Scavenger Hunt Report 5
Jump to Question
2, Question 3, Question 5,
Question 7, Question 8, Just
For Fun.
- Skipped this question
- What, according to the MLA, are 2
"dos" and 2 "donts" for the academic job interview?
- I used the Academic Information section of the Shuttle to find the MLA
website. I like the fact that every section of this site is visually
distinct, and I was interested to note the detailed information on citing
web-resources in the MLA Style section. I also appreciated the report on
professional employment, which questioned the expectations and criteria
graduate students develop concerning their future careers.
- To find the answer to the question, I went to the Job
Information List’s Information for Job Candidates. Among many other
things, I found I should be prepared for aggressive questions and that I
should try to demonstrate my language ability. I also should not be
laconic or loquacious, or ask about salary during the interview.
Back to The Top
- What percentage of English PhDs from 1996-1997
received tenure-track jobs? How does this compare to 1976-1977?
- To answer this question I stayed at the MLA site and looked at their Data
on the Job Market page. Unfortunately, this information only
covers graduates from American universities. I'm not sure where to
look for the equivalent Canadian information.
- Table 2, "Placement of 1996-97 PhDs in Classics, Modern
Languages, and Linguistics," indicates that 33.6% of 1996-1997
graduates received tenure-track positions. This calculation excludes
foreign nationals, however.
- Table 3, "Placement of English PhDs, 1976-77 to
1996-97," does include foreign nationals, which raises the
percentage to 35%. Regardless, the numbers are significantly down
from 1976-1977, when 46.4% percent of graduates found tenure-track
jobs.
Back to The Top
- Skipped this question.
- Name 4 institutions that have been censured for
violating the American Association of University Professors 1940 Statement
of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure; make sure that one of these is
a 1999 offender.
- The Shuttle led me to the AAUP
website, where I found the 1940 statement in question, as well as a
current list of those censured for violation. More recent additions to
the list also give the details surrounding the censure. I find it
interesting that there is a standard agreement in place, but I am also
curious as to the weight these censures have. One of the cases I
looked at, the Johnson & Wales issue, implies that the college
administration didn't feel that AUPE had any authority to investigate
the complaint.
- Four recently censured institutions include:
- University of the District of Columbia, 1998, which fired 125
faculty members with six weeks of severance salary in response to a
financial crisis.
- Lawrence Technological University, 1998, for terminating Professor
Ernest L. Maier’s position in a way that reflected badly on him
and which did not recognize his years of service at that
institution.
- Mount Marty College (South Dakota), 1999, over Professor Jerry
Wayne Wilson’s dismissal, which seems to have occurred because he
disagreed with the new president.
- Johnson & Wales (Rhode Island), 1999, on account of Professors
Stephen J. Nelson and Korynne Taylor-Dunlop, who also appear to have
been dismissed because they expressed their disapproval with new
policies in development.
Back to The Top
- Skipped this question.
Back to The Top
- What is the Canadian Association of University
Teachers' position on this fall's throne speech with respect to higher
education?
- CAUT, which I
found through the Shuttle, felt that the federal government did not go
far enough, and was not addressing the critical issue of "adequate
core public funding." Their response can be found here.
One thing the throne speech did suggest was that (some) more money would
be put towards research. The CAUT Bulletin Online, however,
discusses the disturbing implications of a recent government report that
suggests only commercially viable research will be given
preference. On the other hand, the CAUT site evidences an obvious
bias against the government. I will need to read the report
for myself before deciding how far to trust CAUT's
interpretations.
Back to The Top
- What was the average salary in Canada in 1996 for
persons with university degrees? Can you dig up the unemployment rate for
such persons?
- At a guess, I decided to browse through Statistics
Canada for the answers to this question. Under the Canadian
Statistics links, I found a chart
detailing the "Average earnings of the population 15 years and over
in 1995 by highest level of schooling, 1996 Census Canadian
Statistics."
- This chart suggests that people with a university education make,
on average, $42,054, which is better than those without a university
education by about $15,000.
- Back at the front page, I went through Census/The Nation Series/Education,
to find the unemployment rate. (Actually, it was more complicated
than that - the site is not designed for easy navigation, and the search
engine is a pain because it searches each area of the site separately.)
- A written interpretation told me that, "… 90% of [women
aged 25 to 34] with a university degree or certificate, were members
of the labour force," and, "… 97% of [men aged 25 to 34]
with a university degree or certificate," had jobs.
- The data table for this information, "Population 15 Years and
Over by Highest Degree, Certificate or Diploma, Sex and Age Groups,
Showing Labour Force Activity, for Canada, Provinces and
Territories, 1996 Census (20% Sample Data)," shows that, of the
2,911,650 people with a university degree, certificate or diploma
who are in the labour pool, 161,460 – or 5.5% – were unemployed.
Back to The Top
Just for Fun!
For a bit of academic tomfoolery, try the Brandon University Faculty
Association's academic humour page.
An old favorite of mine is the admission
essay, which I've seen on email before, but I also like the close reading of
symbolism in the Cat in the Hat,
and the Who’s Who of
academic life.
Thackeray is a little harder to poke fun at. Perhaps he, like Jane
Austen's Mr. Darcy, is not to be laughed at. Nevertheless, there is the William
"Snob" Makepeace Thackeray biography, which is worth a chuckle.
For some less - shall we say it - erudite fun, try tatooing Mildred!
Back to The Top
Back to 500