Letters to the Editor

The Chronicle Faces Rough Seas

I read with interest Chris Cumo’s article on The Chronicle in your July/August 2004 issue.

Several things have changed since Chris interviewed me last November. Our pages of job advertising are up 14 percent since January and our on-line ads are up 60 percent. In other words, our job advertising is quite healthy.

Of perhaps more interest to your readers, we recently announced that colleges that advertise with us could list all adjunct positions on-line free. This service is just getting started, but it should be a significant source of openings once colleges begin to take advantage of it. We have also significantly improved our on-line job searches and notifications, and are planning to add a number of other services for job seekers and colleges in the next few months.

We do consider adjunct faculty members an important part of higher education, and we have devoted significant space to them in our pages. In addition, we offer considerable editorial content of interest to adjuncts in the Careers section of our Web site—all of it free.
Like many publications, The Chronicle saw some declines during the dot-com bust and the ad recession, but we are in solid shape and extremely upbeat about our future.

Phil Semas
Editor in Chief,
The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Third Point

Shari Dinkins writes in her piece “The Third Point“ that “I am tired of being the target. At times students view me as the obstacle to their academic success.” Yep. That’s exactly what grading is. According to students today, anything less than a B is simply not acceptable. For the part-time faculty member who grades rigorously, this means that s/he is the obstacle in the way of student success. Unfortunately, students don’t recognize that their own behaviors present even more substantial obstacles to their own success.

Shari Dinkins presents grading software as her answer to this problem. In truth, I don’t believe anything will deter students nowadays from their quest to earn high grades with a minimum of effort. I’m glad Shari Dinkins feel less pressure by using a computerized grading program, but the battle between faculty members who grade honestly, and students who have inflated opinions of their own abilities will not end anytime soon.

George B. Whiting
Bloomington, Indiana

Surfing America’s Great Libraries

Contrary to what reviewer Mark Drozdowski may think, fun was not outlawed by the University of Chicago years ago….It was outlawed sometime in the 19th century. I taught as a lecturer there for two years. I liked my students, and the campus was located within walking distance of my apartment. I just couldn’t take the pomposity of the full-time faculty members in my department. A little merriment never hurt anyone…not even an assistant prof. climbing the ladder.

Keep up the good work!

Name Withheld,
Chicago, Illinois