Archive for the ‘Radford University’ Category

You know you went to Radford University if…

Friday, October 6th, 2006

I just got a fun forward from a friend of mine who attended Radford University. Every university has something like this, but I thought I'd put this one out here for all our RU readers.

If anyone has a similar one for Virginia Tech or any of the other schools in the area, please write them in the comments area for all to see. And if any of you RU alums or students take issue with any of these or want to explain the inside joke to those of us who didn't go to RU, please tell us those things, too.

You know you went to Radford University if:

  • You have ever walked home from a party drunk and used the blinking red light on top of Muse to find your way back to campus.
  • You ever went to a Mardi Gras party. In a basement.
  • You went to your 8 a.m. class in your pajamas or, even worse, in the same clothes that you went out in the night before.
  • You know the difference between the "light side" and "dark side."
  • You sold your books back to the book store two weeks after class starts for money.
  • Ruth kicked you out trying to sneak into Muse.
  • Ruth caught you trying to sneak somebody into Muse.
  • You have ever drunk an unknown Kool-Aid beverage mixed out of a plastic trash can.

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New professors on campus

Thursday, August 10th, 2006

Today is the first day of work for all the new professors at Radford University. It's another bumper crop year for new faculty at RU, as I wrote in a story last week. Forty-three new faculty are coming in, with a majority of them — or 65 percent — in tenure-track positions.

That high percentage is becoming a rarity among most faculty hires, stressed Martin Snyder, the external affairs director at the Association of American University Professors and a former president of Molloy College.

"The problem with new faculty recently has been that there have not been that many positions," Snyder said. "And most schools have been filling the ranks with part-time faculty."

Snyder's comments were borne out in data released by the U.S. Department of Education last week on higher education jobs that looked at the years 1993 to 2003. According to the report, jobs at postsecondary institutions rose more quickly than jobs in the U.S. civilian labor force in that decade.

But the higher education workforce was also filled with more part-time positions in 2003 than in 1993. Nowhere was that more pronounced than within the faculty ranks, according to the executive summary:

"Except for instruction/research assistants — who are part time by definition — faculty had the highest rates of part-time employment in both years: 40 percent in 1993, increasing to 46 percent in 2003. In contrast, among staff in all other primary occupations, the proportion of part-time staff ranged from 4 (percent) to 22 percent in 1993 and from 3 (percent) to 21 percent in 2003."

I hear from faculty about the problems that having many part-time instructors cause at the academy: The people filling those positions usually have to cobble together several positions at different institutions, making it difficult for them to focus on their classes the way full-time faculty can. The lack of focus could end up downgrading the education that students get, partly because students might not be able to have the kind of contact with professors that can help along in their classes.

Most of these comments are things I hear from full-time professors. I would love to hear from some part-time profs to see what they think about these issues. Or maybe from students who have had part-time professors and feel strongly one way or the other about this issue.

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China’s lure

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006
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Courtesy of Emily Flora

Thousands of American college students study abroad each year -- jet-setting to countries as far as South Africa and as near as Mexico. The experience varies from a week or two of intense study and travel to a year spent in one or more countries. No matter what the time period, students usually return bursting with stories of their adventures and how much their experiences have changed them. (I had my own stint overseas in Moscow in 1997 and again in 1998, so I have some firsthand knowledge of the topic. Indeed, my experience was life-changing and amazing, however cliche it might seem.)

Anyway, over time the destinations have strayed farther away from Western Europe, the traditional hotspot for American students. Thirty-nine percent of American students go somewhere besides Europe, based on a recent study. (For more numbers, see the latest figures from the Institute of International Education.) China is fast becoming popular among students, because of its economic weight and the opportunities it offers for future career advancement -- even though the language can be a daunting challenge.

Recently, 17 Radford University students traveled to China for a month with faculty members on a fellowship that a university benefactor has helped to fund. One of our college writers, Emily Flora, wrote about her experiences in this week's CRAM section. She has a great couple of lines about the difference between the way Americans approach people from different countries and the way others approach us.

I wrote about the trip in May, and the students wrote about their experiences on Live Journal, where you can find more photographs from the trip.

Follow up on my earlier comment: The Stanford-in-Moscow program I attended (and adored) was discontinued because of lack of interest and high overhead costs. At the same time, a Beijing program opened, with much more interest. After doing a search to verify the above, I happily found that the Moscow program reopened in fall 2005.

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Building a museum

Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
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Radford University will open a new museum on campus this fall. The Museum of Earth Sciences is the brainchild of geology professor Stephen Lenhart, who said opening a museum is something he's dreamt about.

I thought that was an interesting comment, and I wonder if other professors or teachers out there have big dreams of creating a museum in their field. What kind of museum -- or exhibits -- would you want to create, if money were not an issue?

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The cost of a high-tech education

Wednesday, June 28th, 2006
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Radford University's Department of Music is requiring its majors to come to class this fall with iPods in hand -- not just any mp3 player, but specifically the Apple brand. The department's preferred device would cost at least $269 with an Apple education discount. Anyone out there with merely a shuffle or nano are encouraged to buy the snazzier, more expensive version.

When I asked a professor of music whether the cost would be a factor for students, he said he didn't think it would be, especially when compared with how much they already spend on textbooks.

But I'm wondering if requiring an iPod for class is an extra financial burden for students. I know many students already have them. But what if they don't have the one that the department highly recommends?

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