Category: Higher Education

SUNY University at Buffalo Moves to Optional S/U Grading for Current Semester

3/21/2020

The Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University at Buffalo (State University of New York) just announced the option for students to convert from A-F grades to Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U). The details for doing this went out in an email to students and faculty.

This is a verbatim excerpt from a longer and more detailed email, but covering the conversion to S/U for undergraduates (separate information for graduate students).

From SUNY University at Buffalo Email:

We have also made a number of changes to satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) grading policy:

The deadline for students to elect this option is extended through the last day of the spring 2020 examinations.
Spring 2020 courses graded S/U are excluded from the maximum 25 percent of S/U credits allowed towards a degree.

For undergraduate students:

Courses taken for S/U grades during spring 2020 will count towards UB Curriculum general education requirements, major requirements and electives.

Some degree programs may require you to recover letter grades in major courses and pre-requisites in the future. To date these include Nursing, Accounting, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.

Undergraduate students may find information on how to Request an S/U Grade on the Office of the Registrar website at: https://registrar.buffalo.edu/forms/su-grade.php

#universityatbuffalo #suny #stateuniversityofnewyork #ub #grading #highereducation

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"All SUNY, CUNY schools shifting to online learning to combat coronavirus"

3/11/2020

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My observation: The Wuhan Coronavirus and its Covid-19 illness are creating a watershed moment in how people meet, conduct business, and learn. I doubt we will return fully to prior behaviors after this settles.

Breaking News (from The Buffalo News)

"All state university campuses will shut down on March 19 to try to reduce density levels of students who could spread the novel coronavirus among people on and off college grounds.

"The remaining weeks of the spring semester for the 64-campus State University of New York will be offered through online course work, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday afternoon.

"'That will be a way to reduce density and that’s a good thing,' Cuomo said.

"The order will also affect the City University of New York system."

https://buffalonews.com/2020/03/11/all-suny-cuny-schools-shifting-to-online-learning-to-combat-coronavirus/

#covid-19 #coronavirus #education #businessmeetings #travel #socialchange #onlinelearning #elearning

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Your Next Career Might be in Higher Education

12/20/2019

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Delivering an experiential learning seminar at the University of Science in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2018.

If you are like me and have had a great multi-decade career in professional roles, and you are not ready to settle into a quiet retirement, then consider teaching. Although I have not explored teaching in K-12 programs recently, that could be an option. A few years ago, I applied to Teach for America, went through hours of interviews, to the very last one-on-one interview, and then was not selected. I suspect age is the reason. I decided not to bother with K-12 after that, as I already had a couple years of higher education teaching experience in China, Vietnam, and the U.S.A. Stick with me here and I'll share an excellent resource at the end of this post.

My point here is that you should have better chance in higher education. This is especially so if you have years of senior leadership experience in your field, had at least a Master's degree, and want to help the next generation by teaching what you know, and sharing your experiences. My secondary point is that ageism is real. I've experienced it first-hand. In one instance, sitting in a final face-to-face interview for a government agency, I was told a couple times that, and I quote, "You are over experienced for this position." The fact that I drove 10 hours to attend the interview, was interested in the position, and had all of the skills required to do the job, meant nothing.

In another instance, after another 10 hour drive to the final face-to-face interview, the exact words, which I heard three times from the hiring manager, were, "This is a developmental position." Once again, I was fully qualified, interested, and could have been a perfect candidate for the role. But that hiring manager, and the previous one, clearly wanted someone younger in their positions. Neither of these were teaching positions.

Age is less of an issue for adjunct instructors in higher education. In some cases, the experience you have had will help you get the position. Adjuncts are underpaid, but if you aren't in it for the money, the satisfaction of helping a new generation of professionals develop more than offsets the low pay. It is possible that an adjunct role could lead you to a full-time position. What you might find difficult, as I have, and where ageism may come into play, is when or if you apply for tenure track positions. While I haven't had the blatant comments like the ones above, I perceive the difficulty in getting hired into a tenure-track position due to my age as real, and I've basically stopped trying.

I like and enjoy my contract teaching roles. They have taken me to China, Singapore, Vietnam. I've taught for three schools in Buffalo, NY. Currently, I'm halfway through a one-year contract with the University of North Carolina in Asheville, a beautiful - and quirky - mountain city. If your professional career is over - if you aren't ready to settle too much - and if you like helping younger people develop -consider teaching in higher education. Here is a website with tips for older people who want to teach. It addresses the ageism issue directly in its recommendations.

From the Higher Education Recruitment Consortion:

https://www.hercjobs.org/higher-education-job-search-tips-for-older-employees/

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