Make a Commitment to Excellence!

Make-It Monday

Committing to Excellence – Where is your pride?

Be a yardstick of quality. -- Steve Jobs

For this Make-It Monday, I encourage you to make your own personal commitment to excellence, to present yourself as a professional educator who puts forth work worthy of your standing every day in every class during every semester.

Evidently, as a professoriate, some of us have become lax in our practices, especially in regards to the materials we present to students at the start of the semester. This matter was brought to my attention by students themselves, as they have pointed out poor practices that reflect negatively on us all (adjunct or tenured), our institutions, and on the value of higher education in general. 

Of all the negatives I have heard from students in the past about instructors giving away full credit, not answering emailed questions, not actively participating in discussions, I was honestly dismayed by this statement within an email I received from a student last week:

“Also, I'm glad that you are making adjustments to the course to reflect this current semester. Too many times during my career have I gone into a class that had 2 year old due dates and the instructor just telling you 'oh don't worry about it, just turn it in this weekend'.” – Senior Communication Student in a state-wide online degree program with instructors from six participating public universities

So this weekend, I brought my concern up in conversation with my son who is a sophomore at one of these state universities. He confirmed that even in his short time as a college student he has encountered this same problem, instructors who do not take the time to update their syllabi for the current semester. This is not acceptable! 

As a collegiate instructor, you are paid to do a job that requires, at the very least, for you to be prepared, and in turn to prepare your students, for the learning experience to come. If your syllabi and course materials are out of date, contain errors, or are not even your own, SHAME ON YOU! You would not accept this level of work from students, so why on Earth are you asking them to accept it from you? They are paying YOU. 

Now, to department chairs and administrators in supervisory roles, if you are accepting these poor practices from your instructors, what does this say about your programs, your college, and the worth of the education you are providing? Where is your pride? Where are your standards? Who controls your quality assurance processes? Are you even paying attention to the product your institution is putting forth?

Frankly, if we as a profession continue to support and perpetuate such lax practices, we deserve to be corporatized, as self-regulation clearly is not working. 

No matter what your status in higher education, no matter what your pay, if you commit to perform the job of teaching, do it to the best of your abilities or bow out. If you are a supervisor, hold those under your care to a standard of excellence, or find another job. Too many people need employment and will work to do the job well, to have mediocre teachers and administrators who half-way do their jobs representing our universities and our profession. 

I implore you to make your personal commitment to professional excellence today! Show pride in your work and in your chosen avocation. Banish excuses, laziness, and unprofessionalism. Clean up your materials and your act!

Join me tomorrow for Tech and Tips Tuesday as we begin our weekly exploration of the scholarly practices of proper attribution of sources, fair use, and copyright. Please lend your voice to our 3-minute survey, if you have not already.

See you then,

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd