children to college, I hope their professors’ ongoing education is a high priority for the institution. Otherwise, our children won’t be prepared for the world and the lives that await them after graduation.
Thanks again for the comment, TGAMM. I welcome further dialogue on this topic!
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There is such a thing as giving too much time to people who criticize but don’t even want to leave email addresses and other crumbs that invite dialog. You made everything about your trip, the suite, etc. abundantly clear in your blog entry. That TGAMM has such a difficult time understanding it all proves that at sometime in his or her life, he or she has had an education that is, at best, abysmal. People like TGAMM usually have quips like “at best, abysmal” cocked and ready to fire at random. Sorry your blog became the target.
Thanks for that support, Fred. I think you’re right. Still, I imagine TGAMM’s thoughts are shared by more than a few of our fellow citizens, which is why I devoted so much space and energy to my reply. It may do no good, but if even one person reads it and thinks twice about the value and nature of education, I’ll be well satisfied.
“Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”: some days that’s the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning.
I think you provided a good explanation. The way we go about our profession and our business, though, is different from many other types of organizations. It is by its nature, contrary to a direct relationship between $ and outcomes. I’ve only worked in a non-academic position for a brief time, but it didn’t take me long to see the difference. In that job rewards were given for and people were working towards concrete results — things that had a definite results with a time line attached. My job as an academic certainly involves some of that, but its not as well defined. I suppose a difference is that I am given more responsibility to define what I should be doing, and it’s just fine if that doesn’t have an immediate pay off. That this is honorable work that deserves to be rewarded is sometimes hard to justify to people outside of the academic culture. But that’s OK, I really can’t help it if I’m lucky to be doing something that is very worthwhile and that I enjoy immensely. There is a danger though if the people who administer an organization such as ours do not understand our culture and our strengths. I do worry about that some as we get nearer to having a new president.
Dear Sir:
It would seem that someone has used our station call letters to sign off on the letter they sent you. Please know that our radio station does not engage in political forums or those noted within your blog. Our main interest as a music station is just that – music and the success of new talent.
Should the person that posted with you return and use our call letters as a signature again, please delete their information.
On a more positive note. Give us a listen. You will enjoy TGAMM FM.
All the best,
Joe Buccheri
Producer & Host
TGAMM FM RADIO
The Great American Music Machine
Thanks for your message, Joe. Your site looks interesting–I’ll look forward to giving it a listen.