leff@smu.UUCP (11/26/83)
#N:smu:12200005:000:3071
smu!leff Nov 25 16:47:00 1983
A survey:
This is survey is to evaluate how important people in education feel
money really is.
For those who are or planning to become computer science faculty members::
Assume you just graduated and there are two faculty jobs available:
Job 1
a) earns $40,000 a year
b) has students who are not that intelligent and don't work hard
c) computational facilities for instruction are outdated and are
terribly overcrowded. (e. g. there are keypunches and not enough
of them.)
d) has little or no computational facilities to support research
e) is run by a dictatorial department head with little autonomy in
teaching, etc.
Job 2
a) earns $15,000 a year
b) great, intelligent, interesting hard working students
c) excellent computational facilities for instructions
d) every faculty member has all the research facilities they need. Assume
that it is your current favorite (UNIX on VAX, LISP Machine or whatever)
e) department head is encouraging, allowing other faculty members a great
deal of autonomy. You are free to teach your courses the way you think
they should be and your voice in issues concerning the whole department
will be respected.
For the purpose of this hypothetical question, which job would you take.
If you would take job 2 what would the minimum number of things that would
have to be changed about job 1 from b - e before you would take job 1.
If you would take job 1, how much money would job 2 have to offer you
before you would opt for that one instead.
For those who have taught or have relatives who taught in the public
schools
Job 1
a) earns $30,000 a year
b) run by a tyranical principal. Teachers have little autonomy in how
they teach the students
c) students are awful. They behave poorly and are not interested in learning (If you believe in such a thing as fundamental intelligence many of the
students are dumb. I don't want any flames about assuming that students
are dumb. If you believe that such is possible, then for the purpose of
this question, they are.)
d) there aren't adequate textbooks, lab facilities, etc.
Job 2
a) earns $10,000 a year
b) principal is supportive. Teachers have a great deal of autonomy in
what they teach, textbooks used, etc.
c) students work hard, are interested in learning and are intelligent.
d) lab facilities, text books, classroom furniture is ideal.
Again, which job would you choose. If you choose job 2 what is the minimum
number of things about 1 that would have to be changed before you would
opt for the additional money.
If you chose job 1 how much money would job 2 have to offer you before you
took that one instead.
Thanks for your time. I will post the results on the net. This might
clarify whether money going into our educational system is best spent
on salaries or on improving conditions assuming that both cannot be done.
parsec|smu|leff uucp addressmark@umcp-cs.UUCP (11/29/83)
From a currently, going on five years C.S. faculty member who
has also worked for industry:
Job 2, without a doubt.
Change (b) (good students) and (d) (good research facilities),
and I would choose job 1.
From: leff@smu.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: surve - (nf)
Date: Sat, 26-Nov-83 04:54:30 EST
#N:smu:12200005:000:3071
smu!leff Nov 25 16:47:00 1983
A survey:
This is survey is to evaluate how important people in education feel
money really is.
For those who are or planning to become computer science faculty members::
Assume you just graduated and there are two faculty jobs available:
Job 1
a) earns $40,000 a year
b) has students who are not that intelligent and don't work hard
c) computational facilities for instruction are outdated and are
terribly overcrowded. (e. g. there are keypunches and not enough
of them.)
d) has little or no computational facilities to support research
e) is run by a dictatorial department head with little autonomy in
teaching, etc.
Job 2
a) earns $15,000 a year
b) great, intelligent, interesting hard working students
c) excellent computational facilities for instructions
d) every faculty member has all the research facilities they need. Assume
that it is your current favorite (UNIX on VAX, LISP Machine or whatever)
e) department head is encouraging, allowing other faculty members a great
deal of autonomy. You are free to teach your courses the way you think
they should be and your voice in issues concerning the whole department
will be respected.
--
spoken: mark weiser
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!mark
CSNet: mark@umcp-cs
ARPA: mark.umcp-cs@CSNet-Relay