Academic Hiring...

Last week I had the opportunity to observe the presentations of several candidates that were being interviewed to fill the newly created position of Coordinate of the Writing and Learning Center. Let me tell you about my experiences.

First, in typical academic administrator fashion, the announcement that everyone was welcome to attend the first presentation was made at 10am when the candidate was presenting at 10am. It seemed to me that the admins did not want anyone coming. So, I missed the first person. However, I was able to make the others.

No keep in mind, these people were interviewing to lead a new Learning Commons system and none but ONE actually talked about it! It was quite odd. Finally, the last person seemed to have a vision of what to do, had the desire to do it, and was not only my pick, but also the director's choice.

Ultimately, the search committee picked the first person because she was "doctorally prepared," but had never had a real job outside of being a teaching assistant while in grad school! And she is going to be the Coordinator of the entire Writing and Learning Center?

This proves beyond all doubt that degrees count more than experience in academic settings. Now don't get me wrong - I understand the value of degrees, but experience MUST count for something. Knowing how to apply that degree is also valuable.

What a world...

Truth...

Truth is a big topic to consider on a blog. LOL! It is a big topic to consider for anything, actually, but the nature of truth has me in its grips again and I feel that I must put something down.

I'm nearly finished with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and it has proven to be quite extraordinary. Pirsig's discussions about "quality" seem to have something to do with truth in the universe, but I am not certain what, or even if I'm correct. Quality, as he notes from the Greeks, is excellence in all things, a virtue to strive for beyond the moral, modern implications of virtue. When quality is reached, is it true, or it is in a state of excellence beyond this plane of existence?

While reading about truth yesterday, a sentence a philosophy book jumped out at me. The author notes that "it is obvious that St. Paul's Cathedral is beautiful, and the new Lloyd's building is repulsive; but is there some 'aesthetic reality' that makes these judgments true?" I immediately contemplated the idea that some people may see St. Paul's Cathedral as repulsive and the new Lloyd's building beautiful. Is one more beautiful or repulsive than the other? Pirsig speaks of quality as something that makes things true, that the most ugly things (as perceived by people) that are made with quality are actually beautiful. So, if the cathedral was made sloppily and Lloyd's made carefully, then Lloyd's has quality and is beautiful while the cathedral is without quality and is thus ugly. This is way too much of an oversimplification of concepts far too important to include here, but it is something to think about.

Quality is excellence and the striving for excellence is the striving for things beyond us, but reaching for them makes us better, and thus gives us quality. I've got to put this into action the next time I get to teach a class.