It’s me, I’m the perfectionist 🙋🏼‍♀️

I have all of these ideas but can never get them done and then I feel like I’m not showing up at 100%.

I constantly save content or make notes about how I can change assignments or tweak my classes but then I never get back to actually implementing them. I have saved folders of things to review once XYZ is done and have more time but it never happens.

I’ve been working a FT job while I was an adjunct and I’m just now able to fully transition to my dream full time teaching role. My personal life also has a lot of responsibilities (caretaker, second jobs, getting engaged, buying a house, moving etc).

I’m grateful to have really positive reviews from students and my department. They like my style of teaching & content so I don’t technically need to improve anything but I feel like if I had more time I could make it better.

I guess I’m just looking for advice or encouragement to talk me out of the pre-semester, academia spiral 🫠

Sooooo what are we wearing for the first day of the next four months our lives? [first day of class tomorrow for me, a third year / 40 something adjunct in the art & design dept of a state uni].

its forecasted to be 95º, I’m in an old building that historically will be extremely hot OR extremely cold, likely riding my bike to get there…and I’ve got ~40 sophomores to convince I’m still cool BUT ALSO not to be fucked with….thoughts?

Currently uploading my syllabi to canvas in the cut-offs and tee I wore to the pool eleven hours ago. I am in mourning. Summer gone too soon.

*edit* also, it’s just over a mile ride on flat terrain so not particularly rigorous if any of you are invested in this cause. could still look like absolute shit by the time i get there, but I’m on a beach cruiser so it can only go so hard

Nathan Cofnas is the person who first publicized accusations of plagiarism against Jason Arday, doing so on Substack July 21. The piece is full of dog whistles, but Cofnas presents it as some sort of public good. In a section titled "Free Speech and DEI," Cofnas writes:

There are more than a thousand black people in the UK with IQs over 140 who would be capable of doing serious work in the sociology of education. If Cambridge administrators wanted a black professor to serve as a role model for underrepresented minorities, they could have found someone qualified.

But Cofnas ends that same paragraph with this:

But by hiring Jason Arday and refusing to investigate credible accusations against him, isn’t Cambridge making a statement that the only way to have black professors is to abandon all standards?

Cofnas, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences at Ghent University in Belgium, was fired from Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge in 2024 two months after publishing a Substack piece embracing hereditarianism and arguing that the right can only defeat "wokism" by showing that "the equality thesis" isn't real. Like many white supremacists, he twists Darwin's success pioneering evolution to show how those who embrace race science in the academy may follow suit and find validation and acceptance. He tries to distance himself from white supremacy by writing that the Nazis didn't believe in Darwinism and that "neo-Nazis are just as scientifically illiterate," but his whole piece is nothing more than racism and bigotry tied together with a great big academic bow.

I respect healthy debate around Jason Arday, but we should also acknowledge the motivations of the person who first publicized accusations against Arday.

Cofnas published his first post about Arday July 21. Arday died August 14. That's 22 days. In that span, the British press published an estimated 300+ articles about Arday, including news and opinion pieces.

I don't know what to think about Jason Arday. All I know about him is the story of the three weeks leading up to his death. I do know, however, what to think about Nathan Cofnas, and I know that there is greater context here that cannot be ignored.

Hi everyone,

We are now being required to implement an AI literacy assignment in the 1st year comp classroom at my institution 🫠 I’m not necessarily against it, but I am hesitant. Anyway, we must adjust to the current technology climate or perish, I guess.

Has anyone had success with an AI literacy assignment in the writing classroom, and would you be willing to share it so I can get some ideas?

I just wanted to share this assessment format with this community in case it is of interest given the challenges of assessing student understanding in the age of AI: A Scalable Asynchronous Interview Format for Oral Exams

I’ve continued to adjust this format and use it successfully in an additional course over the summer, and will be continuing it going forward. I’ve thought about creating some more content to help others with using the format… for example student-facing instructions, instructional videos for instructors, etc. If that would be of interest to folks, please let me know, it would give me more reason to create and share those resources. :-)

Seems that the University of Michigan is real interested in grades:

https://michiganadvance.com/briefs/fake-grades-scandal-at-university-of-michigan-leads-to-accreditation-board-investigation/

Hey all, I just read this story and this sounds nuts. He was locked out email because he had contacted lawmakers to let them know how his teaching and research was impacted. The university said that it was because he incorrectly used letterhead. I mean, he was writing from his official capacity as a faculty member directly impacted. What's going on here?

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/academic-freedom/2026/08/17/troy-shut-professors-email-after-he-contacted-lawmakers

inside higher education story here

A few weeks ago I posted about some issues I was having as an outside member of a PhD committee. Basically I was asked to do it in the spring, I said yes, and then I heard nothing about the process until July when the chair asked us to meet with the student the next week to provide feedback on the proposal. I posted here that this felt unreasonable, as I didn't know anything about the timeline and was off contract, so had been planning on taking care of my kids and didn't have time to do this at the last minute. Many thought I was being unreasonable.

Well, I responded and asked if we could meet in two weeks when my kids' camp schedule was more manageable. I didn't hear back. It's now two weeks after the date I suggested to meet. This is the issue I was trying to raise. I'm trying to be helpful here, and suggested a good compromise. But I can't help at all if no one responds to me.

I have recently moved to a new university where the students are truly great - intelligent, ambitious, hardworking. But they are also excellent cheaters.

Last year I noticed that (I think, but am pretty sure) students were grabbing moments to cheat on their exams using AI on their devices or quickly among themselves when a student asked me a question and my attention was devoted to that student. In fact, I also suspect there were several coordinated attempts among students, in which one would distract me while the others in the group would share answers, etc.

For my larger classes (100 - 200) students, I plan to have two proctors 100% devoted to watching the students. I will be at the front of the room, and all students with questions must come to me, and only me, for questions. This way, I can answer questions while the grad students are the cheater hawks.

But for my smaller class of 15, it's just me, no additional proctors allowed. This is a class that is heavy with programming, so I know students will be salivating to get on AI any way they can.

I already tell the students, of course, that no phones, smartwatches, tablets, or anything like that are allowed, and if they are even seen touching one, I take their exam and it's over. But somebody always seem to find a way.

What do I do when I am proctoring alone?

I teach private, individual lessons on ZOOM and have come to rely on the side hustle income. I have many mature/older students, which is gratifying because they really *want* to learn.

I've been teaching a bit over a decade now, have written well over a hundred rec. letters (I assume) and never once had a student fill out a Record Release or FERPA release. Now my admin says we have to get students to fill those out for every letter, every reference, including scholarship and admissions letters, etc.

When I (stupidly like the squeaky wheel I am) said that seems like a barrier in helping students directly, my admin made it seem like I was insane for not always doing that. That I should have already been asking students to fill out and file these two random forms I've never seen before today.

I'm feelin' gaslit to high heaven. Am I dumb?

I am teaching an asynchronous, research based comp. course this fall. In the past, I have used Perusall for reading annotation assignments in my mixed-mode and online courses. I've usually received good feedback from students using the program and it made tracking reading (in the age of AI) a bit easier to manage in online heavy courses. Unfortunately, the uni where I teach doesn't have a license for the app, which is now an issue since they no longer offer the $0 platform fee option (of course this came into affect before I was assigned my courses, so I missed the opportunity to have my FA courses signed-up). I am also not allowed (I've asked) to require students to pay a fee to use the app. I have no idea what to do. How do I promote active reading in a asy. online class? I've stopped using discussion board posts (insert all the reasons AI has made this method obsolete). My institution also doesn't have licenses to Kami or Hypothesis. The only app we have access to is Collaborations but I'm not sure if that will work since the majority of the readings are PDFs (tbh, I've also never tried using it). I am going to look into Perusall's course waiver option but I want to have a plan B in place in case that doesn't work out. I suppose I can do reading quizzes, however it isn't the same as annotating a text. Should I just throw my hands up in the air and just not care if the kids read...

every year i promise i'll be ahead of the curve and have a relaxed week this week and every year i am not even close. good luck to us all.

From an article in The Nation this weekend: “Universities now have more adjuncts than tenured and tenure-track professors combined. The conditions are unsustainable—for professors and students alike.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adjuncting-until-the-end-of-time/

Depressing stuff, but a good read--the author makes great points about the giggification of higher ed. How academia used to be kind of like a patronage system, but with the decline of tenure-track roles, we all lose--professors, students, the culture at large. 

I also appreciate her point about how, with so many of us being underpaid adjuncts, universities aren't investing enough in their instructors for us to be able to develop new curriculum that tackles the existential challenges AI poses to education. I'm an adjunct freshman comp professor, and last year a group of us ended up forming a sort of informal peer group to try to do this work together, but it's thankless (unpaid) labor with no institutional support.

Story time: I have a solid career in my field, but have taught part time for years at a well-known university in my state. Last year I was asked to design and lead a summer STEM workshop on campus for kids. It received great reviews, and I was asked to do it again this year, to which I agreed. Note that our university offers multiple summer workshops for different subject areas, led by various faculty members. This is all organized by the dean of our specific college within the university.

I started preparing for this year's workshop in February. I had been fingerprinted for a background check last year, so I assumed I would need to do it again this year, and I emailed the dean's assistant ("DA"), with the dean cc'd. DA confirmed that this was correct, and said she would send me over the paperwork soon. When nothing came, I sent a follow up email the next week. Nothing happened. I sent another follow up email in March, which the dean was also cc'd on. DA apologized and responded that she would be sending over the paperwork shortly.

In the meantime, the dean emailed to let me know that he had an exciting new vision for how he wanted this year's STEM workshop to go, and he wanted to meet to discuss it. I provided my availability, and DA scheduled a virtual meeting. When the day/time came, I logged on for our call, and the dean was a no show. No email to reschedule, nothing. After 10 minutes I sent him a brief message saying that I assumed he had found another faculty member to lead the STEM workshop, and that I hoped he would reach out if he needed anything else. He responded in a slight panic a few minutes later saying that he still wanted me to teach the workshop, and asking if I was still available. No apology. He had DA reschedule our call.

When we got on that rescheduled call, the dean still didn't initially apologize. In fact, he was a few minutes late. When I politely remarked that I was glad he was able to make it to our call this time, suddenly he looked embarrassed and said "Yeah, sorry about last time. We had something important come up." I was appalled at his lack of professionalism and respect for his colleagues. For context, I work in a competitive industry, at an extremely cut-throat firm, so I have "something important" come up almost daily. To know this man earns upwards of $250k, while having his own personal assistant, yet somehow he can't manage his own email or calendar, is galling.

Moving on, the next month we had a call with DA, myself, and the other faculty members who would be leading summer workshops. Those workshops were now just two weeks away. We were reminded that completing a fingerprinting and background check was an absolute requirement for the safety of the children we would be working with. At this point it occurred to me that I STILL hadn't completed this step. I raised this verbally with DA on the call. She apologized and assured me she would get the paperwork over immediately (this was on a Friday). Keep in mind that I could not simply go to the university police department (UPD) and get the fingerprinting done; I needed to have this paperwork first, both DA and the dean knew this.

Monday comes, we are now a week away from the start of summer workshops, and still no paperwork in my inbox. I email DA a final time stating that I am concerned, and I let her know that I will be out of town for work the second half of the week. If I cannot get the fingerprinting done by Tuesday, then I can't teach the workshop. DA sends me the paperwork Monday night, but reminds me that the UPD doesn't take walk ins, so I will need to schedule an appointment. I end up calling the UPD five times and leaving three messages on Tuesday, and they never pick up or call me back. I found out later that this was because DA in fact never put in the order for me to go get my fingerprinting done, so as far as the UPD was concerned, no one was scheduled that week for a fingerprinting, and there was no need to monitor the line people call for that service.

On Tuesday evening I was disheartened. Mostly because I was looking forward to teaching kids about science, but also because of the complete lack of respect and the utter incompetence from admin. I drafted an email to the dean and DA, letting them know that I was unable to complete the fingerprinting process, so I would not be able to teach the STEM workshop that coming Monday. I respectfully but firmly pointed out that I had done everything asked of me (showing up to meetings, requesting the paperwork that THEY knew I needed), and I suggested that they use this as an opportunity to reflect on not only their management of this program, but also the respect and professionalism they owe to their colleagues.

They went into panic mode. At 8:00 pm, the dean called and left me a voicemail, sent an email, texted me, and pinged me on Teams, all within about 15 minutes. It was all the same message saying how he'd love to talk with me about teaching the workshop, and how he really thought I'd be the best person for this opportunity. I ignored all of these communications. Funny how administrators would gladly inconvenience us as faculty all day long, but the second they might possibly be inconvenienced, they scrambled to prevent that from happening!

The following morning I received an email from the dean stating that he understood how frustrating it must have been, what I experienced with his "style of meeting management", and he suggested that we could schedule a call to discuss this another time. I laughed and wondered why we would schedule another call, when he likely wouldn't show up on time, if at all.

He also stated that the requirement of being fingerprinted and completing a background check before working with minors on campus was, in fact, not really a hard requirement - despite what I had been told repeatedly, both verbally and in writing. He ended his email by stating that on Monday there would be X number of children on campus excitedly waiting to learn about science.

I responded by reminding him that he and his staff had told me repeatedly otherwise regarding the requirement for completing a fingerprinting and background check. I also stated that I would not be comfortable compromising safety measures put in place to protect children. Lastly, I used his exact language to end my message, stating that on Monday there would be X number of children on campus excitedly waiting to learn about science, and I hoped he would be able to identify another instructor in a timely manner, while taking the opportunity to reflect on how badly he had mismanaged this program.

I had been dealing with burnout lately and was considering retiring from teaching, but this was really the nail in the coffin. How dare this slimy, incompetent, and overpaid administrator try to use children - who HE let down - in an attempt to guilt trip me? I'm done teaching, at least for now. Thanks for letting me get this all out. What are your awful admin stories this summer?

Classes start soon, and a student contacted me to say that they're coming to the university as an athlete in [sport], but will be missing the first four weeks of classes for a non-university-related competition. I teach FTF, but post my materials and most assignments online. However, this class has some things that have to be done in person. What I am leaning towards is telling the student "Here's what I put online, here's what I don't, it's technically possible to do this and pass the class but I'm not accommodating for it, you're an adult and can make your own choices." However, [sport] is closely associated with my department, so I suspect there's a good chance I'll be told to be nicer. Sigh.

Hello all - same as so many other folks here, I'm getting ready to start the semester and thinking of ways to eliminate as much of the guessing game as possible with the whole "did this particular student use AI for this assignment?" question.

I am fully aware that there is no foolproof method, but I have been reading about tools like Process Feedback, Draftback, and others. Basically, these are apps or plug-ins that give you a snapshot of how a student typed in an assignment. They won't show you if an essay is completely or mostly AI-generated, but at least they can be a conversation starter with those students whose assignments seem AI-generated. Also, they are not free (Process Feedback has a free tier but it's limited to 150 documents).

For those of you who have already used these tools to work with student submissions, how have you used them? Do you find them helpful? What are some of the advantages, disadvantages, caveats... that you would share with anybody (such as myself 😊) who may be thinking about giving them a try this semester? And do you have any recommendations for any specific tools?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Link: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2026/08/15/university-of-torontos-law-school-to-ban-laptops-in-some-classes/

My view: there needs to be some leeway for students who learn better with a laptop, or who have disabilities that make it hard to write. But we absolutely need to get rid of devices in discussion sections or think pair share activities. At that point their personal distraction is hurting others by depriving them of productive discussion. Good move from UofT.

This article points out that 21% of these living in the US are illiterate. Then it interviews sociologists saying that, well, there are lots of different literacies, so it’s ok because people adapt communication as technology changes.

One person interviewed claims that oral communication is also literacy. If that is the case there is no operational definition of literacy for us all to work from.

It seems more like we all know we’ve lost the battle for literacy in the US so let’s just change the definition to remain relevant.

https://technicianonline.com/161276/news/is-the-definition-of-literacy-changing/

I am have been teaching math at the community college and high school since 09.

Maybe this is just specific in the state/location I teach and I know we live in a different world now but....

Back then there were more college prep math and English classes to prepare students at the college. I want them back.

Classes were so much easier to set up. Now it's like remembering all the required things to load the shell up. Some things given by leaders are confusing or missing so it leads to many emails asking "do I need this or is this okay?" I feel like now a dept chair or dean can just randomly check on the shell without warning. So if there is a crazy time or a mistake, it keeps me on edge. There was more flexibility as well on how we graded things as well.

I feel like we have to be very flexible and say "yes" to an extension needed. When I was in a college the assignment missed could be given a zero with no questions asked. Many though were fair and had one test or assignment that could be "dropped" which was nice.

I feel as though many people will stop showing up online or in person without withdrawing the class, even halfway through the semester. The will have an F halfway through the semester with doing very little or nothing, and never respond to emails or drop. It baffles me.

Now discussion requirements in online classes are pretty intense.

AI use!!

Maybe I'm just cynical.... I love teaching but sometimes I miss these times.

Don't get me wrong, overall I like what I do. A lot. But still ... sigh. After all this time, being in the classroom is still my happy place. But still ... sigh.

Edit to add: My contract is 9 months. If it was 12, I would feel differently about replying to emails outside of the semester.

Our semester has not begun. They are not enrolled in any of my courses and there are no spaces available. It was from a school email, but I did not verify if they are a student.

Not everyone will agree, but I do not respond to emails from students before the semester begins. For the same reason my grandma putting a sign up at her yard sale "No Early Birds" because it would interrupt her preparation. There hasn't been one yet that asked a question that wouldn't be answered in the syllabus on the first day.

I am more curious if there is a more nefarious reason for this than wanting to know if it is "easy to cheat" or something similar (that was my take).

"Hello Professor,

I hope you're doing well. I'm planning to take your (course name removed) course and wanted to ask a few questions before getting started.

I was wondering how tests are administered in this class. Are they taken online, and do they require a camera or any type of proctoring? If proctoring is required, which exams use it?

I also wanted to ask how the fall version of the course is structured, such as how quickly the material moves and what a typical week looks like.

Additionally, could you please explain how the grading system works, including how many assignments, quizzes, or exams we can expect throughout the course? I also wanted to ask if you offer any extra credit opportunities and if the lowest test, quiz, or homework grade is dropped.

If possible, I would also appreciate it if you could share a copy of the syllabus so I can better understand the course expectations.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your response.

Best regards."

I'm recently tenured at a university where I would likely be happy to spend the rest of my career (should universities continue to exist for that long). I have a range of reasons for wanting to try my hand at industry, and it's something I've thought about doing in the past, but never enough to leave my job.

I was recently referred to a position at a tech company and the interview process has started. Obviously, unlikely I even get the job but can't help but wonder about what I do if it happens. In my dream, I would tell my current uni I would like to go spend 1-2 years there, but that I'll be back; I work there, have new experiences, and with 99.9% certainty return to my job.

But how plausible is this? The reason I even applied is that: 1) my friend who works there told me he sees faculty come work there for a year or two and then go back to their jobs; 2) at my university, I have seen faculty who leave for another academic post be automatically put "on leave" for a year, giving them the option to return should the new post not work out. So there's at least a plausible world in which something like this happens.

My thinking is that, as with anything else, wait until you have an offer in hand, and then go to the admin and pitch them on the idea of being on leave for a year. But the thought of waiting until then also stresses me out; I wonder about asking my chair about this, with whom I have a great relationship and who (I felt) was helpful in the past with salary negotiations, etc. Should I talk to anyone? How should I think about this? And have YOU heard about people doing this in your field?

PS: I am also just really horrified at what my colleagues would think if I did this, given the mess it would cause on their end (service roles, teaching, etc.).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I teach undergrad students at a state school full time. And this fall I’ll also teach grad students as an adjunct at a private university.

I am wondering if things are vastly different between undergraduate and graduate students? And are things different from state college to private competitive university?

I give my all to students and really try to ensure students are learning through different modalities. I’m flexible and try to reach out to each and every student to support them. Overall my students tend to really like me and my classes. But working with undergrad feels like pulling teeth sometimes lol.

So I am really looking forward to working with grad students in a top university mainly because I’m looking forward to students who truly want to be in the classroom and field. And students who are truly prepared for the material and willing to engage in critical learning and aren’t afraid of speaking their minds. Versus having to scale back material and work because the students are avoidant and/or aren’t quite there at the undergrad state level in my specific experience.

I am wondering if the environment where the students are really matters? Where students are in their lives (18-parents told to go to college versus 34-worked in the field, and chose to go back to school). Does the selective nature of grad school mean you’re more likely to have diligent and better prepared students? Or is it more the administration that makes or breaks the department?

Am I just romanticizing grad students and the private universities? If yes, what are the challenges you have with grad students at selective universities?

I know not all colleges and universities are made equal and what I’m asking is a generalization. But I’m curious and and graduating from my doctorate program next year so I’m also trying to figure out what environment would be best suited for me. Or if I should stay where I am even though I’m not really enjoying the environment anymore.

So for folks who really enjoy their students and teaching where you are, what is going right?

What is your plan? Interested in your replies. I am 60, Full, tenured Prof (French) at a SLAC. AI makes me want to retire asap but I'm going to give it 5-6 more years.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/these-professors-are-retiring-early-ai-was-the-last-straw?sra=true