Sunday, August 14, 2005

How Do You Get a Bad Professor Fired?

We've all had at least one them: the professor who looks at teaching as something that interferes with his research, the professor who's never seen the course material applied in the real world, and the professor who simply can't teach. Some of us have more extreme stories: the professor who would fall asleep during class, or the professor who missed a whopping 30% of lectures, or the professor who would actually yell at students for asking questions.

The point of all this: there are, at RPI, professors who should be investigated and potentially reprimanded, and the students don't know how to go about facilitating this. That has to change.

An avenue does exist for the removal of these professors. Today, I ask: what is the formal process for initiating an investigation into whether the removal of a professor is warranted? Seeing as we're paying $31,000 for a service, isn't it only fair that we be told how to make the most of it? Shouldn't students have a recourse in the face of people who may very well decide their futures with the stroke of a grading pen? Tell us what you know.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

No correlation here, folks.

Dr. Jackson is being named by sources as the reason a millionaire "friend of the Institute" has removed RPI, previously the primary beneficiary, from his will. More details as they become available.

Dr. Jackson's misguided plan to turn Proctor's into that hotel we so desperately needed has finally fallen to pieces. Literally.

Dr. Jackson lied about providing a substantial increase in financial aid for upperclassman. The upperclassman are the poor souls who have seen tuition increase close to 25% since they accepted admission, according to...everyone who's seen their financial aid package and the lack of a 7% increase in aid, though it had been previously anticipated.

On an entirely unrelated subject, there's an interesting legend set in the 1990s about the students of RPI banding together and playing an instrumental role in removing the president of the Institute. Given the readership's appreciation for tales with such happy endings, anyone with more knowledge of the account is asked to email tipbernstein@yahoo.com and share what they know...and if they're interested in making a 21st century revision.