Dean Dad

Ask the Administrator

Biography

From Confessions of a Community College Dean, in which a veteran of cultural studies seminars in the 1990’s moves into academic administration and finds himself a married suburban father of two. Foucault, plus lawn care.

Most Recent Articles

HS vs. CC Faculty

Feb 15, 2009

A regular correspondent writes: What, exactly, are CC faculty supposed to do that substantially distinguishes them from high school teachers? I don't mean this in a derogatory manner, I was a high school teacher and found the job incredibly fulfilling. Similarly, I was a full-time CC instructor on the tenure-track. In order to be approved for tenure I was ...
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Interdisciplinarity and Risk Aversion

Feb 11, 2009

A new correspondent writes: I will be graduating from a smaller campus of a Big 10 University this May with a degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities. I have some definite concerns as I enter into the job market, being especially considerate of our economic situation right now. From the time that I began grad school two years ago, I knew that I wanted to teach.I will happily take a job ...
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What the Fish?

Jan 26, 2009

A new correspondent writes: After recently reading Stanley Fish's NY Times blog on education, I felt moved to write in. I recently attended a talk about curriculum and program design where large university decided to roll out a new undergraduate program (let's call it "computer science ...
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Stereotypes of the For-Profit World

Jan 25, 2009

A new correspondent writes: After six years of teaching and academic administration at two proprietary schools (neither one being your Proprietary U unless you've disguised it incredibly well), I am applying for a position at a local community college. As someone who has made the transition, what concerns do you think I should be prepared to address on the off chance I get an ...
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The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight

Jan 22, 2009

A new correspondent writes: The letter about the horrible adjunct struck a cord for me, but for a very different reason. I am an adjunct at a local community college and it while I have enjoyed it, and learned a lot about what works and what doesn't in the CC classroom, I can't help but wonder if there aren't more 'horrible adjuncts' out there. ...
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Teaching Writing in the Social Sciences

Jan 16, 2009

A new correspondent writes: I have a question to ask you and your "wise and worldly readers." :) I'm a PhD candidate in an evergreen social science, and I just taught for the first time last semester. While I loved many things about teaching, the biggest surprise for me was how much I loved teaching writing. I loved marking student papers, trying to teach them about how ...
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