College Professoring: Or, Through Academia with Gun and Camera

by Oliver P. Kolstoe

In this serious look at the world of higher education--from a nonserious point of view--Kolstoe goes through academia "with gun and camera," stalking the wild absurdity.

Not since The Saber-Tooth Curriculum--with which it doubtless will be com­pared--has such a wryly amusing, self-examining book about the teaching pro­fession been written. Among other things, Professor Kolstoe guides the novitiate (and those who aspire to be...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080930712X
• ISBN13: 9780809307128
• Release Date: April 1975
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

A Different Look at Being a Professor

There are many things that go on behind the scenes of being a professor that the public does not know about. Committees, research projects, advising, and publications are just a few of the activities that college professors volunteer for or are required to take part in. I found the book College Professoring when I was researching adjunct faculty issues. I am curious about being a professor so I chose this book to gain insight into the profession. The author Oliver Kolstoe's main intent in writing this book was to expose the absurd practices that go on at colleges and with faculties. The book originated as a positional paper for a committee overseeing new personnel policies. Kolstoe thought the policies were meant as a joke. An alternative paper was written for the committee, but Kolstoe decided his hard work should not be put aside and forgotten. He used the paper as a start to a humorous look at being a college professor. The book contained several topics dealing with issues faced by college professors. The first two dealt with requirements, contracts specifics, and expectations of a professor and with being hired.. The difficulty of being hired exists because there exists a high supply of capable professors with a low demand for their services. Many times beginning salary is not the deciding factor of someone taking a position as a professor. The prestige of a college or its faculty and location often figure in on one's decision. A person might be looking to the future benefits of a job. Other topics covered included the conditions of working as a professor including the work load required of everyone. The rank of a professor has a great deal to do with how much a schedule can be personalized. Location of, time of, room assignment, and class size are all flexible. Professors are required to advise students, serve on committees, and research and publish. The size of the university or college varies the requirements. Professors must teach a certain number of credit hours. These can be made up of classes, several sections of a class, graduate student supervision, or research projects. Another topic is whether it is better to be a good teacher or a good researcher. The book debated whether or not a professor should strive to become a great teacher or if they should work towards researching to increase knowledge. There needs to be a combination of both to be effective. There exists different levels of fame for both a professor and the institution in which they work. Professors that publish material are often not recognized until around ten years after they started researching, but are remembered through the publication. Professors that are good teachers are recognized at the present time, but are forgotten when new students enroll or they retire or leave. An institution receives fame when one of there own publishes material used by the academic community. The last topic dealt with how to cope with the demands of being a