Ticked off by Time Sheets: The Star Ledger takes interest in Kean

Hey everybody,

Check out this article that the Star Ledger ran this past Sunday:  Ticked off by Time Sheets.
Also, information is available here:  NJ Newsroom, Inside Higher Education, The Chronicle

It's about the new rule the Administration has imposed upon professors—they must now fill out a time sheet to track the hours that they work each week.  Having talked to professors about the new rule, I can tell you that, as a whole, they feel demeaned by it.

Professors work incredibly hard to prepare us for the real world, whether we plan to enter it as teachers, scientists, mathematicians, journalists, or what-have-you.  Their goal is to share with us the enormous amount of experience and knowledge they have accrued from their time spent in the field and as it turns out, most of them put in more than 50 hours each week.  A good teacher does not leave his work in the classroom—rather, it follows him around wherever he goes.  Preparing for class, writing up assignments and exams, examining texts, and grading students' work are all tasks that get done off the books, so to speak.

If the University thinks our instructors are not putting in enough time, then it is not just an insult to them, but also to us as students:  it means that they believe we are not getting the education that we deserve.  Furthermore, that the school has decided to require teachers to fill timesheets rather than judge performance based on how we feel about our instructors (remember those surveys we fill out every semester before finals week?), is an insult to our intelligence.

We are the consumer, and we should make the judgement.  I know that my teachers, regardless of whether they put in 80 hours a week or 25, are educating me well.  How do you feel about yours?

If you have any thoughts or comments, email the author, Kelly Heyboer, at kheyboer@starledger.com.