A few news articles gave examples of professors who had canceled class, a decision some instructors came out against in social-media posts. Other professors posted their own stories about how they handled the election with students and the thinking behind it. In all, these posts and stories presented a confusing and sometimes contradictory picture of what was actually going on.
My curiosity was piqued, so I did some reporting and wrote a story about what I found.
In short, no one’s really positioned to say what the most common way of handling class was across the country, at least, not yet. Nancy Thomas, senior adviser to the president for democracy initiatives at the American Association of Colleges and Universities and executive director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education, whose advice on the matter we featured last month, hopes to conduct a survey about colleges’ responses that will shed light on the question.
But it’s already clear that there was no single approach to navigating post-election teaching. Several of the professors I interviewed for my article changed their plans. A history professor swapped the lecture he planned to give on 1968 for one on the Vietnam War. After listening to colleagues’ ideas, a philosophy professor was persuaded to mention the election and students’ varied feelings about it, then briefly explain a tie-in to his course before moving on as planned. A faculty developer who had come up with a relevant activity for Election Day decided to give her students a break from it all on Thursday, while signaling her willingness to talk individually.
Over a couple days of talking with professors, I was struck by how vast and varied higher education is. Professors hold a wide range of views, for one, about what they think their role in students’ lives should be. And I was struck by how much thought and conviction went into many professors’ plans for the days after the election, too.
As often happens, professors who posted a strong opinion on social media offered more nuance in interviews, and understood what might lead colleagues to make different choices. At a time when higher ed is under scrutiny and bracing for even more attention, many chose anyway to share their thinking online in an effort to help their colleagues, and, yes, to push back on ideas about their profession they do not hold.
My story opens with an example from Erin Cole, who teaches at Bucks County Community College and Mercer County Community College and wrote in to Beth’s query last week about navigating the election. We still want to know how things are going in class and whether and how the election is affecting your plans for the rest of the term. And we’re eager to hear any questions on your minds about what this next stretch of time might look like in the classroom. Share your questions, thoughts, and ideas on the matter with me at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com. We want to gather and reflect a full picture of what you’re thinking about.
Faculty pay and purchasing power
A team of our colleagues has put together a package on what faculty members earn and what that pay can cover based on cost of living. It’s sobering but important work, and if you haven’t already, you might want to carve out some time to explore their data analysis, read a collection of vignettes on individual instructors’ personal finance, and use The Chronicle’s new faculty-pay transparency tool.
Reporters Megan Zahneis and Adrienne Lu are continuing to collect stories on how the cost of living affects faculty members’ lives. If you’re interested in speaking about your personal finances with a reporter, you can fill out this form.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com or beckie.supiano@chronicle.com.
—Beckie
As always, nonsubscribers who register for a free Chronicle account can read two articles a month. Your readership supports our journalism.
Learn more at our Teaching newsletter archive page.