Re: faculty coursework online

On Tue, 29 Feb 2000, Steven D. Jamar <sjamar[_at_]law.howard.edu> wrote:
>
> As to distance ed materials -- there is nothing different here except
> that the university sees a chance to make money on them and sees a
> potential for a faculty member to compete if he or she goes elsewhere
> and takes the materials with him or her.

There has been way more hype about the intentions of universities and "administrators" than there is reality. It serves journalistic production values and it fills auditoriums with faculty members worried about, say, the end of tenure (which may be a legit concern, but doesn't have to gather every other fear along the way).

In my experience, most administrators are more concerned with how to keep their outreach activites funded at all, and are concerned that after spending a couple of hundred thousand to support a distance learning initiative someone (not necessarily the faculty authors!) will walk with the materials without acknowledging the institutional investment. It's not the competing so much as the breach of trust. Most administrators I know would gladly share revenue over costs with authors when materials are licensed.

As Steven points out, institutions and their employees simply must work out clear understandings before they get into development work. Sweeping policy statements won't do it, and neither will sweeping it all under the rug and ignoring it.

My thoughts.

Gerald Barnett

Gerald Barnett, Ph.D.                       Phone:  (206) 616-3451
University of Washington                    Email:  barnett[_at_]u.washington.edu