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Preschool through 12th grade teachers must earn and maintain certain degrees and certificates in order to teach; why is this not so for professors? At a recent meeting of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, interim University President Derek C. Bok pointed out, “The Ph.D., in my knowledge, is the only major professional program in the United States that does not prepare students for the activity that they will spend most of their professional lives [doing].” Therein lies the problem...
...University must assume responsibility for incentivizing its professors to teach well. Teaching fellows (TFs) may be successfully motivated to teach well with monetary rewards, such as the new Derek C. Bok Awards for Excellence in the Teaching of Undergraduates, but this method is unlikely to work for professors. For TFs, good CUE ratings translate to job offers; for tenured faculty, this is irrelevant. (Moreover, in many departments in which there are generally more specific class requirements, ratings are irrelevant. If you must take Chem 60 to graduate, you will, regardless of its dismal CUE rating...
...many professors to choose career advancement over spending the time and energy necessary to improve their teaching. It would be unrealistic to expect this mentality to disappear. What the College must do, therefore, is make good teaching a crucial aspect of, rather than a distraction from, career advancement. The Bok Center, the stated mission of which is to “enhance the quality of teaching and learning in Harvard College courses,” is a good step in the right direction. Professors are encouraged to attend lectures offered at the Center, collaborate with the Center?...
...Bok Center is not doing enough. The Center must become what it should already be: an essential resource, familiar to every faculty member, that supports a high standard of instruction. Poor instructors should be required to attend classes at the center. The Center should require that professors have students evaluate courses partway through the term. Additionally, professors and other faculty should observe and assess their peers’ teaching. Any professor who fares poorly on these evaluations should be required to take remedial courses at the Center. If they continue to receive poor feedback on their teaching, they would continue...
...hopes to have a conversation with Bok about forming a group where women discuss difficulties with the tenure process...