Reply to UMD system faces 500M budget shortfall in 2021

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning[/quote]

The value of a college education is still personalized feedback and relationships in many courses. It takes a professor just as long to read and respond to work on-line as it does in person.  A meeting with a student takes just as long etc.  The work doesn't change.  Otherwise free MOOCs would actually work.  You can cheapen online education by having less qualified faculty but then a student doesn't form a relationship with people doing the scholarly work and research in an area.  Some courses --with easily gradable problem sets and clear content--might be cheaper to run on-line, but not the majority.[/quote]

This prior statement is so stupid. As a faculty member at a top school whose salary has been cut by 10% this year, I've never worked so much. Not only do I have to hold my normal live class sessions on Zoom, I am actually holding 50% MORE in-class time to accommodate international students who are stuck in their home countries at 6-12 hour time differences and are unable to attend the normal class sessions because it is middle of the night their time. In addition, because it's so difficult for students to focus in 1.5 hour class sessions on Zoom, I've had to make short lecture videos that took many many hours to produce between switching between powerpoint, camera lecture, working problems, etc.

I've had to move all of my quizzes online and now do grading using an iPad pro because I can't print out and scan in 200 exam papers. It's made grading take about 20 hours for each quiz as opposed to the usual 10.

In addition to the above, students have become even more demanding. Instead of having regularly weekly office hours, many students now expect to meet with you at any random time. I am receiving multiple e-mails a day saying, "Hey prof, do you have 10 minutes to talk this morning?" I'll get back to the student saying yes and keep my morning schedule open, and sit there for two hours waiting for a no-show student who then asks "oh whoops I had xyz to do, can you do this afternoon instead?" Yesterday evening I was shopping at Target and an e-mail came in from a student group who was having an "emergency" on their assignment due the next morning and actually expected me to get on Zoom in half an hour. I rushed home to get on Zoom. This is the new normal, apparently, all for the blessed reward of a 10% salary cut.

So no, it is not less work to teach online, it's actually more work. If you don't like paying tuition then by all means please withdraw your child from college. I'm fine teaching fewer students. Since the revenues never end up going to faculty anyway and instead get spent on building a new luxury mcmansion dorm for your little Jaylen and Noah, or to paying the assistant football coach $600k, I couldn't care less if your kid instead goes to a trade school where they probably belong anyway. [/quote]

Wow, PP. I know you are right. My DS is in high school and goes to an online high school. His teachers are the hardest working teachers I have ever seen. I wonder when they sleep. And it's high school.

HS students need to be taught how to interact with faculty respectfully online before they get to college. Can you offer set office hours online and steer them to use those instead of emailing you?

However you save for college, save for college, and save a lot. I use the prepaid plan and the regular Maryland 529. The state provides a lot of information on their website maryland529.com.

A long time ago, when my kiddo was a baby, I saw pamphlets at the public library for Maryland 529. The state also offers a boost to families who use the plan if they meet certain income limits. It's necessary to fund these generously. college savings.org is also a good resource.[/quote]

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