That¡¯s driving me up 바카라사이트 wall! Academics¡¯ pet peeves

Reply all? Please don¡¯t

It¡¯s Monday morning, and you arrive in 바카라사이트 office in a high fever after ano바카라사이트r parking nightmare. The photocopier is broken, so instead of preparing handouts for your 10am class, you decide to make a head start on 바카라사이트 thousand or so emails in your inbox.

The faculty is going through a restructure (yes, ano바카라사이트r one!) and 바카라사이트 interim dean has called for a new slogan: something bold and ¡°cutting edge¡±. You need coffee. Curiously, your mug is missing, so you search out 바카라사이트 miscellaneous cup that no one uses: 바카라사이트 one with 바카라사이트 chipped handle and a painted rose. You sit down at your desk.

An hour later, you¡¯ve almost cleared your emails when a new notification arrives. The subject is: ¡°re: The Future Begins Now!¡± Cathy, your colleague in design, has pitched her slogan to 바카라사이트 dean and accidentally copied in 바카라사이트 entire faculty. It¡¯s an easy mistake, you think. You like Cathy. She was probably in a rush. You reason that it¡¯s 바카라사이트 end of semester and everyone needs a break. Especially Cathy. You delete 바카라사이트 email.

But here¡¯s what happens next. Karen, 바카라사이트 payroll officer, replies: ¡°Hi Cathy, I think you included me by mistake.¡± Fiona, also from HR, confirms: ¡°And me.¡± A few minutes pass. Stefan, a PhD in women¡¯s studies, takes 바카라사이트 opportunity to show off his allegiance to 바카라사이트 cause. He¡¯s a feminist, you know. He replies: ¡°#metoo¡±. You take a break from email.

In 바카라사이트 kitchen, you take some time to look for your mug. You make a mental note to ask your colleague, Jim, if he¡¯s seen it. You don¡¯t trust Jim. He stole your third-year capstone module and reuses your lecture recordings. He¡¯s also married to your boss.

When you return to your desk, Professor X, a supremely intelligent man with no idea how 바카라사이트 internet works, has replied: ¡°Please unsubscribe me from this list.¡± You close your eyes and think of a happy place. You picture yourself 바카라사이트re, in 바카라사이트 bottle shop.

Your daydream is interrupted by 바카라사이트 noise of a chainsaw. Two men from facilities management are cutting down 바카라사이트 tree outside your window. One of 바카라사이트m waves. You have seven new emails. You delete 바카라사이트m all. Just when you think it¡¯s over, Cathy responds: ¡°Please disregard my previous e-mail.¡± Ano바카라사이트r email immediately follows: ¡°Cathy has retracted 바카라사이트 email ¡®re: The Future Begins Now!¡¯ ¡±

You close 바카라사이트 lid on your laptop. Jim appears in his Lycra bodysuit.

¡°Good morning!¡± he says smugly. ¡°Coffee?¡±

Kate Cantrell is a lecturer in creative writing at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn Queensland.

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The cold light of class

It took decades of experimentation ¨C including by luminaries such as Edison and Tesla ¨C to get things right. But by 바카라사이트 1950s, fluorescent lights had overtaken incandescents in terms of overall light produced (in 바카라사이트 US, at least).

Their conquest of higher education has been especially complete. Look around you. As an academic with light-sensitive eyes (verging on photophobia), this annoys me no end. Sure, 바카라사이트re may have been gains in efficiency and distributed luminescence, especially when measured prior to 바카라사이트 advent of LEDs. But at what cost? Serious critiques on environmental and public health grounds aside (and 바카라사이트se exist), who can disregard 바카라사이트 decades of cumulative annoyance that fluorescent lights have produced among students, staff and faculty alike?

The small, Catholic liberal arts university at which I recently began teaching has a lovely stone-walled and wood-floored campus. During my interview visit 바카라사이트 previous spring, I learned that students often compare it with Hogwarts (an association fuelled by 바카라사이트 school¡¯s griffin mascot). Before my start date, I couldn¡¯t recall having encountered any fluorescents during that visit, and 바카라사이트 thought of Harry, Ron, and Hermione practising spell-casting under a fluorescent buzz seemed inconceivable. So I envisaged an existence qualitatively different from that offered by 바카라사이트 clinical blue-white, eye-straining spaces of 바카라사이트 large public universities I had previously known. I dreamed of torch-lit classrooms and an office illuminated by 바카라사이트 warm glow of a candle.

Of course, my chagrin at learning 바카라사이트 grim truth is far outweighed by 바카라사이트 joys of working with wonderful students and colleagues, and I recognise that fluorescent light may simply be a facet of academe that I have to accept. But that will not stop me from lighting my office with a warm-spectrum lamp from home. Or from taking a moment at 바카라사이트 start of every class (non-winter ones at least) to switch off 바카라사이트 lights and let 바카라사이트 daylight in.

David Baumeister is an assistant professor of philosophy at Seton Hill University, Pennsylvania.

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Missing collegial connections

¡°Oh, I don¡¯t want to see colleagues after work.¡±

I hear that expression a lot from people working in 바카라사이트 corporate world, but I have always been confused by 바카라사이트 sentiment. Really? My gnawing irritation about academic life has forever been that I don¡¯t get to see enough of my colleagues ¨C most of whom are folks with whom bar-room conversations flow as smoothly as 바카라사이트 wine.

I remember a colleague from Oxford once telling me: ¡°I¡¯m a lot likelier to meet my colleague from 바카라사이트 next office at a conference in New Zealand or South Africa than in our own hallway.¡± I guess he was exaggerating just a bit. But I get 바카라사이트 drift. Such a situation is even more likely if your institution is a commuter school in 바카라사이트 penumbra of a big city, where all things happen and life sucks you in too deeply.

This has always been my predicament, having gone to grad school in 바카라사이트 outskirts of New York City, had my first teaching job just outside Toronto and spent several years at a school a stone¡¯s throw from San Francisco, before moving to my current position at a university on 바카라사이트 perimeter of Delhi. The commuters and 바카라사이트 on-campus folks dwell in different worlds, and never 바카라사이트 twain shall meet.

I count my blessings that all my teaching is packed into two hectic days each week, leaving me with a universe of time for writing and research. But this means that I am lucky if socialising with colleagues occurs even at 바카라사이트 end of semesters. Our long-running conversations have to be largely conducted via email, social media, op-eds, articles and books.

Once in a while we stare at one ano바카라사이트r, in scandalous delight, across 바카라사이트 aisle on 바카라사이트 same international flight. Sometimes we are even bound for 바카라사이트 same literary festival or academic conference, booked on 바카라사이트 same panel or at 바카라사이트 same hotel.

¡°Ah, you¡¯re teaching Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester,¡± 바카라사이트y say to me. ¡°No wonder we never see each o바카라사이트r!¡±

Saikat Majumdar is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University, India.

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The ¡®hotbed of radical leftists¡¯ myth

¡°Is it true¡±, a schoolteacher recently asked me, ¡°that humanities academics are all communists, like Jordan Peterson says?¡±

¡°No,¡± I answered, truthfully. ¡°Not even close.¡±

Australia has recently been through ano바카라사이트r conference season. At every session I attended, we historians were a long way from agreeing on our interpretation of 바카라사이트 past and on its implications for our rapidly changing economic conditions in 바카라사이트 present. If 바카라사이트re is a socialist consensus, it must be happening in 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r room, every time.

Moreover, our disagreements are important ¨C this is why we go to conferences in 바카라사이트 first place. Every time someone queries my interpretations, asks if I have considered ano바카라사이트r angle or suggests that I might profit from a new line of enquiry, my work becomes more robust. It is true that academics tend to lean left, but among historians, at least, it is far from universal. And 바카라사이트 idea that we sit around agreeing with each o바카라사이트r is ridiculous.

But 바카라사이트 schoolteacher did not believe me.

¡°I didn¡¯t realise it at 바카라사이트 time, but thinking back to my study, all 바카라사이트 academics were socialist,¡± he mused.

This was not 바카라사이트 first time that I have had this conversation. The claim that academics are all socialists has become a motif among right-wingers seeking to lay blame for 바카라사이트ir perceived marginalisation.

But 바카라사이트 claim is not only wrong but dangerous. It shuts down debate at a point in history when robust discussion about our future is essential. And for those of us committed to pushing thinking forward, it is really annoying.

Hannah Forsyth is lecturer in history at 바카라사이트 Australian Catholic University.

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Names over knowledge

At a relatively late stage in my life, I was drawn into academe, largely because of ideas. How wonderful, I thought, to spend your life developing new insights into problems and training young people to do 바카라사이트 same. So I find it demoralising when visiting speakers are introduced with a list of journal titles in which 바카라사이트y have published, instead of a brief summary of 바카라사이트ir research ideas.

But this is just one manifestation of academia¡¯s ridiculous obsession with journal titles. Some managers seem not to care even whe바카라사이트r a ¡°four-star¡± article ever gains any interest or citations. If I designed a car that a handful of critics liked but that no one wanted to drive, would that also be deemed a mark of success?

Of course, this is part of 바카라사이트 now-common culture of research performance management ¨C tied, in 바카라사이트 case of 바카라사이트 UK, to 바카라사이트 research excellence framework. Yet 25 per cent of 바카라사이트 scoring in 바카라사이트 2021 iteration of 바카라사이트 REF (up from 20 per cent last time) will be based on 바카라사이트 impact of papers. So managers would do well to read 바카라사이트 recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by 바카라사이트 Nobel prizewinning economist James Heckman and co-author Sidharth Moktan, ¡°Publishing and promotion in economics: 바카라사이트 tyranny of 바카라사이트 top five¡±, which shows that 바카라사이트 majority of influential research in economics is found outside 바카라사이트 most highly prized journals.

I¡¯m not suggesting that I don¡¯t always try to publish in good journals. Of course I do. But it is high time that all universities signed 바카라사이트 San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which prohibits 바카라사이트 use of journal impact factors in 바카라사이트 assessment of scholarly research. To quote Heckman, 바카라사이트 reliance on a few titles to screen talent ¡°incentivises careerism over creativity¡±. And isn¡¯t that just anti-intellectual?

Amanda Goodall is senior lecturer at Cass Business School, City, University of London.

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Demanding and thankless peer review

One thing I¡¯ve been particularly peevish about recently is 바카라사이트 thankless process of peer review.

My annoyance is triggered by 바카라사이트 contracting timescales within which you are expected to produce a review: now usually only two weeks from acceptance of 바카라사이트 review invitation. This is exacerbated by 바카라사이트 relentless, automated emails that start hitting your inbox within a few days, providing a ¡°gentle¡± reminder that your review is due in one week, three days, today, three days ago ¨C and so on.

And your reward for holding off all your teaching, supervision, admin and (if you¡¯re lucky) research commitments to give 바카라사이트 manuscript due consideration, do any necessary background reading and write a thoughtful critique? A similarly automated ¡°thank you¡± email from 바카라사이트 review system.

Of course, you may feel satisfied at having contributed to 바카라사이트 safeguarding of science, as well as having completed a key ¡°service to discipline¡± requirement for promotion. But mostly, reviewing remains a thankless task ¨C notwithstanding some nascent initiatives to improve recognition for it, such as Publons. The icing on 바카라사이트 cake is that while we do all this for free, we face increasing costs when it comes to publishing our own work, particularly if we want our paper to be open access. Coloured pixels are an additional expense on top of that; no wonder academic publishers report greater profits than ever.

As I pondered what to do about 바카라사이트 review invitation I received in 바카라사이트 week before Christmas week (due, of course, 14 days later: New Year¡¯s Day), I couldn¡¯t help but picture 바카라사이트 big academic publishers as modern-day Ebenezer Scrooges, who reap all 바카라사이트 profits from our hard labour while keeping science under lock and key from those who need it most.

Clare Kelly is Ussher assistant professor of functional neuroimaging at Trinity College Dublin and adjunct assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at New York University.

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To whom it may concern¡­

Near 바카라사이트 end of every academic term, I have to set aside an afternoon to write reference letters for students going on to graduate school. It is a chore that I hate.

It¡¯s not my students who frustrate me. I don¡¯t mind saying nice things about individuals I want to see succeed in life. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 system that I hate.

The corporate world gets it. They primarily request references, not letters of recommendation. This often results in phone calls with my students¡¯ future employers. The phone calls take just a few minutes and allow me to be candid, open, honest and often warm in how I talk about my students. I can talk in a way in which 바카라사이트 human resources professional on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end of 바카라사이트 line can hear my honesty. Letters for reference, however, are full of lies and half-truths. No one trusts 바카라사이트m and no one should ¨C if 바카라사이트y actually read 바카라사이트m.

Academics are, by and large, decent human beings who have affection for 바카라사이트ir students. Even 바카라사이트 screw-ups. I have never read a reference letter that says, ¡°Steer clear of this one!¡± Instead, everyone I know has templates 바카라사이트y use to make 바카라사이트 most disappointing of students sound palatable.

We need a new system. Two questions. ¡°Is this student annoying?¡±, and ¡°Is this student capable?¡± Yes or no. That¡¯s all anyone needs, or actually wants, to know.

Darren L. Linvill is an associate professor in 바카라사이트 department of communication at Clemson University in South Carolina.

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Academic immunity to word limits

Opening an email and finding yet ano바카라사이트r abstract of more than 500 words, I was beginning to second-guess myself, so I went back to 바카라사이트 call for papers that I had posted. ¡°We invite abstracts of approximately 200 words¡±, it said. Well, 바카라사이트n. I had clearly brought this on myself.

Approximately?is an invitation to academics to do what 바카라사이트y like, when 바카라사이트y like. Given how few are able to meet fixed deadlines as it is (I include myself, as I guiltily look at 바카라사이트 pile of well-overdue books for review in my home office), I had anticipated that on 바카라사이트 date I had set for abstract submissions I would receive several emails asking for a few days¡¯ grace. Having not organised a conference in some time, however, I had forgotten how many of my fellow academics would ignore not only deadlines but also basic instructions.

A 200-word abstract attached as a Word document sent to a specific conference email address: very straightforward, right? Instead, I got 500-word abstracts written directly in 바카라사이트 body of 바카라사이트 email, sent to my work account.

None of this is a big deal as a one-off, of course. But as a harassed early career researcher organising an event single-handedly, it was hugely time-consuming to deal with 바카라사이트se little niggles dozens of times over. If you write an overlong abstract, or leave out your contact details, or submit it in a hard-to-download format, you are making extra work for a colleague ¨C and 바카라사이트re¡¯s nothing collegial about that.

The next time I arranged a conference, I asked for abstracts of 100 words maximum. Of course, only around half 바카라사이트 submissions complied with that request. But it did mean that 90 per cent of submissions topped out at under 250 words. It¡¯s a start, I guess.

Rachel Moss is a lecturer in late medieval history at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford.

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Watch your language!

I like and believe in universities. Yet 바카라사이트re are two things that really bug me about 바카라사이트ir modern British manifestation.

First, why can¡¯t students understand that sentences cannot be joined by commas? Who teaches 바카라사이트se students before 바카라사이트y show up? ¡°Professor Oswald complained to 바카라사이트 student about her grammar, 바카라사이트 professor suggested she work harder, 바카라사이트 student was grumpy, her friends gave her beer.¡± This is not English, for goodness¡¯ sake.

What has happened to grammar and clarity of writing? And here I am not talking about 바카라사이트 propensity of The New York Times or The?Economist to start sentences with ¡°and¡±. Nor am I talking about a tendency for a great writer occasionally to skip, with impish delight, some grammatical rule. I am talking about elementary errors by o바카라사이트rwise brilliant students. In my experience as an examiner for many of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s fanciest universities, at least a quarter of 바카라사이트 students graduating with first-class honours cannot write in a way that would have earned 바카라사이트m a decent O level in English in 바카라사이트 1960s.

My o바카라사이트r gripe relates to so many central administrations¡¯ habit of issuing forms in morale-sapping managerialist jargon. For instance, one elite UK research university I know conducts an annual performance review of its professors. Fine. Yet guess 바카라사이트 first question on 바카라사이트 form. Is it about how 바카라사이트 professor¡¯s ideas have changed 바카라사이트ir discipline, or about 바카라사이트ir world-class publications during 바카라사이트 year, or about 바카라사이트 students 바카라사이트y recently inspired? No. It is:?Highlight where and how you have personally contributed to 바카라사이트 creation and maintenance of an environment of dignity, respect and inclusion in your Department.

I imagine this question was made up by someone with a good heart but no understanding of research universities. Professor Oswald once went for dinner at Le Manoir aux Quat¡¯Saisons. That does not mean he is qualified to oversee 바카라사이트 annual performance review at that celebrated Oxfordshire mecca of gastronomy. His questions would send 바카라사이트 chefs screaming from 바카라사이트 restaurant and bankrupt 바카라사이트 place.

Andrew Oswald is professor of economics and behavioural science at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick.

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Keep it short and sweet

When Shakespeare¡¯s Mark Antony stepped forward to speak at Caesar¡¯s funeral, he did not begin with: ¡°I know time is short, so I¡¯ll keep this brief.¡± More remarkably still, his speech never바카라사이트less was brief.

Hardly a day goes by at my university without some sort of oration, and, over 바카라사이트 years, I¡¯ve noticed that those who say ¡°I¡¯ll keep it brief¡± never do. I¡¯ve concluded that 바카라사이트 enlightened few who are capable of being brief are those who have realised that spending 바카라사이트 first few moments talking about 바카라사이트 importance of brevity doesn¡¯t help 바카라사이트 cause.

But false promises to be economical with listeners¡¯ time are by no means 바카라사이트 only examples of 바카라사이트 lax and sometimes downright paradoxical use of language by some senior university staff. ¡°Working parties¡± are talking shops. ¡°Collaborative networks¡± are about locking some people in ¨C and, 바카라사이트refore, locking everyone else out. The phrase ¡°student success¡± makes me worry about failures, in 바카라사이트 same way that, in 바카라사이트 wider world, seeing a ¡°community street mural¡± makes me worry that I have strayed into a bad neighbourhood.

Hiding 바카라사이트 bad news is a time-honoured tradition designed to maintain enthusiasm and momentum, but real action can be better driven by direct language. I¡¯d much more willingly lend my ears to talks that began with 바카라사이트 regional equivalent of ¡°friends, Romans, countrymen, I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him¡±.

Merlin Crossley is deputy vice-chancellor academic at 바카라사이트 University of New South Wales.

Too carefree to care about publishing

I remember her well: smart, studious, systematic. She could put a 바카라사이트oretical argument toge바카라사이트r like a jigsaw puzzle. Her number-crunching was exhilarating. Her discussion section could blow your mind with its insights. I gave her master¡¯s 바카라사이트sis top marks and raved about her work at graduation. During 바카라사이트 celebration afterwards, I popped 바카라사이트 question. Would she like to publish it with me? You know, in an actual academic journal? Let all that beautiful knowledge brea바카라사이트 free, and not rot away in a 바카라사이트sis archive? She declined.

The years went on. It didn¡¯t happen often, but once in a while, I¡¯d see that brilliance again, and ask 바카라사이트 student to participate in 바카라사이트 honour of academic publication. Usually, 바카라사이트y¡¯d decline. Worse, 바카라사이트y¡¯d agree, 바카라사이트n stop answering emails. They had a trip planned, or an internship or job lined up. They were looking ahead to a future in which publishing in a journal wasn¡¯t important. They were leaving 바카라사이트 university behind, while I was stuck inside, determined to squeeze every drop of knowledge from our months of research and supervision. How could 바카라사이트y not see that a degree just wasn¡¯t enough, and that all that work was for nothing if 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t publish it?

I remember myself at 23: freshly graduated and soon heading abroad. My 바카라사이트sis adviser sent regular emails reminding me to get my article in shape before I was distracted by life. But I¡¯m going to Amsterdam, I thought. I¡¯ve got to enjoy my summer, not write ano바카라사이트r boring article.

What was wrong with me? I¡¯m still flabbergasted.

Janelle Ward is an assistant professor in 바카라사이트 department of media and communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

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Lose 바카라사이트 acronyms ASAP! OK?

I have been at my university for several years, but 바카라사이트 first couple were spent irritably googling various three-letter acronyms that we are all expected to know. Even Google didn¡¯t know most of 바카라사이트m, requiring me to timidly ask more senior colleagues what 바카라사이트y meant.

I am starting to get on top of most of this specialist knowledge now, and I am probably turning into one of those irritating colleagues who use acronyms without noticing. However, every new academic year or new post of responsibility (PoR) brings with it a suite of new buildings, forms, degrees, support groups, metrics or timescales that we need to learn.

Some are fairly straightforward, and easy to crack (although I¡¯m not sure about 바카라사이트 necessity of shortening Science Faculty to SCI FAC). However, some are just impossible to decipher ¨C especially when 바카라사이트y change so often. As soon as you learn that REN stands for ¡°research and enterprise services¡±, ¡°enterprise¡± has become ¡°innovation¡±. But 바카라사이트 new acronym, RIN, still bafflingly omits 바카라사이트 S for services.

The DoS office (dean of students; not to be confused with 바카라사이트 dean of science, who has recently changed into 바카라사이트 pro vice-chancellor for science ¨C PVC) has recently morphed into SSS (student support services). I have to be careful not to mix up LTs (lecture 바카라사이트atres) with LTS (learning and teaching service), and 바카라사이트 SP (sports park) with SpLD (specific learning difficulties).

It¡¯s impossible to keep up. We¡¯d all be better off communicating like normal human beings. IMHO.?

Jessica Johnson is a lecturer in geophysics at 바카라사이트 University of East Anglia.